Lifeboat Foundation

In a discovery published in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers has described a novel molecular device with exceptional computing prowess.

Reminiscent of the plasticity of connections in the human brain, the device can be reconfigured on the fly for different computational tasks by simply changing applied voltages. Furthermore, like nerve cells can store memories, the same device can also retain information for future retrieval and processing.

“The brain has the remarkable ability to change its wiring around by making and breaking connections between nerve cells. Achieving something comparable in a physical system has been extremely challenging,” said Dr. R. Stanley Williams, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University. “We have now created a molecular device with dramatic reconfigurability, which is achieved not by changing physical connections like in the brain, but by reprogramming its logic.”

We’re going to need to store 175 zettabytes per year by 2025.

The National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for today and a G2 (Moderate) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for tomorrow.

Computer forecast models used by space weather experts suggest that a coronal mass ejection (CME) produced by region 2,680 on the Sun early on August 28 associated with an M4 flare may arrive later on September 1 creating minor geomagnetic storm conditions. According to the SWPC, activity could intensify into September 2 with the possible arrival of a second CME associated with a filament eruption that occurred later on August 28.

Should these CMEs materialize, combined effects from the two transients have the potential to result in G1-G2 storm conditions. The SWPC warns that forecast confidence is low due to the nature of these faint and somewhat ambiguous CMEs.

Quantum Computing Platform Accelerates Transition from Bulk Optics to Integrated Photonics on a Silicon Chip Smaller Than a Penny

The quantum computing market is projected to reach $65 billion by 2,030 a hot topic for investors and scientists alike because of its potential to solve incomprehensibly complex problems.

Drug discovery is one example. To understand drug interactions, a pharmaceutical company might want to simulate the interaction of two molecules. The challenge is that each molecule is composed of a few hundred atoms, and scientists must model all the ways in which these atoms might array themselves when their respective molecules are introduced. The number of possible configurations is infinite—more than the number of atoms in the entire universe. Only a quantum computer can represent, much less solve, such an expansive, dynamic data problem.

Summary: Researchers have discovered a new molecule that could increase the ultra-fast decision-making capabilities of computers. The simple molecule provides a new electronic circuit element in which complex logic is encoded in nanoscale material properties.

Source: University of Limerick.

An international team of scientists including researchers at University of Limerick in Ireland has discovered a new molecule that could further increase ultra-fast decision making in computers.

Physicists and engineers have found a way to identify and address imperfections in materials for one of the most promising technologies in commercial quantum computing.

The University of Queensland team was able to develop treatments and optimize fabrication protocols in common techniques for building superconducting circuits on silicon chips.

Dr. Peter Jacobson, who co-led the research, said the team had identified that imperfections introduced during fabrication reduced the effectiveness of the circuits.

The global semiconductor shortage has dealt another huge blow to Stellantis, with the automaker announcing new production issues. Semiconductors are the backbone of today’s automotive industry, controlling electronic features like driver-assist technologies, hybrid-electric systems, and even infotainment connectivity. This time, the shortage is affecting production for several of the company’s most popular vehicles in North America.

According to several United Auto Workers (UAW) local union websites and a report from the Automotive News, several Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Ram Truck vehicles will be affected by the latest shortage of semiconductor chips.

Continue reading “Semiconductor Shortage Idles Four Stellantis North America Assembly Plants” »

A global microchip shortage has kept car prices high all year. Now, chip manufacturers are warning that it may not get better next year.

Integrated circuits (ICs) based on organic transistors have many valuable applications, for instance, in the fabrication of paper-like displays or other large-area electronic components. Over the past few decades, electronics engineers worldwide have developed a variety of these transistors.

A promising alternative to these transistors are vertical-channel dual-gate organic thin-film transistors. These transistors have several advantageous properties, such as short channel lengths and tuneable threshold voltages (VTH). Despite these advantages, due to a lack appropriate p-and n-type devices, developing complementary inverter circuits for these transistors has so far proved challenging.

Researchers at Technische Universitat Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR) and Northwestern Polytechnical University have recently developed vertical organic permeable dual-base transistors that could be integrated in logic circuits. In a recent paper published in Nature Electronics, they evaluated the potential use of these transistors in complex integrated circuits.