Computers & the Internet News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Airbus takes over Space Coast constellation factory

January 29, 2024

TAMPA, Fla. — Eutelsat OneWeb has sold its 50% share of the factory that built more than 600 satellites for its low Earth orbit constellation (LEO) to Airbus, the operator’s joint venture partner.

Airbus said Jan. 29 it is now the sole owner of Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS) in Merritt Island, adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which it has repurposed for other commercial and government customers.

Financial details were not disclosed.

In its peak, the eight-year-old facility’s semi-automated production line was producing two satellites daily for OneWeb’s first-generation broadband constellation.

The operator fully deployed the network in LEO last year, although global coverage has slipped to later in 2024 following delays with the ground segment.

https://spacenews.com/airbus-takes-over ... n-factory/

[weatheriscool]

BREAKTHROUGH Graphene on Silicon Carbide Which Enable Small Amounts of UltraFast THz Chips
February 1, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/02/b ... chips.html
Researchers claims to have developed a method for producing a layer of graphene on a silicon carbide (SiC) wafer to form a semiconductor with a band gap of 0.6 eV and with room temperature electron mobility 10-20 times larger than other 2D semiconductors.

They used a quasi-equilibrium annealing method to produces high-quality semiconducting epigraphene (SEG) on an underlying SiC substrate.

When heated, carbon atoms are transported from the carbon surface to the silicon surface to form a buffer layer chemically bonded to the SiC. It should be possible to produce wafer-scale single-crystal SEG.

Graphene can also be used in components that operate in the terahertz part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Terahertz frequencies can be suggested for use in communications like future 6G systems.

[firestar464]

Wait, is this a room-temp superconductor?

[Tadasuke]

I will believe when actual products are released and fully available.

[weatheriscool]

China's SMIC Could Produce 5nm Chips Despite Trade Restrictions
The company has reportedly built two new plants to produce the chips.
By Ryan Whitwam February 6, 2024

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/c ... strictions
Chinese technology firms have been hamstrung over the past several years as the US has increasingly blocked access to the latest microchips. The country's largest chipmaker, SMIC, surprised everyone with the release of a 7nm processor last year, and now rumors point to a 5nm release. This improvement could advance China's AI ambitions, making the US-led technology blockade look even more ineffective.

Action against Chinese technology giants began during the Trump administration with the addition of companies like Huawei to the government's Entity List, which prevents the transfer of US technology. The Chinese government's solution was to put its full weight behind homegrown chip manufacturing. The Biden administration has further clamped down by restricting China's access to the latest lithography machinery for manufacturing chips, leaving SMIC with technology intended for larger and less efficient process nodes.

SMIC is allegedly on the verge of releasing the new 5nm chips, which have been designed by Huawei's HiSilicon subsidiary. They will be produced in a pair of new factories in Shanghai. The chips will appear first in flagship smartphones, but SMIC has big plans for 5nm if that works. It hopes to produce server chips and AI accelerators at 5nm, which would close the gap between Chinese designs and the latest AI hardware from Nvidia. Like lithography technology firms, Nvidia is barred from exporting most of its AI accelerators to China.

[weatheriscool]

Crucial to Take Gen 5 SSD Speed Crown With 14.5GB/s Reads
The T705 lineup will also reportedly come in a 4TB capacity.
By Josh Norem February 7, 2024

For years, we've been saddled with PCIe 4.0 SSDs and their paltry 7GB/s of bandwidth. PCIe 5.0 has promised to change that situation by offering double the bandwidth, going up to 14GB/s, making them one heck of an upgrade. The problem is most of the PCIe Gen 5 SSDs that have come out so far have failed to meet this goal, but that's all starting to change now that it's 2024. Several drives have been announced with 14GB/s read speeds, and Crucial is set to one-up those with its upcoming T705 NVME M.2 SSD that can achieve 14.5GB/s in sequential reads.

