Palo Alto (CA) - HP today announced that it has proven the existence of a new basic element, an intriguing breakthrough that could lead to big advancements to anything that uses electronic circuits.

Previously only theorized, the discovery of the element known as "memristor" could have researchers able to develop computing systems that do not lose memory.

Additionally, the new element could lead to systems that are much less relient on power consumption and can literally process information more like a human mind than current technologies.

Known as the fourth circuit element, it has been pontificated and discussed in science circles for decades but has never been proven until now, said HP.

The HP team leader R. Stanley Williams, who described the breakthrough as "a big surprise," said, "By providing a mathematical model for the physics of a memristor, HP Labs has made it possible for engineers to develop integrated circuit designs that could dramatically improve the performance and energy efficiency of PCs and data centers."

HP said that Memristor could eventually replace DRAM (dynamic random access memory) as the most efficient and advanced memory in wide use.

Additionally, HP said, it could lead to more advancements in facial recognition and other biometric technologies.