This year England and Ireland have declared 2005 Einstein Year. The idea is to encourage the next generation of physicists. But if you can’t make it across the pond, I encourage you to attend IEEEs International Solid-State Circuits Conference [ISSCC] in San Francisco. This is the place to get a look at the future of technology years before the scientific papers being delivered at the conference are turned into commercial products. At ISSCC you can see futuristic stuff at the level of Star Trek. In fact, the press copy of the program likens some of the presentations to Lieutenant Commander Data, the android from Star Trek: the Next Generation.By far the most interesting paper, Paper 4.1on neuroelectronics, will be delivered by Peter Fromherz of the Max Planck Institute in Germany.Fromherz discusses a breakthrough that allows an information exchange between electronic systems, which transmit information by electrons, and neurons, which transmit information by ions. The advanced program says, “The presentation will explain a true breakthrough, a neuron-cell-to-semiconductor connection that enables neuroelectronic communication.” Paper 4.2, from MIT, discusses stimulating auditory nerves using a processor in a bionic ear.Paper 4.3, from Harvard, talks about manipulating cells attached to magnetic tags by using CMOS logic.Some of the sessions get very technical but if you have any interest at all in the next frontier of science try and get to the show. The ISSCC will be at the marriott Hotel, San Francisco, February 6-10. Technology Industry