HackingTheUniverse

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Housed in a USB key device, the Fathom contains an embedded neural network that can accelerate deep learning with low power requirements. It uses the dedicated Myriad 2 Vision Processing Unit (VPU) chip to provide visual cortex functions in stand alone environments without requiring cloud connectivity. Movidius Announces Deep Learning Accelerator and Fathom Software Framework […]

Our technology is improving quickly and the rate of that improvement is steadily increasing. Technology always amplifies human effort. If the effort has been aligned ethically, the amplified end product will be amplified goodness. If the effort is not ethical, the amplified end product will be amplified badness or even evil. It seems like we […]

1 exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes Kilobyte = 1,000 bytes or 10^3 (half a typewritten page) Megabyte = 1,000,000 bytes or 10^6 (a small novel) Gigabyte = 1,000,000,000 bytes or 10^9 (a pickup truck full of books) Terabyte = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes or 10^12 (1/10th of the Library of Congress) Petabyte = 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes or 10^15 […]

As our software embeds more human intelligence and more human behavior, we can expect to interact with it in a more human fashion. At one point, in the beginning of computing history, we would write programs on some form of media like punch cards or magnetic tape and then feed the media into computer memory, […]

Thermoplastics are a class of polymer that can be heated and molded into new shapes which harden when cooled, then reheated and remolded many times. Meander geometry describes the snaking curves often found in rivers and other similar forms. Meander shaped wires are configured in a snaking pattern which allows them to bend and stretch. […]

Antennas resonate harmonically with radio waves according to how the length of the antenna matches the wavelength. Antennas can be tuned to a specific wavelength by changing their length. Using an applied voltage to change the length of some liquid metal, creates an antenna that can be tuned electronically. An antenna capable of tuning by […]

Smart Dust has been an almost fictional idea of very small computing “motes” that can collect and report data. Like small particles of dust, these little computing sensor nodes could be used to collect information in a variety of applications. By simply injecting some smart dust into a flow of liquid or a tornado, a […]

In 2008, DARPA started a program called SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics), with the intention of designing new computing infrastructure based on human biological brains. In April, 2014, engineers at Stanford University announced a circuit board using 16 “Neurocore” chips that together can simulate the capability of one million neurons with billions […]

Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into sculpture-like shapes of art. Any flat material can be used in this manner. Fractal patterns have become useful in antenna design by reducing size and also allowing a wider performance range. Applying origami folding techniques to flexible electronics promises to develop even smaller, more efficient and […]

Intel announces a new line of tiny chips that are one fifth the size of the Atom chip and use one tenth of the power. They hope these ultra small chips will be used in wearable devices and other integrated electronics. Intel Announces Quark Chip: Reactions & Responses from #IDF13 – [intel.com] How This Tiny […]