Tag: WorldNews

Today Dresden, Germany-based startup SpiNNcloud Systems announced that their hybrid supercomputing platform, the SpiNNcloud Platform, is available for sale. The machine combines traditional AI accelerators with neuromorphic computing capabilities, using system design strategies that draw inspiration from the human brain. Systems for purchase vary in size, but the largest commercially available machine can simulate ten billion neurons, about one tenth the number in the human brain. The announcement was made at the I

A quick glance at the news headlines each morning might convey that the world is in crisis. Challenges include climate-change threats to human infrastructure and habitats; cyberwarfare by state and nonstate actors attacking energy sources and health care systems; and the global water crisis, which is compounded by the climate crisis. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the rapid advance of artificial intelligence and what it means for humanity.As people grapple with those and other issues, they typically look to policymakers and business leaders for answers. However, no true solutions can be developed and implemented without the technical expertise of engineers.Encouraging visionary, futuristic thinking is the function of the

The emergence of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—systems that can perform any task a human can—could be the most important event in human history, one that radically impacts all aspects of our collective lives. Yet AGI, which could emerge soon, remains an elusive and controversial concept. We lack a clear definition of what it is, we don’t know how we will detect it, and we don’t know how to deal with it if it finally emerges.What we do know, however, is that today’s approaches to studying AGI are not nearly rigorous enough. Within industry, where many of today’s AI breakthroughs are happ

The IEEE–Eta Kappa Nu honor society for engineers celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. Founded in October 1904, IEEE-HKN recognizes academic experience as well as excellence in scholarship, leadership, and service. Inductees are chosen based on their technical, scientific, and leadership achievements. There are now more than 270 IEEE-HKN chapters at universities around the world.The society has changed significantly over the years. Global expansion resulted from the merger of North America–based HKN with IEEE in 2010. There are now 30 chapters outside the United States, including ones recently established at universit

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.Eurobot Open 2024: 8–11 May 2024, LA ROCHE-SUR-YON, FRANCEICRA 2024: 13–17 May 2024, YOKOHAMA, JAPANRoboCup 2024: 17–22 July 2024, EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDSCybathlon 2024: 25–27 October 2024, ZURICHEnjoy today’s videos!

Dina Genkina: Hi, I’m Dina Genkina for IEEE Spectrum‘s Fixing the Future. Before we start, I want to tell you that you can get the latest coverage from some of Spectrum‘s most important beats, including AI, climate change, and robotics, by signing up for one of our free newsletters. Just go to spectrum.ieee.org/newsletters to subscribe. And today our guest on the show is Suraj Bramhavar. Recently, Bramhavar left his job as a co-founder and CTO of Sync Computing to start a new chapter. The UK government has just founded the

In 1912, Oskar von Miller, an electrical engineer and founder of the Deutsches Museum, had an idea: Could you project an artificial starry sky onto a dome, as a way of demonstrating astronomical principles to the public?It was such a novel concept that when von Miller approached the Carl Zeiss company in Jena, Germany, to manufacture such a projector, they initially rebuffed him. Eventually, they agreed, and under the guidance of lead engineer

The shift toward the electrification of vehicles and the expansion of the electrical grid for renewable energy integration has led to a considerable increase in the demand for power electronics devices and modernized cable systems — applications that will help ensure a consistent and long-term electricity supply. Simulation is used to drive the design of new power electronics devices (such as solar power and wind turbine systems), which are required to operate efficiently for varying levels of power production and power consumption (in the case of electric vehicles). A multiphysics modeling and simulation approach plays a critical role in meeting design goals and reducing the overall production time.The COMSOL Multiphysics® software offers a wide range of capabilities for the modeling of energy transmission and power electronics, including quasistatic and time

When Marianne Smith was teaching computer science in 2016 at Flathead Valley Community College, in Kalispell, Mont., the adjunct professor noticed the female students in her class were severely outnumbered, she says.Smith says she believed the disparity was because girls were not being introduced to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in elementary and middle school.Code Girls United Founded 2018 Headquarters Kalispell, Mont. Employees 10

One of the biggest challenges for robotics right now is practical autonomous operation in unstructured environments. That is, doing useful stuff in places your robot hasn’t been before and where things may not be as familiar as your robot might like. Robots thrive on predictability, which has put some irksome restrictions on where and how they can be successfully deployed.But over the past few years, this has started to change, thanks in large part to a couple of pivotal robotics challenges put on by DARPA. The DARPA Subterranean Challenge ran from 2018 to 2021, putting mobile robots through a series of unstructured und