http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/05/23/2058251/return-of-the-vacuum-tube
Quote"Peer inside an antique radio and you'll find what look like small light bulbs. They're actually vacuum tubes ? the predecessors of the silicon transistor. Vacuum tubes went the way of the dinosaurs in the 1960s, but researchers have now brought them back to life, creating a nano-sized version that's faster and hardier than the transistor (abstract). It's even able to survive the harsh radiation of outer space."
Well, that's certainly one big advantage of tubes, they last for bloody ever...
That reminds me I was looking up different do it yourself radio kits and found one that actually made use of the old cats whisker tube for fine tuning a signal.
Way more fun than digital bars or a dial indicator :D /it glows/ oooOoooOooo