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Category: computing – Page 500

Mark “Superhero Copycat” Zuckerberg

A better world without Facebook and all its negative impacts would be a significant step forward. Facebook’s dominance and influence have often been associated with issues such as privacy breaches, the spread of misinformation, and the erosion of real social connections. By breaking free from Facebook’s grip, we can foster a healthier online environment that prioritizes privacy, genuine interactions, and reliable information. It is time to envision a world where social media platforms serve as catalysts for positive change, promoting authentic communication and meaningful connections among individuals.

(Image credit: Adobe Stock)

Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook (now Meta), recently celebrated reaching 100 million users in just five days with his new Twitter-like platform called Threads. However, this achievement doesn’t impress me much. Instead, it highlights Zuckerberg’s tendency to imitate rather than innovate.

While I used to admire him, I now realize that he doesn’t belong in the same league as my true idols. Comparing the 100 million sign-ups for ChatGPT to the 100 million Threads users is simply absurd.

Continue reading “Mark “Superhero Copycat” Zuckerberg” | >

Electric Fields are Pivotal in Encoding Memories

Summary: Our brains have been likened to an orchestra, with neurons as musicians creating a symphony of thought and memory.

A recent study reveals the conductor behind this symphony: electric fields. These fields are generated by the combined electrical activity of neurons, orchestrating them into functional networks.

This research shines a light on the brain’s complex inner workings and could impact the future of brain-computer interfaces.

The Materials of Future Transistors

Researchers in the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering have demonstrated control over an emerging material, which they consider as a possible future alternative to silicon in microelectronics. This is a timely development, because scientists and engineers face challenges in continuing the transistor shrinking trend, an important driver of computer chip performance.

The continuous performance improvement of these chips has been driven by shrinking the size of the most basic logic “Lego” piece – the transistor. Transistors are miniature switches that control the flow of electric currents, analogous to a faucet controlling the flow of water. Already in the early 1960s, Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel, proposed that the transistors’ miniaturization rate should allow doubling of the number of transistors per area every 2 years.

New material shows promise for next-generation memory technology

Phase change memory is a type of nonvolatile memory that harnesses a phase change material’s (PCM) ability to shift from an amorphous state, i.e., where atoms are disorganized, to a crystalline state, i.e., where atoms are tightly packed close together. This change produces a reversible electrical property which can be engineered to store and retrieve data.

While this field is in its infancy, could potentially revolutionize because of its high storage density, and faster read and write capabilities. But still, the complex switching mechanism and intricate fabrication methods associated with these materials have posed challenges for mass production.

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) Van Der Waals (vdW) di-chalcogenides have emerged as a promising PCM for usage in phase change memory.

New study challenges conventional understanding of charging process in electrochemical devices

A new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge reveals a surprising discovery that could transform the future of electrochemical devices. The findings offer new opportunities for the development of advanced materials and improved performance in fields such as energy storage, brain-like computing, and bioelectronics.

Electrochemical devices rely on the movement of charged particles, both ions and electrons, to function properly. However, understanding how these charged particles move together has presented a significant challenge, hindering progress in creating new materials for these devices.

In the rapidly evolving field of bioelectronics, soft conductive materials known as conjugated polymers are used for developing that can be used outside of traditional clinical settings. For example, this type of materials can be used to make wearable sensors that monitor patients’ health remotely or implantable devices that actively treat disease.

Synchron Stentrode: Brain Computer Interface for Paralysis

The first endovascular neural interface, the Stentrode™ is a minimally invasive implantable brain device that can interpret signals from the brain for patients with paralysis. Implanted via the jugular vein, the #Stentrode is placed inside the #brain in the command-control center, known as the motor cortex, but without the need for open brain surgery. The signals are captured and sent to a wireless unit implanted in the chest, which sends them to an external receiver. We are building a software suite that enables the patient to learn how to control a computer operating system and set of applications that interact with assistive technologies. This #technology has the potential to enable patients with paralysis to take back digital control of their world, without having to move a muscle.

Synchron is currently preparing for pilot clinical trials of the Stentrode™ to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this breakthrough technology.

Find out more at:
synchronmed.com.
https://twitter.com/synchron_ss

Intel Updates x86 Hybrid CPU Cluster Scheduling For The Linux Kernel

The latest iteration of Intel’s cluster scheduling support for x86 hybrid P/E-core CPUs were posted on Friday in seeking to enhance the performance of some workloads under Linux when running on recent Intel Core processors.

Earlier this year Intel posted a new round of Linux cluster scheduling patches after their original implementation I found to be causing regressions and hurting performance at the time with Alder Lake when their original cluster scheduling work was being tackled in 2021. With the 2023 incarnation things appear to be in much better shape.

In June were the v2 patches and on Friday succeeded by a third version. This newest version simplifies how the sibling imbalance is computed and removes the asym packing bias, rounding is added to the sibling imbalance, and some basic changes.

Engineers develop fast, automated, affordable test for cement durability

Engineers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new test that can predict the durability of cement in seconds to minutes—rather than the hours it takes using current methods. The test measures the behavior of water droplets on cement surfaces using computer vision on a device that costs less than $200. The researchers said the new study could help the cement industry move toward rapid and automated quality control of their materials.

The results of the study, led by Illinois civil and environmental engineering professor Nishant Garg, are reported in the journal npj Materials Degradation. The paper is titled “Rapid prediction of cementitious initial sorptivity via surface wettability.”

“Concrete is one of the most consumed materials on our planet, second only to water,” Garg said. “Over time, the concrete used to build our infrastructure degrades over time via exposure to deicing salts; freeze and thaw cycles; and ingress of water—all of which can lead to corrosion of the rebar that is used to strengthen the structures. Ultimately, this leads to failure, sometimes catastrophically, as seen in the 2021 condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, where 98 lives were lost.”

Android phone hits 24GB of RAM, as much as a 13-inch MacBook Pro

Android manufacturers tend to love big spec sheets, even if those giant numbers won’t do much for day-to-day phone usage. In that vein, we’ve got the new high-water mark for ridiculous amounts of memory in a phone. The new Nubia RedMagic 8S Pro+ is an Android gaming phone with an option for 24GB of RAM.

The base model of the RedMagic 8S Pro+ starts with 16GB of RAM, but GSMArena has pictures and details of the upgraded 24GB SKU, which is the most amount of memory ever in an Android phone. Because we’re all about big numbers, it also comes with 1TB of storage. Keep in mind a 13-inch top-spec M2 MacBook Pro has 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, and that’s a desktop OS with real multitasking, so Nubia is really pushing it. This suped-up 24GB version of the phone appears to be a China-exclusive, with the price at CNY 7,499 (about $1,034), which is a lot for a phone in China.

You definitely want an adequate amount of RAM in an Android phone. All these apps are designed around cheap phones, though, and with Android’s aggressive background app management, there’s usually not much of a chance to use a ton of RAM. Theoretically, a phone like this would let you multitask better, since apps could stay in memory longer, and you wouldn’t have to start them back up when switching tasks. Most people aren’t quickly switching through that many apps, though, and some heavy apps, games especially, will just automatically turn off a few seconds once they’re in the background.

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