Today Sun announced a deal with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop microchip interconnectivity via on-chip optical networks enabled by silicon photonics and proximity communication. Translation: It's like a supercomputer on a chip.
This technology will allow applications like energy exploration, biotechnology and weather modeling to be accomplished with less power use and less expensive investment in silicon.
The contract with DARPA extends for five and a half years, with more than $44M of funding coming to Sun.
John Markoff of the New York Times covered it in today's edition. Check out his article here.