| IBM's Holey Optochip transmits 1Tbps of data, is named awesomely Mar 12th 2012, 04:17  Be honest: was there any doubt whatsoever that something called a "Holey Optochip" would be anything short of mind-blowing? No. None. The whiz-kids over at IBM have somehow managed to transmit a staggering 1Tbps of data over a new optical chip, with the fresh prototype showing promise for ultra-high interconnect bandwidth to power future supercomputer and data center applications. For those who'd rather not deal with esoteric descriptions, that's around 500 HD movies being transferred each second, and it's enough to transfer the entire U.S. Library of Congress web archive in just 60 minutes. Needless to say, it's light pulses taking charge here, and researchers are currently hunting for ways to make use of optical signals within standard low-cost, high-volume chip manufacturing techniques. Getting the feeling that your own personal supercomputer is just a year or two away? Hate to burst your bubble, but IBM's been touting similar achievements since at least 2008. Actually, scratch that -- where there's hope, there's Holey.
IBM's Holey Optochip transmits 1Tbps of data, is named awesomely originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  PC World |  IBM | Email this | Comments | | NASA's GRAIL spacecraft begin the process of staring way too hard at the moon Mar 12th 2012, 03:26  NASA's overall initiatives may be throttled, but the Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft haven't heard of any such limitations. These guys have officially started their collection mission, orbiting the moon for the next 80-some-odd days in order to obtain a high-resolution map of the lunar gravitational field. Why? Humans told 'em too, of course. Outside of the conventional knee-jerk response, scientists are also hoping to grok more about the moon's "internal structure and composition," and perhaps even get a better understanding of how "Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved." Cleverly, the GRAIL mission's twin machines are named Ebb and Flow (thanks to a group of youngsters in Bozeman, Montana), and while it's not being made public, we wouldn't be shocked to hear that the whole thing is being covertly funded by Sir Richard Branson. The moon is totally the next hot real estate market, right?
Continue reading NASA's GRAIL spacecraft begin the process of staring way too hard at the moon NASA's GRAIL spacecraft begin the process of staring way too hard at the moon originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink io9 | MSNBC, NASA (1), (2) | Email this | Comments | |
