For everything from family to computers…
The world’s researchers have yet to build a quantum computer of any significant size. But maybe they just need a little Scotch tape.
Researchers at the University of Toronto recently used some two-sided Scotch poster tape — yes, two-sided Scotch poster tape — to transfer superconducting properties to a semiconducting material. That semiconductor is similar …
from Wired Top Stories
We’ve seen DIY supercomputers before: take a few motherboards, give them all the same processor, give them all the same amount of RAM and couple them all together via LAN. It has been a cheap and effective way for educational institutions (and enthusiasts) to jump into supercomputing. The Iridus-Pi continues in the same vein, using a cluster of 64 Raspberry Pi computers and Lego.
University of Southampton Professor Simon Cox has done an outstanding job here, but I definitely think that the next step needs to be doing something to address the power supply issue. The Raspberry Pi runs off 5v micro-USB and can run off 4 x AA batteries, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out a system that significantly cuts down on the amount of adapters and power strips involved.
from The UberReview
Mozilla announced today the release of Firefox 15, a new version of the open source Web browser. The update brings a number of noteworthy enhancements, including new built-in development tools and enhanced support for cutting-edge Web standards that enable sophisticated gaming experiences. Under the hood, Firefox 15 introduces a new optimization that can radically reduce the browser’s memory footprint for users who rely on many add-ons.
As we have discussed in much of our recent browser coverage, modern standards-based Web technologies are increasingly capable of supporting the kind of interactive multimedia experiences that used to only be available through plugins or native applications. The major browser vendors, which are all working to further expand the range of capabilities offered by the Web, have recently taken an interest in enabling game development.
Mozilla has been working on a number of relevant features, including an API for displaying content in fullscreen mode, support for mouse-locking, and sophisticated real-time audio mixing functionality. Earlier this year, Mozilla launched its own real-time multiplayer adventure game called BrowserQuest with the aim of showcasing HTML5 gameplay. The open Web is clearly a serious contender for casual gaming.
from Ars Technica
Freescale is announcing a new industrial touch sensing technology that’ll even sense your swipes and prods through a film of water. Xtrinsic 3.0 is designed to be used in industrial, medical and in-car systems, with pre-built user interfaces ready to be added to any device its jammed inside. In addition to being able to work through water, it can withstand noise, detect electrical interference and reduce false touches. It’s being demonstrated at the company’s technology forum in India from today, presumably ready to be licensed by passing equipment manufacturers in short order.
from Engadget
Taken from the number of sales of the displays used in the device, it looks like Google will be looking at a grand total of 8 million Nexus 7 tablets sold by the end of 2012. According to what Google had previously expected to sell since the July launch, that’s more than double the previous estimates. Google spokespeople have yet to confirm these projections, but once the sales numbers are posted, folks are likely to be happily surprised at the popularity of the Jelly Bean-powered device.
I know I could speak for most readers here that it’s easily been one of the most popular Android devices ever launched. With fantastic build quality, Jelly Bean, and that unbeatable $200-$250 price tag, it can’t be beat.
Via: Computer World
Cheers Sameer!
from Droid Life
Premiership footballers will be weeping in envy at the way Samsung’s been spending its cash this month. After splashing $822 million on a Korean R&D center, it’s now chucking $4 billion to renovate its semiconductor factory in Austin, Texas. The cash will be used to increase production on system-on-chip products used in a wide variety of smartphones and tablets, presumably to cope with future demand. It’s not clear if this investment is in addition to the $1 billion it was raising in January to add a new SOC and OLED line to the same facility, but it’s certainly a good time to be living in Texas, right now.
from Engadget
Spin is one of the intrinsic quantum properties of particles. The spin of electrons orbiting an atom has significant consequences, such as determining the magnetic properties of materials. Atomic nuclei also have spin, but that is harder to manipulate: it interacts less with other spins and nuclei are much more massive, so they aren’t as easily moved. However, those very properties could make nuclear spin a good option for for quantum computing, since the spin state of a nucleus is less subject to environmental influences that might alter its state. But reading out the nuclear spin state is notoriously difficult.
A new proof-of-principle experiment by Romain Vincent, Svetlana Klyatskaya, Mario Ruben, Wolfgang Werndorfer, and Franck Balestro measured the nuclear spin of a single atom. The nucleus belonged to a terbium (Tb) ion inside a larger molecule, which the researchers linked to a gold nanowire to construct a transistor-like device. They measured the four possible nuclear spin states, and observed them to be stable for tens of seconds—long enough to perform entanglement and other quantum-information processes.
Spin is integral to particles: all electrons (for example) have the same amount of spin. The spin quantum state is the relative orientation of the spin with respect to some other spin, or to an external magnetic field. Electrons are low mass particles and relatively lightly bound to atoms, so their spins are fairly easy to manipulate. As a result, the spins of atoms are typically determined by their electrons—including the magnetic properties. However, because electrons’ spins are subject to strong environmental influences, they are somewhat unreliable from a quantum information perspective. If you write information to an electron’s spin, it won’t stay written for long.
from Ars Technica