Some years ago, computers took forever to boot up. Now, depending on your programs and specs, it only takes a few minutes or a few seconds.

Now, a new circuit component being developed by scientists down at Hewlett-Packard promises to do away with booting up altogether. Excellent *Mr. Burns gesture*.

Basic electronic circuits have three fundamental elements: resistors, capacitors, and inductors. This new wonder component is called the memory circuit, or a memristor. Essentially, what the memristor does is store the "memory" or the direction of the charge that flows through it.

The memristor will remember the flow of the charge even when the power is turned off, unlike DRAM, which loses it. Not only would this mean virtually eliminating boot up time, but it also means smaller circuits, and in effect, smaller devices. We don't know when we'll see this tech become a reality, but it's a pretty exciting concept.