Category: Why should I care?

Economic & Political Forces Drive Semiconductor Consolidation

The acquisition fervor will likely continue, as long as liquidity is freely available. Mentor Graphics’ CEO Walden Rhines gives his take. The major semiconductor industry consolidations of the last year or two were, in general, were NOT driven by a desire for greater economies of scale, as I explained in

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China builds world’s fastest supercomputer without U.S. chips

China’s massive system runs real applications and is ‘not just a stunt machine,’ says top U.S. supercomputing researcher China on Monday revealed its latest supercomputer, a monolithic system with 10.65 million compute cores built entirely with Chinese microprocessors. This follows a U.S. government decision last year to deny China access

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Using Chip Technology To Detect And Prevent Diseases

Semiconductor economies of scale begin filtering into the medical market. The overlap between semiconductor technology and medicine is growing, creating the same kinds of economies of scale that have fueled the semiconductor industry for the past five decades. While technology has long held a place in the medical world, the

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Google Cardboard Saves Baby’s Life

A toy-like cardboard contraption that sells for less than $20 online has helped save the life of a baby who was so sick that doctors told her parents to take her home to die. Google Cardboard looks like a set of big square goggles. Stick your iPhone inside and with

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Dogs could soon talk to humans with new wearable tech

A researcher from Georgia Tech is working on giving dogs the ability to talk to humans, and it could have huge potential for service dogs. Melody Moore Jackson, creator and director of Georgia Tech’s BrainLab, is creating computerized vests for dogs so they can “speak.” This could have huge potential for service dogs

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Researchers Using Tesla GPUs to Reduce Aircraft Noise

Taking advantage of the 27 petaflop Titan Supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers from Imperial College London’s Department of Aeronautics are attempting to reduce aircraft noise by visualizing how air is forced through engines when planes are in flight. Noise pollution from aircraft is a global policy and health

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DARPA seeks “non-traditional” robotics innovators

The government has a robotics problem. Government grants for cutting edge robotics research and development typically favor large military contractors. But a lot of the development in robotics these days comes from individuals, startups, and university labs capitalizing on developments in 3D printing and falling sensor prices. Because hardware has

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