The month of February was another busy one at IBM. There was a slew of announcements in hardware, software, services, acquisitions, and strategic alliances. The announcements made by the company during the month are below, and the complete Index of IBM Happenings (by year and month) is here.
One announcement that I found particularly interesting was that IBM scientists — in collaboration with the University of Regensburg in Germany — were able to measure the force it takes to move individual atoms on a surface. This was the first time that this has ever been done.
Understanding the force necessary to move specific atoms on specific surfaces is one of the keys to designing and constructing the small structures that will enable future nanotechnologies. Building a steel or concrete bridge would be impossible without understanding the forces on the various structures — likewise when building things at the atomic level. Miniaturizing storage and computing devices to the ultimate limit – the scale of just a few atoms – will require radically new designs and manufacturing methods and the breakthrough ability to measure the force it takes to move an atom will become a fundamental ingredient. Nanotechnology will be changing our lives in the years ahead by enabling vast amounts of personal information storage and incredible new capabilities in healthcare, and just about everything around us will contain amazing new materials.

• Complete Index of IBM Happenings (by year and month)