IEEE Spectrum

Powerful new artificial-intelligence and signal-processing technologies are making it much more difficult for military submarines to remain hidden in the vast and murky deeps. The development is upsetting the decades-old cat-and-mouse games involving the USA and its allies, Russia, and, increasingly, China. https://lnkd.in/gKH7jKES

In this special edition of the podcast, Microsoft Technical Fellow & Director Chris Bishop talks with guest host Eliza Strickland of IEEE Spectrum at NeurIPS 2024 about how AI is changing scientific discovery & the profound impact it can have on the world. https://lnkd.in/eMFzZWwr

In Vancouver for #NeurIPS2024? Join us Thursday @ 1 PM PT in Booth #445 for a LIVE recording of the Microsoft Research Podcast feat. Lidong Zhou and Chris Bishop in conversation with guest host IEEE Spectrum's Eliza Strickland. https://lnkd.in/gPpMqR5G

The demand for electricity to power the training of Large Language Models has gotten to the point where Amazon and Google are throwing money at rival startups developing exotic small nuclear reactors: Amazon is funding X-energy and Google is allied with Kairos Power. Can big tech's big money help these companies push past the stupendous challenges of building and licensing a new nuclear plant in the United States? Stay tuned https://lnkd.in/eW_9JnVk

"Much of the global communications and financial system hinges on a few hundred cables of bundled glass fibers that are strung across ocean floors around the world, each cable about the same diameter as a garden hose," writes Margo Anderson. So the severing of two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, possibly by a Chinese vessel, has triggered alarms in Western countries. One possible solution? Robotic subs that patrol these lines, says Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute. It's science fiction now but could be a reality in the near future, Clark says. https://lnkd.in/dq_Qwyqx

Europe has never had a reusable launch-to-orbit cargo spacecraft, but The Exploration Company has just raised $160 million in venture funding to build such a capsule. Within five years, it could be a competitor for SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, and a human-rated version is also envisioned. Ned Potter has the scoop. https://lnkd.in/enyaUN3X

The NXP Semiconductors TEF6686 radio on a chip has done well in car radios. But it has stupendous capabilities that go far beyond that application, as we found out when we built an open-source radio, based on the chip, that was designed by Dutch radio amateur Sjef Verhoeven. Verhoeven describes his radio in this story—and explains how you can build one, too. https://lnkd.in/ezwMTS8d

In 1970, when it took about a month to fabricate a complex integrated circuit, a brash IBM middle manager named William Harding had a vision: automate the entire process so you could produce a chip in a single day. He succeeded, and it required an astounding leap of technological capability that is recounted here by one of his chief deputies. https://lnkd.in/gd2BMHaG

It's a distressing time to be an ultra-rich supercar buyer, because you have to choose: internal combustion engine or electric. Oilstainlab understands your turmoil, and plans to soothe it with a $2.35-million hypercar that can be switched from electric to gas or vice-versa—in about one hour. Lawrence Ulrich reports https://lnkd.in/ghW5pszw

Big tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon are suddenly very interested in #nuclear power to train their #LLMs. Google, on the other hand, has been doing nuclear power research for a decade. But they've been very quiet about it. https://lnkd.in/et_WCimh