Specs and photos of Crucial's latest SSDs have been leaked online, and they indicate Crucial's next-generation T705 SSDs will be the fastest drives you can buy when they launch. Of course, not everyone will benefit from this much bandwidth, but in terms of the spec sheet, Crucial will likely be crowned the SSD speed king shortly. This new SSD will replace the existing T700 Gen 5 drives, which can hit around 12GB/s in sequential reads. According to Videocardz, the 2TB version of the T705 will be capable of 14.5GB/s sequential read speeds, making it the fastest drive available.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/c ... 5gbs-reads

[weatheriscool]

BREAKTHROUGH – Better Algorithms for Classical Computers to Efficiently Compete With Quantum Computers
February 14, 2024 by Brian Wang

A new algorithm can further exploit the twin challenges of information loss and translation to mimic a quantum computer with far fewer resources than previously thought.

It was previously though that quantum computers with 50-100 logical low error qubits would be able to surpass regular supercomputers. New algorithms are showing that regular computers could beat low error quantum computers with 127 qubits and possibly more.

PRX Quantum – Efficient Tensor Network Simulation of IBM’s Eagle Kicked Ising Experiment

Above -Tensor network state for the infinite heavy hex lattice. The unit cell is a five-site tensor network. By adding in appropriate periodic boundary conditions and simulating the kicked Ising model with the BP-approximated TNS method we recover results for simulation of the infinite lattice with the BP-approximated TNS method.

ABSTRACT
We report an accurate and efficient classical simulation of a kicked Ising quantum system on the heavy hexagon lattice. A simulation of this system was recently performed on a 127-qubit quantum processor using noise-mitigation techniques to enhance accuracy. Here we show that, by adopting a tensor network approach that reflects the geometry of the lattice and is approximately contracted using belief propagation, we can perform a classical simulation that is significantly more accurate and precise than the results obtained from the quantum processor and many other classical methods. We quantify the treelike correlations of the wave function in order to explain the accuracy of our belief propagation-based approach. We also show how our method allows us to perform simulations of the system to long times in the thermodynamic limit, corresponding to a quantum computer with an infinite number of qubits. Our tensor network approach has broader applications for simulating the dynamics of quantum systems with treelike correlations.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/02/b ... uters.html

[weatheriscool]

Microsoft Confirms the Next Version of Windows is 24H2, Not Windows 12
It sounds like Microsoft isn't ready to put Windows 11 to bed just yet.
By Josh Norem February 15, 2024

Over the past year, there's been an online debate over what Microsoft would call the next version of Windows. We all know Windows 11 is still trailing far behind Windows 10 regarding the number of users for each OS, so it was thought Microsoft would announce Windows 12 to have a "new" OS to offer people instead of just a big feature update. Now, it appears Microsoft has chosen the latter option and will just go with Windows 11 24H2 as the next version of Windows. Time to recall those Windows 12 launch party invites!

News of Microsoft's plans comes from a recent update on its Windows 11 blog, which discusses changes in test builds for the dev and canary channels. The blog states that folks installing the latest 26052 build will see the OS version number change, which is expected behavior. Then, to convey the importance of this change, it states in bold text, "This denotes that Windows 11, version 24H2 will be this year’s annual feature update." Microsoft then affirms its feature update cadence is once a year, arriving in the fall, so we can most likely expect 24H2 around September.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/m ... windows-12

[Powers]

Windows will never get good from now on.

[weatheriscool]

Plasma scientists develop computer programs that could reduce the cost of microchips, stimulate manufacturing
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-plasma-sc ... chips.html
by Raphael Rosen, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

Fashioned from the same element found in sand and covered by intricate patterns, microchips power smartphones, augment appliances and aid the operation of cars and airplanes.

Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are developing computer simulation codes that will outperform current simulation techniques and aid the production of microchips using plasma, the electrically charged state of matter also used in fusion research.

These codes could help increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process and potentially stimulate the renaissance of the chip industry in the United States.

