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Input Devices

Quantum Film Might Replace CMOS Sensors 192

Posted by timothy from the never-look-inside-the-camera dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Quantum film could replace conventional CMOS image sensors in digital cameras and are four times more sensitive than photographic film. The film, which uses embedded quantum dots instead of silver grains like photographic film, can image scenes at higher pixel resolutions. While the technology has potential for use in mobile phones, conventional digital cameras would also gain much higher resolution sensors by using quantum film material." The original (note: obnoxious interstitial ad) article at EE Times adds slightly more detail.
Earth

Planned Nuclear Reactors Will Destroy Atomic Waste 344

Posted by Soulskill from the but-where-will-we-get-our-superheroes dept.
separsons writes "A group of French scientists are developing a nuclear reactor that burns up actinides — highly radioactive uranium isotopes. They estimate that 'the volume of high-level nuclear waste produced by all of France’s 58 reactors over the past 40 years could fit in one Olympic-size swimming pool.' And they're not the only ones trying to eliminate atomic waste: Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin are working on a fusion-fission reactor. The reactor destroys waste by firing streams of neutrons at it, reducing atomic waste by up to 99 percent!"

Comment Re:CPU speed vs memory bandwidth, I don't get it (Score 1) 231

by uarch (#31072508) Attached to: IBM Releases Power7 Processor
You might expect a Power6 to be at a bandwidth disadvantage when compared to the x5560 but when you look at the memory bandwidth specs they're surprisingly close. Once you move up to Power7 you begin to see a big difference.

Xeon x5560 memory bandwidth/chip: 32 GB/s [1]
Power6 memory bandwidth/chip: 32 GB/s (??? This may be wrong. I see references to 50GB/s but I believe that's peak)
Power7 memory bandwidth/chip: 100 GB/s [3]

Comment Uh... Power7 also executes 6 instr/cycle (Score 1) 231

by uarch (#31069238) Attached to: IBM Releases Power7 Processor

Itanium is superscalar to an extent that POWER doesn't come close to, with each core being able to execute up to six instructions per cycle.

Hate to break it to you but POWER7 can dispatch 6 instructions per cycle as well.

That little fact was revealed last year during the Hot Chips 21 presentation.
IBM

IBM Releases Power7 Processor 231

Posted by kdawson from the of-cores dept.
Dan Jones writes "As discussed here last year, IBM has made good on its promise to release the Power7 processor (and servers) in the first half of 2010. The Power7 processor adds more cores and improved multithreading capabilities to boost the performance of servers requiring high up-time, according to Big Blue. Power7 chips will run between 3.0GHz and 4.14GHz and will come with four, six, or eight cores. The chips are being made using the 45-nm process technology. New Power7 servers (up to 64 cores for now) are said to deliver twice the performance of older Power6 systems, but are four times more energy efficient. Power7 servers will run AIX and Linux." And reader shmG notes Intel's release of a new Itanium server processor after two years of delays. The Power7 specs would seem to put the new Intel chip in the shade.

Comment Re:grad vs masters vs phd the myth. (Score 1) 844

by uarch (#30906888) Attached to: Is Programming a Lucrative Profession?

That person gets bumped to the middle of the resume pile.

The person on the top of the resume pile knows that VHDL, Verilog, SystemC, Specman, C, C++, Java, etc are all tools. Like all tools there are correct and incorrect times to use them (though there are plenty of instances when they're interchangeable).

The key part is that they know how to apply the tools to solve a problem, regardless of what the tools may be.

Comment There are a LOT of variables here (Score 1) 844

by uarch (#30904418) Attached to: Is Programming a Lucrative Profession?

There are LOT of variables here. In some cases you absolutely cannot expect to make that much to start. In others you can expect that much or more.

