He notes that there are hints of trouble for IRF in recently weak results from rivals Texas Instruments, Linear Technology and Silicon Laboratories.

FORBES: Connect

Later this year or early next year, Acer Laboratories and Silicon Integrated Systems will also launch chipsets that work with Duron, he said.

CNN: AMD's low-cost Duron chip takes aim at Celeron

In the real world, this could eventually mean that most chemical experiments are conducted inside the silicon of chips instead of in the glassware of laboratories.

ECONOMIST: The 1998 Nobel prizes

Therein lies the origin of university science departments, regional agglomerations such as Silicon Valley and Route 128, and mega-laboratories at leading high-technology firms including Merck, Microsoft and Monsanto.

ECONOMIST: BY INVITATION: Helping the world’s poorest | The