[weatheriscool]

Software tweak doubles computer processing speed, halves energy use
By Paul McClure
February 22, 2024

https://newatlas.com/computers/smht-par ... rocessing/
Existing processors in PCs, smartphones and other devices can be supercharged for enormous power and efficiency gains using a new parallel processing software framework designed to eliminate bottlenecks and use multiple chips at once.

Most modern computers, from smartphones and PCs to data center servers, contain graphics processing units (GPUs) and hardware accelerators for AI and machine learning. Well-known commercial examples include Tensor Cores on NVIDIA GPUs, Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) on Google Cloud servers, Neural Engines on Apple iPhones, and Edge TPUs on Google Pixel phones.

[weatheriscool]

Breakthrough Pseudo CMOS Transistors for 1000 Times More Efficient Computing
February 23, 2024 by Brian Wang

Beijing researchers made a pseudo-CMOS architecture for sub-picowatt logic computing that uses self-biased molybdenum disulfide transistors.

As transistors are scaled to smaller dimensions, their static power increases. Combining two-dimensional (2D) channel materials with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) logic architectures could be an effective solution to this issue because of the excellent field-effect properties of 2D materials. However, 2D materials have limited polarity control. The transistors have a gapped channel that forms a tunable barrier—thus circumventing the polarity control of 2D materials—and exhibit a reverse-saturation current below 1 pA with high reliability and endurance.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/02/b ... uting.html

[weatheriscool]

Researchers develop a computer from an array of VCSELs with optical feedback
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-array-vcs ... dback.html
by SPIE

In our data-driven era, solving complex problems efficiently is crucial. However, traditional computers often struggle with this task when dealing with a large number of interacting variables, leading to inefficiencies such as the von Neumann bottleneck. A new type of collective state computing has emerged to address this issue by mapping these optimization problems onto something called the Ising problem in magnetism.

Here's how it works: Imagine representing a problem as a graph, where nodes are connected by edges. Each node has two states, either +1 or -1, representing the potential solutions. The goal is to find the configuration that minimizes the system's total energy based on a concept called a Hamiltonian.

[Tadasuke]

I used to believe that computers and the Internet would be the answer to all our problems. That they would make us augmented humans, able to everything much easier, faster, better and feel better at the same time.

In actuality, I largely credit them with my high anxiety, anhedonia, awful back & neck pain, as well as horrible hands pain, making life a dislikable hardship, even when allegedly living in a "1st world country". I am just really fed up with using these (largely the same, except for some details) machines on a daily basis, especially the worldwide web and especially doing much on computers (not gaming, as I hardly game anymore). It is basically all the same sh*t over and over again, every day. They are overrated imo, at this point, in early 2024.

There's practically nothing that would make all of this significantly less hurtful, stressful and more tolerable, other than just somehow using them less, avoiding them more often, especially the non-passive use (easier written than done). At least I have YouTube Premium these days and I have ways to watch it on a bigger screen. There are also some ever growing websites, which can seriously teach, allow learning or show many documentaries, but they cost and can be tiring.

Voice control is useless unfortunately, it works very poorly for me. Brain control at this point is only for completely paralyzed people and only a few of them, although the number of users is likely to increase in the coming years. I'm not amused at this point. I feel deceived and deluded tbh. :-/

[weatheriscool]

Microsoft Adds a Ton of New Features to AI Copilot for Windows 11
It can now access system settings, use plug-ins for a variety of popular apps, and lots more.
By Josh Norem March 1, 2024

Microsoft added its AI-powered Copilot assistant to Windows 11 in September 2023, and today, it's launching the first massive update to the service. The new update includes a sizable number of new features, some arriving immediately; others will roll out over the next month or require new apps to be installed. Highlights include the ability to change Windows settings and new plug-ins for popular apps like Instacart, so you can order groceries from Copilot on your computer. The update gives us a glimpse of what an "AI PC" can do, where it functions like a true virtual assistant handling various everyday tasks.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/m ... windows-11

[caltrek]

Something Strange Happens When You Ask AI to Act Like Star Trek
by Marianne Guenot
March 1, 2024

Introduction:

(Science Alert) The art of speaking to AI chatbots is continuing to frustrate and baffle people.

