Media_httpwwwpopscico_ydwnx

Tiny Think: A white signal on the right edge corresponds to logic 0 and a blue signal to logic 1. Between two successive images, the magnetic states of the bits were switched to encode the binary representation of the ASCII characters "THINK."

 

Media_httpwwwpopscico_ciaoi

 
Smallest Storage Unit Spin-polarized imaging with a scanning tunneling microscope reveals the structure of the world's smallest magnetic data storage unit. It consists of just 12 iron atoms ordered in an antiferromagnetic structure.

"The world’s smallest magnetic data storage unit is made of just 12 atoms, squeezing an entire byte into just 96 atoms, a significant shrinkage in the world of information storage. It’s not a quantum computer, but it’s a computer storage unit at the quantum scale. By contrast, modern hard disk drives use about a million atoms to store a single bit, and a half billion atoms per byte."
via popsci.com