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POPSComputing In A Molecule
They are focusing on two architectures: one that mimics the classical design of a logic gate but in atomic form, including nodes, loops, meshes etc., and another, more complex, process that relies on changes to the molecule’s conformation to carry out the logic gate inputs and quantum mechanics to perform the computation. The logic gates are interconnected using scanning-tunnelling microscopes and atomic-force microscopes – devices that can measure and move individual atoms with resolutions down to 1/100 of a nanometre (that is one hundred millionth of a millimetre!). As a side project, partly for fun but partly to stimulate new lines of research, Joachim and his team have used the technique to build tiny nano-machines, such as wheels, gears, motors and nano-vehicles each consisting of a single molecule. “Put logic gates on it and it could decide where to go,” Joachim notes, pointing to what would be one of the world’s first implementations of atomic-scale robotics.
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POPSGoogle's Secret Weapon: MapReduce As the inventors of MapReduce noted in a recent paper, "It has been used across a wide range of domains within Google including: large-scale machine learning problems; clustering problems...; extracting data to produce reports of popular queries; extracting properties of Web pages for new experiments and products...; processing of satellite imagery data; language model processing for statistical machine translation, and; large-scale graph computation." Or in other words, the tasks Google performs are similar to the functions performed by the brain: learning, categorization, vision and language.
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POPSIBM plans 'brain-like' computers The fundamental shift toward putting the problem-solving before the problem makes the potential applications for such devices practically limitless. Free from the constraints of explicitly programmed function, computers could gather together disparate information, weigh it based on experience, form memory independently and arguably begin to solve problems in a way that has so far been the preserve of what we call "thinking".
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POPSIt's Time for Spime An ultra interesting concept of merging the physical and virtual aspects of our future existence. A Spime is a location-aware, environment-aware, self-logging, self-documenting, uniquely identified object that flings off data about itself and its environment in great quantities. A universe of Spimes is an informational universe, and it is the use of this information that informs the most exciting part of Sterling's argument.
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POPSPioneering Research in Neuromorphic Electronics that Function Like the Biological Brain The HRL team's ultimate goal is to build a low-power, compact electronic chip combining a novel analog circuit design and a neuroscience-inspired architecture that can address a wide range of cognitive abilities--perception, planning, decision making, and motor control. In the initial two phases of the SyNAPSE program, the team will translate the neuronal and synaptic functions of the biological cortex into similar microelectronic functions.
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POPS Robots and Humans: Intel say equal by 2050 Robots: From the Factory Floor to Your Kitchen - Robots today are primarily used in the factory environment, designed to perform a single task repeatedly and bolted down. To make robotics personal, robots need to move and manipulate objects in cluttered and dynamic human environments, according to Rattner. They need to be cognizant of their surroundings by sensing and recognizing movement in a dynamic physical world, and learn to adapt to new scenarios. Rattner demonstrated two working personal robot prototypes developed at Intel’s research labs. One of the demonstrations showed electric field pre-touch that has been built into a robot hand. The technique is a novel sensing modality used by fish but not humans, so they can “feel” objects before they even touch them. The other demonstration was a complete autonomous mobile manipulation robot that can recognize faces and interpret and execute commands as generic as “please clean this mess” using state-of-the-art motion planning, manipula
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POPSLarge Hadron Collider: The Biggest Human Experiment Ever Yet Some of those particles could help us to understand the nature of mass, including the as-yet-undetectable dark matter that accounts for so much of the universe’s mass. Other particles might prove the existence of extra dimensions, or lead to entirely new theories or physical laws
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POPSThe Intelligent Egg The ramifications are enormous as we imagine homes that customize themselves to us and our needs. Adjusting temperature, music, lighting, and putting a pot on boil are all things that could be done automatically. Taken a step further we look at intelligent environments, where the home is constantly monitoring our health and safety, and is prepared to respond quickly. An intelligent home of the future may also ask us what time we want to wake up when we hit the sack. A plausible prediction is that these intelligent environments and or ambient intelligence will take away many of our chores and allow us to focus on productivity, learning, and leisure. They may stream customized interactive information that serves to create a nurturing environment. Differing from ubiquitous computing, it would allow us to create an intimitate connection with technology.
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POPSNew Mode Of Gene Regulation Discovered In Mammals As research advances, the more it becomes clear, that gene regulation networks are actually complex computing machines. DNA is not a mere repository of information. What's more, the newly discovered mechanism is self referential, which adds another later of complexity to gene regulation processes.
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POPSThe Planet's Most Massively Awesome Computer -The Large Hadron By some, it certainly seems to be one of the most outrageously wasteful projects upon the earth. Perhaps it is. I, for one do not think so. I think that understanding the universe as far as we can understand it justifies almost any economical price. Because this is part of what makes us human; the desire to uncover the mysteries of the universe. All this to capture one tiny hypothetical particle. Is it not amazing?
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POPSHow power-hungry are the Top500 supercomputers? But what might have surprised the authors of the list the most is that 301 of the 500 supercomputers on last November's list are nowhere to be seen. After seven months, they're simply not powerful enough to make the list. :-)
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POPSWorld-record Supercomputer Mimics Human Sight Brain Mechanisms Based on the results of PetaVision's inaugural trials, Los Alamos researchers believe they can study in real time the entire human visual cortex--arguably a human being's most important sensory apparatus. The ability to achieve human levels of cognitive performance on a digital computer could lead to important insights and revolutionary technological applications. Such applications include "smart" cameras that can recognize danger or an autopilot system for automobiles that could take over for incapacitated drivers in complex situations such as navigating dense urban traffic.
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POPSIntelligent computers read your emotions The researchers’ system extracted a large number of vocal characteristics, such as “prosodic features,” which include the rhythm, intensity, rate, and frequency of speech. Facial features were extracted holistically. Then, the researchers trained the system on several short video samples of individuals showing different emotions, from which it connected certain features with emotions.
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POPSThey say they want a revolution Increasing computing power 10,000 times — to speeds in the hundreds of petaflops — would allow modellers to study simulations at the kilometre scale, enabling better predictions on the activity of hurricanes and, eventually, the local deep convection that transfers much energy into the upper atmosphere (see 'A real solution?'). This research could then be fed into operational models.
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POPSQuantum computers take step toward practicality In computing, a logic gate is built to accept a set of inputs and, depending on their properties, provide a specific output. In the binary logic found in today's electrical computers, a certain gate will yield a "1" only if all of its inputs are "1"s. Otherwise it will yield a "0." Similarly, a quantum photonic gate would work by detecting the properties of input photons from two light beams, called "control" and "signal," and then producing an output based on those, such as by flipping the polarization of one of the input photons.
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POPSA Game worthwhile playing ! As a serious gamer I am certainly going to devote some time to this one. The idea is brilliant. Collaborative computing may bring breakthroughs that are decades away otherwise. If you pop this at least give the game a try :-)
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POPSTen weirdest computers An interesting and condensed presentation of computing methods, which shows the universality of the concept of computing.
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