It should be noted that we’re a long, long way from being able to build a molecular computer, but this is an encouraging first start. Proving that such a machine is possible opens the doors to more research in future, and hopefully one that’ll benefit future generations.
This is important because the computing world runs on switches, CPUs are essentially filled with billions of tiny switches. And in order for our machines to get faster, their brains need to get smaller — something that Intel is currently struggling to achieve. After all, the smaller you get, the more the laws of physics get in the way, so being able to leap down to the molecular level could produce staggering levels of performance.