Dwave 512 qubit quantum computer faster than any supercomputer for optimization problems of interest to Google with about 21 petaflop equivalent

In tests last September, an independent researcher found that for some types of problems the Dwave quantum computer was 3,600 times faster than a traditional intel quadcore workstation (2.4 Ghz quadcore chips with 16 GB of memory and about 420 GFlops). According to a D-Wave official, the machine performed even better in Google’s tests, which …

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Northrop Grumman Completes Lunar Lander Study for Golden Spike

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has completed a feasibility study for a new commercial lunar lander for the Golden Spike Company (GSC). The study confirmed the viability of lander concepts for Golden Spike’s human lunar expedition architecture and conceived a novel new, low-mass ascent stage concept dubbed “Pumpkin.” About Golden Spike The Golden Spike Company (GSC) …

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Chinese Satellites provides bandwidth for US drones and US dependence on Chinese Satellites could grow

U.S. troops operating on the African continent are now using the recently-launched Chinese Apstar-7 satellite to keep in touch and share information. Every new drone feed and every new soldier with a satellite radio creates more appetite for bandwidth — an appetite the military can’t hope to fill with military spacecraft alone. To try to …

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Mobile speeds would dramatically increase if consumers connected small, public base stations to their home broadband

Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm and some U.S. wireless carriers are investigating an idea that would see small cellular base stations installed in homes to serve passing smartphone users. That approach is believed to be a more efficient way of meeting the rising demand for data and fixing patchy coverage than building more traditional cell-phone towers. Qualcomm …

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Harvard Business Review looks at Spacex for Cost Innovation Lessons

Serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, entered the space industry several years ago. He faced a problem about where to innovate, given the restrictions and mandatory performance criteria for space travel. Musk quickly zeroed in on the one area ripe for innovation: cost reduction. He gathered a team with a wide cross-section of expertise and put them …

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The New Machine Age will deliver even more growth when we change businesses and economy to take advantage

As machines take on more jobs, many find themselves out of work or with raises indefinitely postponed. Is this the end of growth? No, says Erik Brynjolfsson — it’s simply the growing pains of a radically reorganized economy. A riveting case for why big innovations are ahead of us … if we think of computers …

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World Energy Usage in 2012

The developed countries of the OECD saw almost flat electricity generation in 2012 relative to 2011. There was a decrease of 0.4%. The OECD includes the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South Korea, Chile and Japan. China’s generating capacity in 2012 was 4977.4 TWh, an increase of 5.2% Hydro generating 864.1 TWh, an increase of 29.3%; …

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Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco finds that Chinese GDP numbers match independent US, EU and Japan Trade Data

A new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco finds that Chinese GDP numbers do tend to reflect data provided by more independent sources—namely the exports and imports of China’s trading partners, which are immune from any Beijing manipulation. The Fed study first studied trade with China and its biggest trading partners: the …

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Carnival of Nuclear Energy 149

The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 149 is up at the ANS Nuclear Cafe The ANS Nuclear Cafe has an update and perspective on Small Modular Reactor Development The US Department of Energy (DOE) has a $452 million program to share development and licensing costs for selected small modular reactor (SMR) designs. The DOE’s goal is …

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Futurist Martin Discusses Changes in Energy, Environment, Employment and Humanity

Dr. James Martin — Futurist Entrepreneur, British visionary entrepreneur, science-sponsor, author. Largest individual benefactor to the University of Oxford in its 900-year history http://GF2045.com/speakers. Martin was a pioneer in the automation of software development, and was ranked 4th in Computer World’s 25th Anniversary Edition’s most influential people in computer technology. He was a member of …

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