Folding takes on a new meaning
Right now, folding is probably one of the best things you can do.
A note before we get started
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Today, we’ll be covering how chips are learning to smell, how the world’s computers are coming together to battle COVID-19 and a possible future for Apple’s Mac lineup, among other things.
Out-of-this-world licensing
SpaceX moves one step closer to providing parts of the world with internet from space
SpaceX wants to provide internet from space. Dubbed ‘Starlink’, the project sees SpaceX plan to use as many as 12,000 satellites in low Earth orbit to provide low-cost internet to remote locations across the globe. Despite fears from astronomers and hobbyists - who fear the bright, satellites will interfere with their observations - SpaceX has now received government approval to deploy up to 1,000,000 terminals on Earth that will communicate with the orbiting satellites.
Currently, SpaceX has launched 362 satellites, with FCC approval to launch up to 11,943 in total. The impact of COVID-19 on future launches (including one scheduled for April this year) remains to be seen.
It’s morphin’ time
The human brain is still nature’s most efficient computer and can be used to build next-gen chips
Neuromorphic computing is an exciting direction for computer chips and hardware. Developed by American scientist and engineer Carver Mead, neuromorphic engineering takes inspiration from the human brain. The brain makes for a much more efficient foundation for chip architecture than the current von Neumann architecture does, the latter being relatively inefficient at deep-learning tasks.
Now, scientists at Intel have developed a prototype of a neuromorphic chip that has the ability to distinguish between smells. Working with olfactory neurophysiologists, the scientists developed an electrical circuit based on the neural circuits the brain uses to process smells. They also developed an algorithm that mimics the electrical signals going through that circuit. The result? The chip was able to accurately distinguish between smells, based on a dataset of 10 “smells” used to train the algorithm
Still a nascent technology, neuromorphic chips that can distinguish between smells serve multiple uses, including the detection of noxious fumes in chemical plants.
Time to fold
Computer-owners across the globe unite to share their computers’ processing power with scientist and researchers battling COVID-19.
If you’re not familiar with Folding@home, here’s the Tl;dr - Folding@home is a project that lets researchers and scientists access the processing power on people’s computers when they’re not in use. This is primarily to run complex modelling simulations. This lets researchers and scientists in particular simulate processing-heavy protein dynamics, which is incredibly useful for biology and medicine.
Now, for context. COVID-19 is proving devastating. However, humanity isn’t backing down. Thousands of new users have now signed up to the Folding@home project, pushing the total computing power of the project to the exaflop level, which equates to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 operations per second. In times like these, it’s heartwarming to see the world come together to fight as one.
ARM-wrestle?
Things are changing in the Cupertino camp. The future of Apple’s Mac lineup is an interesting one to say the least.
Apple, which has been using Intel processors to power numerous computers in its Mac lineup for a while, might soon be putting their own ARM CPUs inside Mac products. The news comes from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who believes that the shift will yield myriad benefits, including reduced processor costs and increased competitive advantage. The change is set to take place in 2021. Oh, and there’s a chance that USB 4 support will becoming to Macs in 2022.
Excellent staff guys. Just keep up the great work. Good luck!!
Excellent staff guys. Just keep up the great work. Good luck!!