And despite all this, a yen touching postwar highs, making it hard for even the most efficient manufacturers to earn a profit on export goods.

FORBES: Japan's Economy May Stink, But Its World-Class Firms Are A Bargain

It turns out that those selenium "doughnuts" can be packed tightly onto a metal surface without touching, thanks to their soft shells, which could allow more bits to be packed onto a hard drive, or be used in quantum computers and next-gen displays.

ENGADGET: Researchers stumble onto 'lava' generated quantum dots, could power future peripherals