Electronic computer chips made of tiny silicon wafers now regularly contain millions of electronic switches  Unfortunately, electronic switches that are this small cannot withstand intense radiation  Micro-Mechanics plans to produce a chip that, because it uses only microscopic mechanical switches, will be invulnerable to radiation damage
The switches will, however, be slower than electronic switches and the chip will contain only 12, 000 switches
There will be applications for computer chips in environments where the chips may have to survive intense radiation