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Go to: News articles since Dec. 31, 2008
IBM to build brain-like computers
Nov. 22, 2008 - IBM will take the lead in a government-funded project to develop computers that mimic brains.
- Part of a field called "cognitive computing", the research will bring together neurobiologists, computer and materials scientists and psychologists.
IBM's Dharmendra Modha, the scientist who is heading the project says, "There are no computers that can even remotely approach the remarkable feats the mind performs."
- Source: BBC
Intel details new core chip line
Aug. 20, 2008 - The new family of Intel processors, called Core i7 has been announced. The new design will combine memory and processing functions into a single chip, and will incluce as many as eight processing cores. The processors may be turned on or off to increase functionality or decrease power usage.
- Source: BBC
Reinventing Man - Chuck Colson
Aug. 20 - Chuck Colson warns that a new kind of entineered-evolution is being planned for the human race. It is a combination of genetic, robotic, information, and nano technologies—collectively known by the ironic acronym GRIN. He refers to an article by his friend Nigel Cameron:
- Nigel warns that the very technologies that can "help us restore function to the disabled and fight disease, can also be used to bring in the 'Brave New World'—in which what it means to be human, made in the image of God, is fundamentally lost."
- Source: Crosswalk
China becomes biggest net nation
July 28, 2008 - With more than 253 million Chinese using the Internet, China surpasses the U.S.'s 223 million people.
- The 2008 figure is up 56% in a year, said CNNIC. Analysts expect the total to grow by about 18% per annum and hit 490 million by 2012.
- Source:BBC
Supercomputer built with Sony PlayStation parts smashes previous speed record
June 9, 2008 - IBM has built a new US military supercomputer called "Roadrunner." It sets a new speed record 1.026 quadrillion (thousand trillion) calculations per second. Surprisingly, Roadrunner is built partly with the powerful "Cell" chip made for the Sony PlayStation 3.
Later this year it will be installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico where it will monitor nuclear weapons and climate. The previous fastest supercomputer, IBM's Blue Gene/L, is also at LANL. Blue Gene/L has been upgraded, and now runs at a speed of 478.2 trillion calculations per second, but Roadrunner will be more than twice as fast!
- Source: Telegraph- UK
'The Grid' Could Soon Make the Internet Obsolete
Apr. 7, 2008 - A new version of the Internet has been created at Cern, the particle physics centre that created the original web. It is incredibly faster than the Internet because it doesn't have speed-limiting telephone switching equipment.
- The grid has been built with dedicated fibre optic cables and modern routing centres, meaning there are no outdated components to slow the deluge of data. The 55,000 servers already installed are expected to rise to 200,000 within the next two years.
- Source: Fox
Brain control headset for gamers
Feb. 20, 2008 - Sometime this year video game enthusiasts will be able to buy a headset that will allow them to manipulate a game or virtual environment by thought alone. Tan Le, president of US/Australian firm Emotiv, explains:
- "Emotiv is a neuro-engineering company and we've created a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically."
- Source: BBC
Mobile Narrows Digital Division
Feb. 7, 2008 - According to a UN report, the rapid spread of mobile phones is helping to narrow the gulf between rich and poor nations.
- Mobile phone users in developing nations now make up 58% of handset subscribers worldwide, it said.
- Source: BBC
Chips pass two billion milestone
Feb. 4, 2008 - Intel now offers a four-core microprocessor with more than two billion transistors. The new chip, known as Tukwila, operates at speeds up to 2Ghz. Intel has a faster microprocessor, their dual-core Power6, but it only has 790 million transistors.
- Source: BBC
Microsoft Proposes To Buy Yahoo for $44.6 Billion
Feb. 1, 2008 - In an effort to compete with Google's dominance of the Internet, Microsoft Corporation is offering shareholders of Yahoo an attractive profit to sell their stock to them. This will be Bill Gates' last big move before stepping down from Microsoft to wage war against global poverty and disease. If the merger does take place, the two companies hope to do what they could not do alone: make a better search engine than Google, and provide a better business model.
- Source:BBC
- Update: Feb. 11, 2008 - Yahoo formally rejects Microsoft offer - Yahoo (Story no longer online)
- Update 6/14/08 - Yahoo Embraces Google After Ending Microsoft Talks - NewsMax (Story no longer online)
Go to: News articles before Jan. 1, 2008
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