Germanium (Ge)

Nanotech, virtual reality, Moore's Law - we look at germanium, the substance that could oust the silicon from Silicon Valley, and one day help computers supercede your brain. IBM's head of innovation, Bernie Meyerson, showcases the company's new prototype 7nm germanium-silicon chip - containing the tiniest transistors yet at just 35 atoms across. Presenter Laurence Knight heads to Oxford to scrutinise the equally tiny images made by startup Bodle Technologies out of wonder material GST. And he hears from another IBM material scientist - Abu Sebastian, based in Zurich - about how GST could help us build thinking computers that might one day outsmart us all. (Picture: IBM's prototype 7nm silicon-germanium chip; Credit: Darryl Bautista/Feature Photo Service for IBM)