A study attempting to fine-tune prompts fed into a chatbot model found that, in one instance, asking it to speak as if it were on Star Trek dramatically improved its ability to solve grade-school-level math problems.

"It's both surprising and irritating that trivial modifications to the prompt can exhibit such dramatic swings in performance," the study authors Rick Battle and Teja Gollapudi at software firm VMware in California said in their paper.

The study, first reported by New Scientist, was published on February 9 on arXiv, a server where scientists can share preliminary findings before they have been validated by careful scrutiny from peers.

Using AI to speak with AI

Machine learning engineers Battle and Gallapudi didn't set out to expose the AI model as a Trekkie. Instead, they were trying to figure out if they could capitalize on the "positive thinking" trend.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/something ... tar-trek

[weatheriscool]

Researchers demonstrate 3D nanoscale optical disk memory with petabit capacity
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-3d-nanosc ... emory.html
by University of Shanghai for Science and Technology

The most popular words of 2023 were recently released, with AI Large Language Model (LLM) unquestionably topping the list. As a front-runner, ChatGPT also emerged as one of the international buzzwords of the year. These disruptive innovations in AI owe much to big data, which has played a pivotal role. Yet, AI has simultaneously presented new opportunities and challenges to the development of big data.

High-capacity data storage is indispensable in today's digital economy. However, major storage devices like hard disk drives and semiconductor flash devices face limitations in terms of cost-effectiveness, durability, and longevity.

Optical data storage offers a promising green solution for cost-effective and long-term data storage. Nonetheless, optical data storage encounters a fundamental limitation in the spacing of adjacent recorded features, owing to the optical diffraction limit. This physical constraint not only impedes the further development of direct laser writing machines but also affects optical microscopy and storage technology.

[weatheriscool]

An approach to realize in-sensor dynamic computing and advance computer vision
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-03-app ... ision.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

The rapid advancement in machine learning techniques and sensing devices over the past decades have opened new possibilities for the detection and tracking of objects, animals, and people. The accurate and automated detection of visual targets, also known as intelligent machine vision, can have various applications, ranging from the enhancement of security and surveillance tools to environmental monitoring and the analysis of medical imaging data.

While machine vision tools have achieved highly promising results, their performance often declines in low lighting conditions or when there is limited visibility. To effectively detect and track dim targets, these tools should be able to reliably extract features such as edges and corners from images, which conventional sensors based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology are often unable to capture.

Researchers at Nanjing University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently introduced a new approach to develop sensors that could better detect dim targets in complex environments. Their approach, outlined in Nature Electronics, relies on the realization of in-sensor dynamic computing, thus merging sensing and processing capabilities into a single device.

[weatheriscool]

FCC Votes to Raise Broadband Definition to 100Mbps Down, 20Mbps Up
Slower speeds no longer count as broadband in the FCC's eyes.
By Ryan Whitwam March 15, 2024

After years of deadlocked votes, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is fully staffed and making progress. For the first time since 2015, the FCC has voted to increase the standards for what constitutes "broadband" internet connectivity. Going forward, only connections with at least 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up will be considered broadband.

https://www.extremetech.com/internet/fc ... -20mbps-up

[weatheriscool]

Researchers create skyrmion-based memory technology for extremely low-power devices
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-03-sky ... emely.html
by National University of Singapore

A research team led by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in partnership with National University of Singapore (NUS) has created an innovative microelectronic device that can potentially function as a sustainable, high-performance "bit-switch." This paves the way for future computing technologies to process data much faster while using significantly less energy.

By harnessing tiny, stable and speedy magnetic whirls called skyrmions, the device can operate using 1,000 times less power than commercial memory technologies. This discovery was reported in the journal Nature.