Augmented Reality. Variable field magnet motor Solar Car. 1,000 Core CPU Achieved: Your Future Desktop Will Be a Supercomputer. Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Lowell laugh in the face of Intel's weedy handful of cores in its new CPU lineup: They've just squeezed over a thousand processor cores onto a single chip. We've heard a lot about the potential for future desktop-sized supercomputers, but more than anything else this research proves that in the not-too-distant future it's likely to be a reality. Interestingly enough, there's also a green angle to this idea: FPGA chips can be more power efficient than their competitors, and if less computer time is needed to process complex tasks, then the overall power consumption of computers using the tech could be impressively low.
The advance was made by Dr. Wim Vanderbauwhede's team, who programmed an advanced chip called a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Racetrack memory will make computers 100,000 times faster - Tucson Technology. Researchers at the Laboratory of Nanomagnetism and Spin Dynamics are working on a form of memory that will work 100,000 times faster than today’s hard drives. Not only are they faster, they are also far more efficient. Current computers take an average of 2-3 minutes to transfer information from the hard disk to the RAM. This new technology would allow for computers to boot up instantly and retrieve data 100,000 times more rapidly. In addition to lightning fast speeds it is also extremely efficient. RAM requires near constant electrical current, yet Racetrack memory does not have the same constraint. This could make it up to 300% more efficient, saving power and money. EPFL explains how it works: Like the tried and true VHS videocassette, the proposed solution involves data recorded on magnetic tape.
EPFL is currently working with IBM to create a prototype. For more info: EPFL. 3D holograms enter the fourth dimension - tech - 03 November 2010. Video: Holograms go 4D Holography has just gained a fourth dimension, bringing the prospect of Star Wars-style holographic telepresence into the real world. Ever since Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks made the first laser holograms in 1963, holography has been the future of three-dimensional imaging. Once created, a hologram can be illuminated to create a pattern of light waves that replicates the light reflected by the original object, generating a 3D image without the need for special glasses.
As such, holography seems an ideal medium for three-dimensional telepresence, like the famous "hologram" of Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie. By election night 2020 the pair might be able to have that face-to-face conversation, though, according to Nasser Peyghambarian at the University of Arizona in Tuscon. Plastic pictures The key is a complex new plastic material the researchers have developed, which changes its refractive index when illuminated by laser light. Better to come. Nanowire battery can hold 10 times the charge of existing lithium-ion battery. Stanford Report, December 18, 2007 Courtesy Nature Nanotechnology Photos taken by a scanning electron microscope of silicon nanowires before (left) and after (right) absorbing lithium. Both photos were taken at the same magnification. The work is described in “High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires,” published online Dec. 16 in Nature Nanotechnology.
Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices. The new technology, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers. "It's not a small improvement," Cui said. Then, along came silicon nanowires. Roadrunner Supercomputer Breaks the Petaflop Barrier.