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Aug 31, 2024

Broadcom is working to integrate optical connectivity directly into GPUs

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Forward-looking: We’re approaching a point where traditional copper interconnections won’t be able to carry enough data to keep GPUs and other specialized chips fully utilized. The AI market is urgently demanding a next-generation solution to this interconnection bottleneck, and Broadcom appears to be working on an optics-based solution that is closer to the chip itself.

Broadcom is developing new silicon photonics technology aimed at significantly increasing the bandwidth available to GPUs and other AI accelerators. By utilizing co-packaged optics (CPOs), the fabless chip manufacturer aims to integrate optical connectivity components directly into GPUs, enabling higher data rates while simultaneously reducing power requirements.

The company has been working on CPO solutions for several years and showcased its latest advancements at the recent Hot Chips convention. Broadcom’s “optical engine” reportedly delivers a total interconnect bandwidth of 1.6 TB/sec, equivalent to 6.4 Tbit/sec or 800 GB/sec in each direction.

Aug 31, 2024

Exploring the fundamental reasoning abilities of LLMs

Posted by in category: habitats

Reasoning, the process through which human beings mentally process information to draw specific conclusions or solve problems, can be divided into two main categories. The first type of reasoning, known as deductive reasoning, entails starting from a general rule or premise and then using this rule to draw conclusions about specific cases.

This could mean, for instance, building on the premise that “all dogs have ears” and “Chihuahuas are dogs,” to conclude that “chihuahuas have ears.”

The second widely used form of reasoning is inductive reasoning, which instead consists of generalizing (i.e., formulating general rules) based on specific observations. This could mean, for instance, assuming that all swans are white because all the swans we encountered during our lifetime were white.

Aug 31, 2024

Nuclear reactors a mile underground promise safe, cheap power

Posted by in categories: economics, nuclear energy

Startup Deep Fission has come up with a new way to deal with the economic and safety problems of nuclear power that is, to say the least, novel. The idea is to build a reactor that’s under 30 inches (76 cm) wide and stick it down a mile-deep (1.6-km) drill shaft.

With its promise of limitless energy by breaking down matter itself, nuclear power has long held a utopian promise for humanity. However, economic and safety considerations, along with political opposition, have hindered its development – especially in the very countries that developed the technology.

The safety and economic factors are related because the high cost of building nuclear power stations has very little to do with the nuclear technology itself. Nuclear fuel, even with all the processing costs included, only comes to about US$1,663 per kilogram (2.2 lb). Because nuclear fuel has such an incredible energy density, that’s about 0.46 ¢/kWh – and the fuel costs keep dropping as the technology becomes more efficient.

Aug 31, 2024

Scalable graphene technology could significantly enhance battery safety and performance

Posted by in categories: energy, materials

Researchers at Swansea University, in collaboration with Wuhan University of Technology, Shenzhen University, have developed a pioneering technique for producing large-scale graphene current collectors.

This breakthrough promises to significantly enhance the safety and performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), addressing a critical challenge in energy storage technology.

Published in Nature Chemical Engineering, the study details the first successful protocol for fabricating defect-free foils on a commercial scale. These foils offer extraordinary thermal conductivity—up to 1,400.8 W m–1 K–1 —nearly ten times higher than traditional copper and aluminum current collectors used in LIBs.

Aug 31, 2024

The AI chip startup that could take down Nvidia

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Nvidia may have a sizable lead, but money is an excellent motivator, and tech companies old and new are striving to end its dominance of the AI chip market — or at least secure themselves a sizable slice of it.

While some of these groups, including AMD, are following Nvidia’s lead and optimizing GPUs for generative AI, others are exploring alternative chip architectures.

Continue reading “The AI chip startup that could take down Nvidia” »

Aug 31, 2024

Scientists Discovered Something Kinda Alarming: The Universe Shouldn’t Actually Exist

Posted by in category: cosmology

These models are very, very wrong.

Aug 31, 2024

The Reason Brazil Is Blocking Elon Musk’s X/Twitter

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, internet, law

ICYMI: Elon Musk’s social media platform X was instructed by a Brazilian court to name a local representative, but failed to do so.

The justice said the platform will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using…


SAO PAULO — Brazil started blocking Elon Musk’s social media platform X early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through its mobile app after the company refused to comply with a judge’s order.

Continue reading “The Reason Brazil Is Blocking Elon Musk’s X/Twitter” »

Aug 31, 2024

SpaceX blew a ‘catastrophic’ first-of-its-kind hole in the atmosphere with Starship

Posted by in category: space travel

A new study from scientists has claimed SpaceX’s explosion of its Starship rocket last year blew a first-of-its-kind hole in Earth’s atmosphere.

Aug 31, 2024

Writer Alarmed When Company Fires His 60-Person Team, Replaces Them All With AI

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

As the last man standing, he was tasked with fixing-up all the AI-generated articles that once would’ve been composed by dozens of writers.

Aug 31, 2024

SpaceX Falcon 9 cleared to launch by FAA; next launch: Starlink overnight

Posted by in categories: drones, internet

Three days ago, an old Falcon 9 booster crashed and exploded while landing on a drone ship during its 23rd landing.


The FAA has cleared SpaceX to launch the Falcon 9 while the investigation into Wednesday’s mishap wraps up.

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