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Mar 29, 2024

Transistor Takes Advantage of Quantum Interference

Posted by in categories: computing, engineering, quantum physics

As transistors are made ever tinier to fit more computing power into a smaller footprint, they bump up against a big problem: quantum mechanics. Electrons get jumpy in small devices and leak out, which wastes energy while degrading performance. Now a team of researchers is showing that it doesn’t have to be that way. With careful engineering, it’s possible to turn electrons’ quantum behavior into an advantage.

A team of English, Canadian, and Italian researchers have developed a single-molecule transistor that harnesses quantum effects. At low temperatures, the single-molecule device shows a strong change in current with only a small change in gate voltage, nearing a physical limit known as the sub-threshhold swing. Getting near or beyond this limit will allow transistors to be switched with lower voltages, making them more efficient and generating less waste heat. The research team, including physicists at Queen Mary University of London, achieved this by taking advantage of how quantum interference alters the flow of current in single molecules.

“We’ve demonstrated, in principle, that you can use destructive quantum interference for something useful.” —Jan Mol, Queen Mary University of London.

Mar 29, 2024

Magnetic avalanche triggered by quantum effects

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

Iron screws and other so-called ferromagnetic materials are made up of atoms with electrons that act like little magnets. Normally, the orientations of the magnets are aligned within one region of the material but are not aligned from one region to the next. Think of packs of tourists in Times Square pointing to different billboards all around them. But when a magnetic field is applied, the orientations of the magnets, or spins, in the different regions line up and the material becomes fully magnetized. This would be like the packs of tourists all turning to point at the same sign.

Mar 29, 2024

NASA Testing Snake Robot for Exploring Saturn’s Moon

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

The snake robot, dubbed Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS), will one day plunge into the subsurface oceans of Enceladus.

Mar 29, 2024

Cheers! NASA’s Webb finds Ethanol, other Icy Ingredients for Worlds

Posted by in categories: chemistry, space

What do margaritas, vinegar, and ant stings have in common? They contain chemical ingredients that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has identified surrounding two young protostars known as IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385. Although planets are not yet forming around those stars, these and other molecules detected there by Webb represent key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds.

An international team of astronomers used Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) to identify a variety of icy compounds made up of complex organic molecules like ethanol (alcohol) and likely acetic acid (an ingredient in vinegar). This work builds on previous Webb detections of diverse ices in a cold, dark molecular cloud.

What is the origin of complex organic molecules (COMs)?

Mar 29, 2024

Intel introduces approach to Boost Power Efficiency, Reliability of Packaged Chiplet Ecosystems

Posted by in categories: computing, transportation

The integration of electronic chips in commercial devices has significantly evolved over the past decades, with engineers devising various integration strategies and solutions. Initially, computers contained a central processor or central processing unit (CPU), connected to memory units and other components via traditional communication pathways, known as front-side-bus (FSB) interfaces.

Technological advances, however, have enabled the development of new integrated circuit (IC) architectures relying on multiple chiplets and more sophisticated electronic components. Intel Corporation played a crucial role in these developments, by introducing new architectures and specifications for the design of systems with multiple packaged chiplets.

Researchers at Intel Corporation Santa Clara recently outlined a new vision for further boosting the performance of systems developed following universal chiplet interconnect express (UCIe), a specification to standardize the connections between multi-function chiplets in modern System-in-Package (SiP). Their proposed approach, presented in a paper in Nature Electronics, entails reducing the frequency in these circuits to boost their power efficiency and performance.

Mar 29, 2024

Scientists Put Tardigrade Proteins Into Human Cells. Here’s What Happened

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, futurism

Can anyone think of a good use for this protein in our cells in the future? Perhaps in space travel? 😁


Freeze ‘em, heat ‘em, blast them into empty space; with survival skills unlike any other organism on the planet, those hardy critters known as tardigrades will only come back for more.

While it’s clear their ability to withstand stress is in part due to their ability to turn their insides into gel, the mechanisms behind this act of metabolic preservation haven’t yet been made clear.

Continue reading “Scientists Put Tardigrade Proteins Into Human Cells. Here’s What Happened” »

Mar 29, 2024

How We’ll Reach a 1 Trillion Transistor GPU

Posted by in category: computing

Largely thanks to advances in semiconductor technology, a measure called energy-efficient performance is on track to triple every two years (EEP units are 1/femtojoule-picoseconds).

In particular, the EEP increase will be enabled by the advanced packaging technologies we’ve been discussing here. Additionally, concepts such as system-technology co-optimization (STCO), where the different functional parts of a GPU are separated onto their own chiplets and built using the best performing and most economical technologies for each, will become increasingly critical.

Mar 29, 2024

We May Have “Misunderstood the Universe,” Nobel Prize Winner Says

Posted by in category: space

New James Webb Space Telescope measurements suggest that problems with Universal expansion rates may be caused by something else entirely.

Mar 29, 2024

Paper page — Mesh2NeRF: Direct Mesh Supervision for Neural Radiance Field Representation and Generation

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Direct mesh supervision for neural radiance field representation and generation.

We present Mesh2NeRF, an approach to derive ground-truth radiance fields from textured meshes for 3D generation tasks.


Join the discussion on this paper page.

Mar 29, 2024

Light-powered computer chip can train AI much faster than components powered by electricity

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

New chip design uses photons rather than electrons to perform calculations, and scientists hope to integrate the technology into future graphics cards to train AI.

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