Lifeboat Foundation

Metal oxide’s properties could enable a wide range of terahertz frequency photonics.

Visible light is a mere fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the manipulation of light waves at frequencies beyond human vision has enabled such technologies as cell phones and CT scans.

Rice University researchers have a plan for leveraging a previously unused portion of the spectrum.

Smartphones and other tech pose special challenges — and opportunities — for young brains.

It hasn’t all been good though. We are incredibly dependent on our devices — smartphone addiction is a growing concern. A staggering 81 percent of Americans own smartphones. This is a huge increase from the Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone ownership conducted in 2011 when just 35 percent owned them.

A space engineer has created her own mobile using a rotary dial. Justine Haupt invented the phone to stop herself being “hyper-connected” with people.

The 34-year-old wanted a mobile with one basic purpose — to make and receive calls. Although using an old rotary dial the phone does have some modern features.-The Mirror UK

Continue reading “A space engineer has built her own ‘retro’ cell phone 📞 | SWNS” »

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

With the rise of artificial intelligence technology, many experts raised their concerns regarding the emissions of warehouses full of the computers needed to power these AI systems. IBM’s new “brain-like” chip prototype could make artificial intelligence more energy efficient, since its efficiency, according to the company, comes from components that work in a similar way to connections in human brains.

Thanos Vasilopoulos, a scientist at IBM’s research lab spoke to BBC News, saying that compared to traditional computers, “the human brain is able to achieve remarkable performance while consuming little power.” This superior energy efficiency would mean large and more complex workloads could be executed in low-power or battery-constrained environments like cars, mobile phones, and cameras. “Additionally, cloud providers will be able to use these chips to reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint,” he added.

Further boosting this ethos of accessibility is the fact that Hestia will be compatible with both iOS and Android phones. Dupuy pointed out that even a smartphone that is around five years old will work with Hestia for taking images of the sun and the moon, but to see more deep field objects like nebulas, a more recent and more sensitive smartphone such as an iPhone 12 or 13 may be required.

Vaonis, launched in 2016, is no stranger to introducing astronomy equipment via a Kickstarter campaign. In 2020 they successfully launched the Vespera smart telescope after a fund-raising program. The difference between Hestia and previous projects is this smartphone telescope project is much more affordable.

“It was possible to better in terms of price,” Dupuy said. “We wanted to use all the image processing experience we have gained to develop an app and to create a very affordable new product.”

Chromium compounds could soon replace the rare and expensive metals osmium and ruthenium.

Scientists have found a way to make solar panels and phone screens from readily available chromium. This is according to a report.

The article highlights how a major breakthrough sees material “almost as rare as gold” replaced by everyday components, significantly reducing “the price of manufacturing the technology that relies on it.”

Continue reading “Scientists find way to create solar power from common chromium” »

Now that’s something. Funny this came up on my feed as I’m jamming to music on my phone to destress.

Breakthrough raises hopes that musicality of natural speech can be restored in patients with disabling neurological conditions.

Part of the reason that these chips are becoming so much more efficient and getting so many more cores on a similar die size to the chips that have come before is the 3nm process. Apple is heavily invested in the new chip creation tech, having ordered almost the entirety of the first printing of the process, making sure that it has an advantage over the competition. The first device that we might see with a 3nm process chip is the iPhone 15 Pro, and then it’s likely that the M3 chips will follow.

Whatever happens with these new chips, it’s looking like it’s going to be an exciting time for Apple silicon and the latest Apple hardware to use it.