The figure below shows the architecture of the new VectorWise engine. Theleft part shows the system architecture (“X100” execution engine andColumnBM buffer manager) and how it maps on the computer resources(CPU cache, RAM and disk). The right part shows a query in action, havingbeen decomposed into so-called relational operators (Aggregate, Project,Select and Scan) and execution …
At a Brazil-based lab, a hypersonic shock tunnel is linked to two pulsed infrared lasers with peak powers reaching the gigawatt range – the highest power laser propulsion experiments performed to date. Leik Myrabo is an aerospace engineering professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who has demonstrated the feasibility of using ground-based lasers to propel objects …
An SEC filing reveals that General Fusion has sold US$9 million out of $13.75 million offering. H/T to Xconomy for the details on this fund raising. General Fusion had been award C$13.9 million from the Canadian government. General Fusion is using the MTF (Magnetized Target Fusion) approach but with a new, patent pending and cost-effective …
Scientists at Rice University and North Carolina State University have found a method of attaching molecules to semiconducting silicon that may help manufacturers reach beyond the current limits of Moore’s Law as they make microprocessors both smaller and more powerful. The electronic properties of silicon, such as the conductivity, are largely dependent on the density …
Lack of competition is the reason why broadband speeds in the United States are not faster and at lower price. Other cable operators are concerned that not only will prices fall, but that the super-fast service will encourage customers to watch video on the Web and drop their cable service. Pretty much the fastest consumer …
Michael Anissimov discusses the idea that self-replicating factories, fed perhaps by acetylene, water, and the Sun (nanofactories) can lift most restrictions on freedom that come from finite resources. Michael refers to a piece by Peter Thiel that technology can enable Libertarianism. I remain committed to the faith of my teenage years: to authentic human freedom …
Department of Defense (DoD) released its EXPENDITURE PLAN for the projects to be funded with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ($7.4 billion) and $2 million of it is going to fund Inertial Electrostatic Fusion. [H/T IECfusiontech.blogspot.com There is a pdf of the plan. On pdf page 166 there is a small item …
The move to second place is not complete yet but depends primarily in the near term on weakness in the japanese Yen. If the yen moves to 110 to the US Dollar over the next couple of months or to 105 to the US Dollar later in the year and the Chinese Yuan stays about …
The Economist reviews how China is handling the current crisis. China is taking advantage of some opportunities to gain some more influence at an affordable cost by trading investment and money for more influence. China is being a bit more forward in various international dealings, but is avoiding the generation of unnecessary conflict and tensions. …
CRNano Increased Technical Content With Chris PhoenixChris Phoenix describes robotic control of molecular manufacturing without computation. In high-volume molecular manufacturing, computers can’t be used to control robots handling individual molecules, because computation requires too much power. However, computer-like control can be achieved without the use of computers, which means that robots can still be used …
The therapy aims to stop HIV re-producing A one-time gene therapy that puts an anti- HIV RNA weapon into blood cells is safe and, in higher doses and stronger form, could make the body resist the AIDS virus, a clinical trial suggests. This “major advance in the field” is the largest clinical trial ever to …