• Technology

    Intel Wants Brain Implants in Its Customers' Heads by 2020

    By Posted on 11.20.2009 29 Comments

    If the idea of turning consumers into true cyborgs sounds creepy, don't tell Intel researchers. Intel's Pittsburgh lab aims to develop brain implants that can control all sorts of gadgets directly via brain waves by 2020.

    11.21.2009 at 10:45am - Comment by Daxcious

    Heck, replace my whole brain and give me a super durable body. I would like to do a quatrillion calculations per nano second and live a quatrillion years.

  • Technology

    How Much Power Does The Human Brain Require To Operate?

    By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.6.2009 21 Comments

    According to Kwabena Boahen, a computer scientist at Stanford University, a robot with a processor as smart as the human brain would require at least 10 megawatts to operate. That's the amount of energy produced by a small hydroelectric plant. But a small group of computer scientists may have hit on a new neural supercomputer that could someday emulate the human brain's low energy requirements of just 20 watts--barely enough to run a dim light bulb.

    11.13.2009 at 02:58am - Comment by Daxcious

    No need for AI software. We just need to find a way to "download" our minds into such a neuron supercomputer that would be able to handle such a download. BRAIN = Hardware. Mind = Software.

  • Technology

    Rumor Mill: Apple Pitching $30 TV Subscription Service Via iTunes to Networks

    By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.2.2009 5 Comments

    The death of television and the advent of online-only programming has been upon us every week going back at least as far as the first Hulu stream, and perhaps much further depending on which rumor-monger blogs you subscribe to.

    11.3.2009 at 10:03pm - Comment by Daxcious

    This is the future of TV viewing. Commercials and even DVRs for recording "live" broadcasts need to go away. I want to download what I want to see and see it on my PC, AppleTV, or iPhone whenever I want without having to pay per episode (or season). I typically spend less then $10 per month on episodes but would gladly pay $30 for a subscription. An Apple TV subscription service would be fantastic!

  • The Environment

    Newest Lightbulb Tech Combines Advantages of Incandescent, Fluorescent, and LED

    By Sandeep Ravindran Posted on 9.18.2009 11 Comments

    A new kind of energy-efficient light bulb may provide an alternative to existing compact fluorescent (CFL) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs. The new bulbs, made by Seattle-based Vu1, use a technology called electron stimulated luminescence (ESL) to produce incandescent-quality light. The ESL bulbs generate light by firing electrons to stimulate phosphor, and the whole setup is encased in normal light-bulb glass. The bulbs are estimated to last up to 6,000 hours, which is comparable to CFLs, and three to four times as long as incandescent bulbs.

    9.21.2009 at 11:46am - Comment by Daxcious

    I'm hoping than in less than 15 years light bulbs would be obsolete and replaced by an affordable OLED type (or better) technology where the walls and surfaces light up on demand and in whatever color you want. Not only would these surfaces produce light but also any image or video. These ESL light bulbs are good for in between then and now but I would still like to know the power ratings.

  • Gadgets

    Moore's Law To Flatten Out

    By Posted on 1.22.2008 5 Comments

    It's got to stop sometime. That's the message from Intel co-founder and computer visionary Gordon Moore, whose 1965 prediction that the number of transistors on a chip would double roughly every two years proved startlingly true. But Moore's Law, as it's known, can't apply indefinitely. On an NPR show recently, Moore explained that he sees his famous axiom expiring in about 10 to 15 years. Eventually scientists will run into a wall trying to uncover new ways of jamming in more transistors. But let's hope that this time he's wrong.—Gregory Mone Via ExtremeTech

    4.1.2008 at 02:33pm - Comment by Daxcious

    Ok the above two comments are just disturbing. Anyway, I belive the answer to this is in using something other than transistors to flip those 1's and 0's. I'm sure Intel and AMD are doing intensive reasearch in this area and they will be ready to make the change one it is a necessary step. Who knows what the new "transistor" would be, whether bilogical or electrical. Or perhaps a hybrid?

  • Gadgets

    Chips Can't Get Much Smaller

    By Posted on 3.31.2008 4 Comments

    About every two years, transistors shrink in size enough to place double the number on an integrated circuit than was possible during the previous two years. Its held true since the mid-1960s when the idea was first posited by Gordon E. Moore (today, its called Moores Law). If you were to plot the rate on a graph, youd see it come out as an exponential curve. Exponential curves start slowly and then ramp up quickly, theoretically approaching a limit but never reaching it. I say theoretically because in the very practical real world, a limit will always be reached due to environmental feedback. In silicon-based computing (what we use today), that limit may be only four years away.

    4.1.2008 at 02:25pm - Comment by Daxcious

    Yes I agree with DarkFX that we need something other than transistors to flip those 1's and 0's. A biological "transistor" does make sense but I believe we are not anywhere close to something like that. I think we would be using atoms or electrons before cells or DNA. I would like all my neurons replaced with bio-tech enhanced ones though! :-)



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