Word: belled
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...inventing the transistor 21 years ago, researchers at the Bell Telephone Laboratories paved the way for most of the sophisticated electronic marvels of the 1960s-most notably the miniaturized, high-speed computer. Now they may have done it again. A versatile new device conjured up by the wizards at Bell may eventually make current computers as old-fashioned as the abacus...
...several years, Bell scientists have been experimenting with thin wafers of crystalline materials known as orthoferrites, which are compounds of iron oxides and such rare-earth minerals as ytterbium, thulium and samarium-terbium. They found that when a strong enough magnetic field is applied, orthoferrites display an extraordinary property: tiny cylinder-shaped areas, or "bubbles," of magnetism are formed in the wafer, their polarity opposite to that of the surrounding material. Often smaller in diameter than a human hair, the magnetic bubbles can be maneuvered and positioned into an almost endless variety of patterns...
Thousands of Bits. Not only do the crystals have the advantage of simplicity of operation, but they could also be extremely compact computer components. In a recent demonstration at their Murray Hill, N.J., headquarters, the Bell scientists showed that a thin crystal, only one-tenth of an inch square, could carry 10,000 bits of information. Even the tiniest conventional computer circuitry, explained Bell Labs Vice President Jack A. Morton, is able to achieve only 10% of that density. In addition, the crystals need just a fraction of the power required by ordinary computers...
...Bell officials do not anticipate the first commercial application of their new technique for several more years. They concede that much work must still be done before the crystals can be produced in commercial size and quantities. Nonetheless, they are convinced that this is one technical bubble that is unlikely to burst once it leaves...
...than in New York City, where giant Consolidated Edison Co. has blamed conservationist opposition to its expansion plans for its difficulties in meeting growing demands for electric power (see ENVIRONMENT). Last week consumer wrath fell in almost equal measure on the New York Telephone Co., second largest in the Bell System. At a hearing called by the State Public Service Commission to investigate complaints of poor service, witnesses railed about everything from Manhattan's grossly overloaded Plaza 8 exchange to pay telephones in which the only working parts seem to be the coin slots. William Payson, president...