One of the most frequently mentioned fears about future quantum computers is that they will someday crack our encryption codes and lay all our digital secrets bare. Despite it being a truly far-off possibility, cryptographers are already taking the threat very seriously. The solution seems to be to develop one or more classes of encryption schemes […]
A new study has discovered rarified quantum properties in an everyday material that could yield a new approach to quantum computers and extremely sensitive measuring devices. In one sense, the research represents only a small step forward, because these quantum properties are already well studied and understood in other materials and experimental setups. But in […]
A new kind of magnet, theorized for decades, may now have been experimentally proven to exist. And it could eventually lead to better data storage devices. In a normal magnet, the magnetic moments of individual grains align with each other to generate a magnetic field. In contrast, in the new “singlet-based” magnet, magnetic moments are temporary in nature, popping in […]
Accelerators are already everywhere: The world’s Bitcoin is mined by chips designed to speed the cryptocurrency’s key algorithm, nearly every digital something that makes a sound uses hardwired audio decoders, and dozens of startups are chasing speedy silicon that could make deep learning AI omnipresent. This kind of specialization, where common algorithms once run as […]
Back in the 1980s, parallel computing pioneer Gene Amdahl hatched a plan to speed mainframe computing: a silicon-wafer-sized processor. By keeping most of the data on the processor itself instead of pushing it through a circuit board to memory and other chips, computing would be faster and more energy efficient. With US $230 million from […]
Source: V.L. Granatstein, R.K. Parker, and C.M. Armstrong, Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 87, No. 5, May 1999 In the 48 years since the introduction of the first microprocessor, in 1971, the number of electronic components that can be crammed onto a given area on a chip has increased seven orders of magnitude. That corresponds […]
Transistors, and the conductive traces that connect them, are routinely created by the billions on the surface of silicon wafers, which are later cut into the individual “chips” that power our computers, phones, watches, and countless other electronic gadgets. But few people think much about how those silicon wafers are made in the first place. […]
Here’s some news to brighten your day: Small display screens, like the ones needed for AR, VR, and other head-up displays, may soon become way more efficient and yield unprecedented resolution, thanks to a new kind of transistor made from vertically oriented gallium nitride nanowires. GaN micro-LEDs are more desirable than today’s commercial designs in almost […]
The product announcements greeted with applause from the CES press corps are few and far between. But LG got two ovations at its CES press conference: one for its countertop beer brewery and one for its flexible OLED display that rolls down into a small cabinet when not in use. CES—the giant tech exhibition formerly […]
Drones are growing in popularity for their ability to serve as a kind of eye in the sky. However, they can generally only last up to 30 minutes on a charge because of the limits of current battery technology. Now, a research team at the University of Washington has found a way to make bumblebees […]