The Memristor - Get ready for something amazing.

The fourth piece to an electrical puzzle, the memristor was described and named in 1971, but it's existence wasn't proved until April 2008.  This is one technology that is worth observing. 

 

Above photo: Memristor close-up: An atomic force microscope image shows 17 memristors in a row. Each has a bottom wire that contacts one side of the device and a top wire that contacts the other. The wires in this image are 50nm, or about 150 atoms, wide. J. J. Yang, HP Labs

It is said to have properties similar to human synapses.  A solid state divice not only capable of binary computing, (1's and 0's), but able to use any value in between. Along with that, it's capability of remembering it's state when power is removed, could usher the advent of analog computers that can learn. But, that is just the beginning.  Keep an eye on this one your future is about to change.

More info at the HP Labs.