E-Mail Scientists have given a fascinating new insight into the next steps to develop fast, energy-efficient, future computing systems that use light instead of electrons to process and store information - incorporating hardware inspired directly by the functioning of the human brain. A team of scientists, including Professor C. David Wright from the University of Exeter, has explored the future potential for computer systems by using photonics in place of conventional electronics. The article is published today (January 29th 2021) in the prestigious journal Nature Photonics. The study focuses on potential solutions to one of the world's most pressing computing problems - how to develop computing technologies to process this data in a fast and energy efficient way.