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TPU Deep Dive

Let’s dive in and look at TPU internals from the bottom up.

I’ve been working with TPUs a lot recently and it’s fun to see how they had such different design philosophies compared to GPUs.

The main strongpoint for TPUs is in their scalability. This is achieved through a co-design of both the hardware side (e.g. energy efficiency and modularity) and the software side (e.g. XLA compiler).

To give a brief tldr on TPUs, it’s Google’s ASIC that focuses on two factors: extreme matmul throughput + energy efficiency.

Vacuum fluctuations in optical cavities reveal hidden properties of embedded materials

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have theoretically demonstrated that photons trapped inside an optical cavity carry detailed information about a material placed within it. By measuring the properties of the photons leaking out of the cavity, researchers can probe how an optical cavity modifies the properties of the embedded materials.

This insight opens new possibilities for experimental techniques to explore entangled light-matter systems. Their work has been published in Physical Review Letters.

According to basic quantum mechanics, empty space is not truly empty—it’s filled with particles that constantly pop in and out of existence, a phenomenon known as vacuum fluctuations. This process is somewhat analogous to atoms at the surface of boiling water, which continually jump in and out of the liquid.

Scientists create ‘universal translator’ for quantum tech

Scientists at UBC have devised a chip-based device that acts as a “universal translator” for quantum computers, converting delicate microwave signals to optical ones and back with minimal loss and noise. This innovation preserves crucial quantum entanglement and works both ways, making it a potential backbone for a future quantum internet. By exploiting engineered flaws in silicon and using superconducting components, the device achieves near-perfect signal translation with extremely low power use and it all fits on a chip. If realized, this could transform secure communication, navigation, and even drug discovery.

Top-down attention and Alzheimer’s pathology affect cortical selectivity during learning, influencing episodic memory in older adults

Task-evoked dorsal attention network activity and AD pathology influence memory formation in cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Detailed imaging of key receptors suggests new avenue for repairing brain function

For the first time, scientists using cryo-electron microscopy have discovered the structure and shape of key receptors connecting neurons in the brain’s cerebellum, which is located behind the brainstem and plays a critical role in functions such as coordinating movement, balance and cognition.

The research, published in Nature, provides new insight that could lead to the development of therapies to repair these structures when they are disrupted either by injury or affecting —sitting, standing, walking, running, and jumping—learning and memory.

The study, by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, reveals the organization of a specific type of glutamate receptor—a that conveys signals between neurons and is considered the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain—bound together with proteins clustered on synapses, or junctions, between neurons in the cerebellum.