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Archive for the ‘computing’ category: Page 825

Jun 11, 2015

Stanford engineers develop a computer that operates on water droplets — By Bjorn Carey | Stanford News

Posted by in categories: computing, hardware, nanotechnology, physics, science, water

” “Following these rules, we’ve demonstrated that we can make all the universal logic gates used in electronics, simply by changing the layout of the bars on the chip,” said Katsikis. “The actual design space in our platform is incredibly rich. Give us any Boolean logic circuit in the world, and we can build it with these little magnetic droplets moving around.”

Continue reading “Stanford engineers develop a computer that operates on water droplets — By Bjorn Carey | Stanford News” »

Jun 4, 2015

Google Wants You to Control Your Gadgets with Finger Gestures, Conductive Clothing — Tom Simonite MIT Technology Review

Posted by in categories: computing, hardware, innovation, materials

http://cdn.androidcommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Google-Levis-Project-Jacquard-smart-fabric-8.jpg

Small gadgets such as smart watches can be frustrating to use because their tiny buttons and touch screens are tricky to operate. Google has two possible solutions for the fat finger problem: control your gadgets by subtly rubbing your finger and thumb together, or by swiping a grid of conductive yarn woven into your clothing.

The first of those two ideas works thanks to a tiny radar sensor that could be integrated into, say, a smart watch and can detect fine motions of your hands from a distance and even through clothing. Levi Strauss announced today that it is working with Google to integrate fabric touch panels into its clothing designs. The new projects were announced at Google’s annual developer conference in San Francisco Friday by Ivan Poupyrev, a technical program lead in Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects research group.

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Jun 2, 2015

The Arctic’s Internet Is So Expensive That People Mail the Web on USB Drives — Via Motherboard

Posted by in categories: business, computing, economics, finance, governance, hacking, policy, strategy

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“Canada’s domestic digital divide, with the North as its epicenter, has been a point of growing concern over the last several years. Much of the internet in the northernmost regions of the country is still beamed down by satellites, but a plan to link Europe and Asia with fiber optic cable via Nunavut is currently being negotiated by a Toronto-based company called Arctic Fibre.”

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May 30, 2015

Quantum Computing Is About to Overturn Cybersecurity’s Balance of Power — By Vivek Wadhwa SingularityHub

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

http://cdn.singularityhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/quantum-computing-cyber-security-41-1000x400.jpg

“Spooky action at a distance” is how Albert Einstein described one of the key principles of quantum mechanics: entanglement. Entanglement occurs when two particles become related such that they can coordinate their properties instantly even across a galaxy. Think of wormholes in space or Star Trek transporters that beam atoms to distant locations. Quantum mechanics posits other spooky things too: particles with a mysterious property called superposition, which allows them to have a value of one and zero at the same time; and particles’ ability to tunnel through barriers as if they were walking through a wall.

All of this seems crazy, but it is how things operate at the atomic level: the laws of physics are different. Einstein was so skeptical about quantum entanglement that he wrote a paper in 1935 titled “Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete?” He argued that it was not possible. Read more

May 26, 2015

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Selects 2015 Investigators

Posted by in categories: biological, biotech/medical, computing, DNA, education, genetics, life extension, neuroscience, science, scientific freedom

HHMI2015

“The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced today that 26 of the nation’s top biomedical researchers will become HHMI investigators and will receive the flexible support necessary to move their research in creative new directions. The initiative represents an investment in basic biomedical research of $153 million over the next five years.”

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May 22, 2015

Novel Cold Storage Wallet

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, computing, cryptocurrencies, encryption

“Cryptosteel is an indestructible private cold storage system not only for Bitcoin users”

https://vimeo.com/128299690

May 14, 2015

A Quantum Computer Is a Delicate Beast: Video Tour of D-Wave’s Black Box (Part I) — By Jason Dorrier SingularityHub

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

http://cdn.singularityhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dwave-quantum-computer-vid-1-1000x400.jpg

Quantum computing is an old idea. But in the practical sense, it’s still very early days. If you actually want your own ready-made quantum computer—you won’t have to do much comparison shopping.

The D-Wave series of quantum computers have been making waves in recent years. USC and Lockheed Martin acquired a D-Wave One in 2011, and Google went in on a D-Wave Two with NASA in 2013. Read more

Apr 29, 2015

What if Your Computer Cared About What Makes You Smile?

Posted by in categories: computing, robotics/AI

Kyle Vanhemert | WIRED465617108-crop
“Your computer isn’t a person, but as psychological studies have shown, you often can’t help but treat it like a one. “ Read more

Apr 26, 2015

HP’s Audacious Idea for Reinventing Computers

Posted by in category: computing

Tom Simonite | Technology Review
“Nearly three-quarters of the people in HP’s research division are now dedicated to a single project: a powerful new kind of computer known as ‘the Machine.’ It would fundamentally redesign the way computers function, making them simpler and more powerful. If it works, the project could dramatically upgrade everything from servers to smartphones—and save HP itself.”

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Apr 24, 2015

Article: Harnessing “Black Holes”: The Large Hadron Collider – Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction

Posted by in categories: astronomy, big data, computing, cosmology, energy, engineering, environmental, ethics, existential risks, futurism, general relativity, governance, government, gravity, information science, innovation, internet, journalism, law, life extension, media & arts, military, nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, open source, particle physics, philosophy, physics, policy, posthumanism, quantum physics, science, security, singularity, space, space travel, supercomputing, sustainability, time travel, transhumanism, transparency, treaties

Harnessing “Black Holes”: The Large Hadron Collider – Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction

Why the LHC must be shut down