I won't get into specifics but we've recently spent a few months trying to hire some recent grads & experienced candidates.
- In a few cases we lost experienced candidates because their company (which was already paying them well above the salaries listed here) threw even more money at them to keep them on board.
- Countless recent grads had already accepted offers above the range we're talking about here. One recent Masters grad was considering an offer from us that was above those listed in the story when he suddenly received a higher offer from a competitor.
Science

The Science Credibility Bubble 1747

Posted by CmdrTaco from the save-me-jebus dept.
eldavojohn writes "The real fallout of climategate may have nothing to do with the credibility of climate change. Daniel Henninger thinks it's a bigger problem for the scientific community as a whole and he calls out the real problem as seen through the eyes of a lay person in an opinion piece for the WSJ. Henninger muses, 'I don't think most scientists appreciate what has hit them,' and carries on in that vein, saying, 'This has harsh implications for the credibility of science generally. Hard science, alongside medicine, was one of the few things left accorded automatic stature and respect by most untrained lay persons. But the average person reading accounts of the East Anglia emails will conclude that hard science has become just another faction, as politicized and "messy" as, say, gender studies.' While nothing interesting was found by most scientific journals, he explains that the attacks against scientists in these leaked e-mails for proposing opposite views will recall the reader to the persecution of Galileo. In doing so, it will make the lay person unsure of the credibility of all sciences without fully seeing proof of it, but assuming that infighting exists in them all. Is this a serious risk? Will people even begin to doubt the most rigorous sciences like Mathematics and Physics?"
Politics

Scientists Step Down After CRU Hack Fallout 874

Posted by timothy from the pure-indignation dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In the wake of the recent release of thousands of private files and emails after a server of the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia was hacked, Prof. Phil Jones is stepping down as head of the CRU. Prof. Michael Mann, another prominent climate scientist, is also under inquiry by Penn State University."
The Almighty Buck

Harvard Says Computers Don't Save Hospitals Money 398

Posted by kdawson from the always-jam-tomorrow dept.
Lucas123 writes "Researchers at Harvard Medical School pored over survey data from more than 4,000 'wired' hospitals and determined that computerization of those facilities not only didn't save them a dime, but the technology didn't improve administrative efficiency either. The study also showed most of the IT systems were aimed at improving efficiency for hospital management — not doctors, nurses, and medical technicians. 'For 45 years or so, people have been claiming computers are going to save vast amounts of money and that the payoff was just around the corner. So the first thing we need to do is stop claiming things there's no evidence for. It's based on vaporware and [hasn't been] shown to exist or shown to be true,' said Dr. David Himmelstein, the study's lead author."
Medicine

Plasma Device Kills Bacteria On Skin In Seconds 237

Posted by kdawson from the it's-a-dry-cold dept.
Ponca City, We love you writes "In medicine, plasma, the fourth state of matter, is already used for sterilizing surgical instruments; plasma works at the atomic level and is able to reach all surfaces, even the interior of hollow needle ends. Now the BBC reports that researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have demonstrated a plasma device that can rid hands, feet, or even underarms of bacteria, including the hospital superbug MRSA, by creating cold atmospheric plasma that produces a cocktail of chemicals that kills bacteria but is harmless to skin. 'The plasma produces a series of over 200 chemical reactions that involve the oxygen and nitrogen in air plus water vapor — there is a whole concoction of chemical species that can be lethal to bacteria,' says Gregor Morfill. 'It's actually similar to what our own immune system does.' The team says that an exposure to the plasma of only about 12 seconds reduces the incidence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi on hands by a factor of a million — a number that stands in sharp contrast to the several minutes hospital staff can take to wash using traditional soap and water. Morfill says that the approach can be used to kill the bacteria that lead to everything from gum disease to body odor and that the prototype is scalable to any size and can be produced in any shape."
Image

Scientists Say a Dirty Child Is a Healthy Child 331

Posted by samzenpus from the snack-is-going-to-be-on-the-floor-today dept.
Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California have shown that the more germs a child is exposed to, the better their immune system in later life. Their study found that keeping a child's skin too clean impaired the skin's ability to heal itself. From the article: "'These germs are actually good for us,' said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research. Common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are 'good bacteria' when on the surface, where they can reduce inflammation."

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