Lateral computing of magnitude better than conventional computers. The Simulated annealing algorithm is designed by looking at how the pure crystals form from a heated gaseous state while the system is cooled slowly. The computing problem is redesigned as a simulated annealing exercise and the solutions are arrived at. The working principle of simulated annealing is borrowed from metallurgy: a piece of metal is heated (the atoms are given thermal agitation), and then the metal is left to cool slowly. The slow and regular cooling of the metal allows the atoms to slide progressively their most stable ("minimal energy") positions. (Rapid cooling
Glass knife Glass knife A glass knife is a knife with a blade composed of glass. The cutting edge of a glass knife is formed from a fracture line, and is extremely sharp. Glass knives were used in antiquity due to their natural sharpness and the ease with which they could be manufactured. In modern electron microscopy, glass knives are used to make the ultrathin sections needed for imaging. Beginning in the Stone Age, glass knives (and other tools, such as arrowheads) were produced through a process known as knapping or lithic reduction. Although such bladed tools were often made of stone,