1. The ioMillennia is a 3U, PCIe Gen3 switch from One Stop Systems that can handle sixteen full-size GPU cards. It has a retail price of about $15,000 for the base unit. A single Nvidia K20x has a single precision peak of 3.95 teraflop/s, and 1.31 teraflop/s at double precision. Multiply this by 16 and …
The BBC has collected predictions (from 2013 to 2150) and produced odds for their occurrence. Odds were produced by Ladsbrokes a bet maker in the UK. The BBC predictions are from Jan 2, 2013. BBC – A successful demonstration of fusion power by 2020. NBF more power will be produced in a nuclear fusion demonstration …
The Carnival of Space 285 is up at Pam Hoffman’s site Boeing has proposed a multi-step humans-to-Mars program that would feature a reusable solar electric-propelled Mars Transfer Vehicle to be deployed by the heavy lift Space Launch System. Curiosity finds more evidence for watery past and prepares to drill first rock Nextbigfuture – The largest …
MIT researchers have produced a new kind of photovoltaic cell based on sheets of flexible graphene coated with a layer of nanowires. The approach could lead to low-cost, transparent and flexible solar cells that could be deployed on windows, roofs or other surfaces. Illustration shows the layered structure of the new device, starting with a …
Technology Review – Connecting a human brain to a computer is as much a materials science problem as a biology one. What kind of interface is delicate enough not to damage nerve tissue, but resilient enough to last decades? Researchers have come up with what they call a “stealthy neural interface” made from a single …
A Northwestern University research team has found a way to manufacture single laser devices that are the size of a virus particle and that operate at room temperature and defy the diffraction limit of light. These plasmonic nanolasers could be readily integrated into silicon-based photonic devices, all-optical circuits and nanoscale biosensors. Reducing the size of …
Reuters – China’s top leaders have asked policy think-tanks to draw up their most ambitious economic reform proposals in decades that could curb the power of state firms and give more freedom to the setting of interest rates and the yuan currency. But after almost 10 years of delay to painful structural reforms by the …
In yet another step toward the realization of a practical quantum computer, scientists working at Princeton and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) have shown how a major hurdle in transferring information from one quantum bit, or qubit, to another might be overcome. Their so-called “quantum bus” provides the link that would enable quantum processors to …
Technology Review – Bezos and In-Q-Tel (CIA Investment arm) are in a group of investors who are betting $30 million on DWave Systems If the bet works out, some of the world’s thorniest computing problems, such as the hunt for new drugs or efforts to build artificial intelligence, would become dramatically less challenging. D-Wave’s supercooled …
V3solar’s Spin Cell is a spinning photovoltaic and specialized optics device with remote communication capabilities to enable efficient and cost effective electrical power generation. By design, the Spin Cell has features that stand out in the solar industry and will assist market penetration, such as: Built in solar tracking Graduated cooling Minimize wind sheer Increased …
Globe and Mail – Broad Group’s chairman Zhang Yue told The Financial Times last month that financing was in place for Sky City One, architects are finishing blueprints and construction is to begin in December, 2012. The Sky City plan is for a 838-meter tall, 220 story, multi-use tower with 1 million square meters of …