In the mid 1960s, when a single chip contained an average of 50 transistors, Gordon Moore observed that integrated circuits were doubling in complexity every year. In an in?uential article published by Electronics Magazine in 1965, Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the next 10 years. Despite being criticized for its "unrealistic optimism," Moore's prediction has remained valid for far longer than even he imagined: today, chips built using state-- the-art techniques typically contain several million transistors. The advances in fabrication technology that have supported...

Focusing on the potential use in biotechnology of microorganisms that seem perfectly content in temperatures that would fry most of life as we know it, reviews aspects of ecology and isolation, taxonomy, physiology and metabolism, molecular biology and genetics, and cell structure of the Thermus str

There is considerable interest in thermophile microorganisms, in their environments, their ability to survive at temperatures which normally denature proteins, but more importantly, as a valuable resource for bio- technology. The first reported isolation of Thermus by Tom Brock was in 1969. This initiated the present era of thermophilic research with the realization that where liquid water is available, there may be no limits to the temper- ature at which microorganisms can grow. Considerable research into the ecology, physiology, metabolism, and thermostable enzymes of thermo- philes has led...