Memristor technology is becoming available in 2014

Memristor close-up

They were first theorized in 1971... Memristors were then already named the "missing link" in electric circuitry. As a 4th, very fundamental circuit element, they would have properties un-achievable in the other elements: resistors, inductors and capacitors.

After 40 years of R&D, memristors are now starting to appear in consumer products. Unlike conventional computer memory that stores data with electronic on and off switches, memristors work at the very atomic level. The nano-scale devices have variable resistance, able to "remember" their resistance when the power is switched off.

This makes memristors immense faster, denser and much more energy efficient than conventional methods. Smart-phones, phablets and tablets, smart-TV's and electronic devices can now reap the benefits from a heavily improved battery life, speed, memory capacity and overall improved performance. Servers, PC's and laptops can be booted almost instantly. And because of their smaller size, memristors can also be used as microscopic sensors, gathering a wide range of data.

Memristor symbol

One other large benefit of memristors is their ability of re-configuration. Memristors function similar in behavior to the synapses in brains which brings along a potential to create electronic devices which are more capable of adapting to different situations and environments  and manifesting a form of learning, which could advance artificial intelligence in quite some ways. A few years down the road, it could even be well possible to build human brain-like computers.