TSMC added an N5P process and more details on advanced packages to its roadmap for squeezing advances from silicon at a smaller and smaller scale. At the bleeding edge, picking a path forward among expanding 7, 7+, 6, 5, and 5+ options is increasingly complex. “The good news is we continue to see scaling for…
Month: April 2019
What USB 3.2, Wi-Fi 6 mean for your next PC
PC World takes a look at what USB 3.2 and Wi-Fi 6 will mean for your next PC. Wi-Fi 6: This is the newest standard and has the shiny good stuff, like up to 3.5Gbps of speed, plus power savings and less network congestion (read our sibling site Macworld’s primer for more details). We’ll point out…
Moog Introduces Matriarch Semi-analog Synth
Moog has introduced the Matriarch synth based on the vintage circuitry of classic Moog synthesizer modules. Moog Matriarch is a patchable 4-note paraphonic analog synthesizer with a built-in Sequencer, Arpeggiator, stereo Ladder Filters, and stereo Analog Delay. Capable of creating rich evolving chord patterns immediately with “no patching required”, Matriarch invites access to an abundance…
Weird blobs deep inside the Earth
Scientists have found weird blobs and mountains taller than Mount Everest. The mantle appears to be layered like an onion, with major transitions 250 miles and 410 miles down. At the 410-mile level, researchers recently identified a tremendous interior mountain range, with peaks perhaps even taller than Mount Everest. “Recently, we’ve discovered another change at about…
29 years of Hubble space pictures
Circling the Earth above the distortion of the atmosphere has given the Hubble space telescope an unobstructed view of the universe. Hubble flew into orbit on April 24, 1990, aboard Discovery. The first major optical telescope to be placed in space, Hubble is currently located about 340 miles above Earth’s surface where it completes 15…
Mercedes, BMWs Stolen in Car-Sharing Hack
Thieves were able to manipulate a mobile app, and then use these vehicles for other criminal activity. According to a Share Now representative, the organization is working with law enforcement on what is being described as a fraud issue related to the manipulation of a mobile app used by the service. Share Now has also…
Orbison, Holly Holographic Concert
Soon you will be able to see Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly in concert…albeit holographically. The tour will continue in the fall, again first in Europe, where Orbison will be accompanied by another 1950s rocker, Buddy Holly (“Not Fade Away,” “Peggy Sue”) who died in a famous 1959 plane crash. This time the two holograms…
New, novel data-compression technique
A novel approach to hardware data compression may free up more memory used by computers and mobile devices, allowing them to run faster and perform more tasks simultaneously. In a paper being presented at the ACM International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems this week, the MIT researchers describe the first…
PlayStation 5: First details
Some of the first official details on Sony’s highly anticipated next-generation PlayStation are finally coming out. In a new interview with Wired, Mark Cerny, a lead system architect in Sony’s PlayStation group, discussed the upcoming system. Among the highlights: The new console will support higher resolution 8K displays, load games faster thanks to a switch…
Supersonic Engine Tech Passes Test
Efforts to build an aircraft engine that could travel many times the speed of sound are moving ahead following a successful recent demonstration. British aerospace company Reaction Engines tested its engine precooler system at its Colorado facility at conditions simulating travel at more than three times the speed of sound. The precooler, CNN noted, reduces the…