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Sep 16, 2015

MIT creates diode for light, makes photonic silicon chips possible

Posted by in categories: computing, electronics, mobile phones, transportation

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a cornerstone of consumer tech. They make thin-and-light TVs and smartphones possible, provide efficient household, handheld, and automobile illumination, and, of course, without LEDs your router would not have blinkenlights. Thanks to some engineers from MIT, though, a new diode looks set to steal the humble LED’s thunder. Dubbed a diode for light, and crafted using standard silicon chip fabrication techniques, this is a key discovery that will pave the path to photonic (as opposed to electronic) pathways on computer chips and circuit boards.

In electronics, a diode is a gate that only allows electrons to pass in one direction (and with an LED, it also emits light at the same time). In this case, the diode for light — which is made from a thin layer of garnet — is transparent in one direction, but opaque in the other. Garnet is usually hard to deposit on a silicon wafer, but the MIT researchers found a way to do it — and that’s really the meat of this discovery.

Diode for light diagramBasically, it’s now possible, with regular chip-fab tools, to create an integrated silicon circuit with optical, rather than electronic, interconnects — both internally, and between other chips. Photons, moving through the kind of transparent metamaterials that would be required to make such a circuit, move a lot faster than electrons. Furthermore, optical channels, through wavelength-division multiplexing, can carry a lot more data than electric signals. At the moment, hundreds of copper wires connect the CPU, northbridge, and memory — with on-chip photonic controllers, a motherboard might only have 10 or 20 channels.

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Sep 16, 2015

New Solar Panels That Work At Night

Posted by in categories: materials, nanotechnology, solar power, sustainability

Nighttime solar panels, night solar panels, night photovoltaics, Solar cells, solar power at night, idaho national laboratory, solar technology, solar film, nanotechnology solar, nanoantennas, New Solar Panels Can Harvest Energy After Dark

Despite the enormous untapped potential of solar energy, one thing is for sure- photovoltaics are only as good as the sun’s rays shining upon them. However, researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory are close to the production of a super-thin solar film that would be cost-effective, imprinted on flexible materials, and would be able to harvest solar energy even after sunset!

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Sep 16, 2015

Silicon Valley billionaires are appalled

Posted by in category: education

by normal schools — so they’ve created this new one.

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Sep 16, 2015

Will You Join the Transhuman Evolution?

Posted by in categories: business, evolution, transhumanism

DLD (Digital-Life-Design) is a global network on innovation, digitization, science and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and influencers for crossover conversation and inspiration.

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Sep 16, 2015

Computing at the Speed of Light

Posted by in category: supercomputing

Replacing metal wiring with fiber optics could change everything from supercomputers to laptops.

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Sep 16, 2015

Schrödinger’s microbe: physicists plan to put living organism in two places at once

Posted by in category: quantum physics

A radical demonstration of quantum theory could see a bacterium suspended in an uncertain state similar to that famously endured by Schrödinger’s cat.

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Sep 16, 2015

The first 8K TV will go on sale soon for over $130,000

Posted by in categories: business, electronics

Sharp has demonstrated Super Hi-Vision 8K displays before (as seen above during CES 2015), but today in Japan it announced an 85-inch version is going on sale October 30th. Dubbed the LV-85001, it’s a monitor (it has a tuner so you could call it a TV, but that can’t actually receive 8K video) for professional use only, mostly since there aren’t really any broadcasts or content to watch in 8K. Coming in at 16 times the resolution of 1080p screens, the 7,680 × 4,320 pixel LCD panel uses Sharp’s IGZO technology. To actually watch any 8K video, you’ll need to plug into all four of its HDMI inputs at once just to have enough bandwidth. If you’re interested (and why wouldn’t you be, even though there’s almost nothing to watch), just contact Sharp’s business-to-business sales unit, and bring along a check for 16,000,000 yen, or about $133,034 US.

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Sep 16, 2015

DLD Magazine: “Will You Join the Transhuman Evolution?”,

Posted by in categories: business, evolution, transhumanism

DLD (Digital-Life-Design) is a global network on innovation, digitization, science and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and influencers for crossover conversation and inspiration.

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Sep 16, 2015

Trident ROV may be that underwater drone you’ve been looking for

Posted by in category: drones

Aerial drones are great for providing a bird’s eye view of our world. That said, some people are more interested in seeing a fish’s eye view of their local seacoast or lake. Previously, such folks had to build their own underwater remote-operated vehicle (ROV). Three years ago, San Francisco startup OpenROV made things a little easier for them, by offering an ROV kit that users put together themselves. Now, the company is crowdfunding the fully-assembled Trident ROV, which can reportedly be “flown” through the water.

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Sep 16, 2015

Atlantis Rising: Why Floating Cities are the Next Frontier (Joe Quirk)

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, governance, innovation

Is seasteading the wave of the future? Joe Quirk of the Seasteading Institute thinks floating cities will allow micro nations to compete for people — providing better life options and innovations. “Aquapreneurs,” says Quirk, can save humanity from disease, environmental harm and maybe even war.

Voice & Exit is a dynamic, transformative festival of the future. Exiters are dedicated to maximizing human flourishing for individuals, communities and our world.

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