21st Century Innovative Technologies and Developments as also discoveries, curiosity ( insolite)...

Desoxyribonukleinsäure, kurz DNA, ist ein Biomolekül, das als Träger von Erbinformationen von allen Lebewesen fungiert. DNA-Stränge sind sehr kompakt und schwierig in der Handhabung, allerdings auch chemisch stabil. Der perfekte Speicher also? Das DNA-Start-up Catalog aus Boston, USA forscht zumindest in diese Richtung und kann nun auch einen riesigen Erfolg aufweisen.

Wie Cnet berichtet, ist es dem Unternehmen gelungen, den kompletten Text der englischsprachigen Wikipedia, rund 16 Gigabyte an Daten, auf DNA zu schreiben. Das Kunststück gelang mit einer Eigenentwicklung eines DNA-Schreibers. Und selbst wenn es eher unwahrscheinlich wirkt, dass unser Flash-Speicher bald durch DNA-Speicher ersetzt wird, glaubt das Unternehmen, dass die Technologie schon für einige Kunden zum Archivieren von Daten nützlich ist.

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March 19 is the first day of IBM Think 2018, the company's flagship conference, where the company will unveil what it claims is the world's smallest computer. They're not kidding: It's literally smaller than a grain of salt. 

But don't let the size fool you: This sucker has the computing power of the x86 chip from 1990. Okay, so that's not great compared to what we have today, but cut it some slack — you need a microscope to see it. 

The computer will cost less than ten cents to manufacture, and will also pack "several hundred thousand transistors," according to the company. These will allow it to "monitor, analyze, communicate, and even act on data."

According to IBM, this is only the beginning. "Within the next five years, cryptographic anchors — such as ink dots or tiny computers smaller than a grain of salt — will be embedded in everyday objects and devices," says IBM head of research Arvind Krishna. If he's correct, we'll see way more of these tiny systems in objects and devices in the years to come.

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https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-innovative-technologies-and-developments/?&tag=IBM

Why This New Quantum Computing Startup Has a Real Shot at Beating Its Competition

A startup called Quantum Circuits plans to compete with the likes of IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Intel to bring quantum computing out of the lab and into the wider world. There’s one good reason to think it might be able to beat them all.

That’s because Quantum Circuits was founded by Robert Schoelkopf, a professor at Yale, whose work in many ways has helped kick-start this exciting new era of quantum advances.

Quantum computers exploit two strange features of quantum physics, entanglement and superposition, to process information in a fundamentally different way from traditional computers. The approach allows the power of such machines to scale dramatically with even just a few quantum bits, or qubits. Those racing to build practical quantum computers are nearing the point where quantum machines will be capable of doing things that no conventional machine could—an inflection point known as quantum supremacy.

The promise of reaching such a milestone has transformed the field from a mostly academic endeavor into a high-stakes competition between the research arms of several big companies and a few startups. And everyone is using the superconducting circuits Schoelkopf pioneered.  

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Les deux systèmes IBM de 20 qubits et 50 qubits d'IBM maintiennent un état quantique de 90 microsecondes, un record pour l'industrie.

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There's always a blue sky technology waiting in the wings, and for enterprise computing, quantum computing takes that role. With Satya Nadella convening a panel of Microsoft's best physicists at the end of his Ignite conference keynote, it's fair time to ask, what will this mean to the enterprise and how long will the adoption curve take?

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On Thursday, BeagleBoard unveiled PocketBeagle, a tiny, open source, USB key fob computer that works as a development board for both beginners and professionals.

PocketBeagle—which, at 35 x 56 x 5 mm, is smaller than a credit card—features a simple, open source hardware design, and a catalog-available, well-documented processor, according to a press release. This board can replace some costly hardware, and also offers a solution for rapid prototyping without slowing the path to production, which can lower risk as well.

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This low-cost Linux computer offers "tremendous expansibility," according to the release. The company also offers the chance to learn programming from online educators.

For hobbyists, "PocketBeagle is small and flexible enough to fit in gaming, 3D printing, robotics or other electronics projects; and affordable enough to dedicate one to live permanently in each of those different projects," according to the release.

"PocketBeagle not only includes a 1-GHz processor, but also industrial-oriented peripherals and microcontrollers optimized for interfacing to the physical world," the release stated. This could also make it a good option for Internet of Things (IoT) experiments, especially in businesses.

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https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/maker-space-a-new-trend-in-education-and-a-big-responsibility/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/coding-a-new-trend-in-education-and-a-big-responsibility/

Mit Microsofts App Seeing AI sollen es Blinde im Alltag einfacher haben: Die App erkennt unter anderem Text, Objekte und sogar Szenen und liest das Gesehene vor. Dafür muss der Nutzer lediglich ein Foto schießen.

Eine neue, experimentelle App von Microsoft soll es Blinden ermöglichen, ihre Umgebung besser wahrzunehmen. Seeing AI erkennt auf einem Foto, das der Nutzer von seiner Umgebung macht, Objekte, Personen, Text oder auch Bargeld.

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F-Secure has announced the acquisition of Digital Assurance to add security consultancy services to its portfolio.

With a legacy of offering assessment services to governments and companies in the financial, petrochemical, retail, communication and defense industries, UK-headquartered Digital Assurance will allow F-Secure to offer a wider range of products and services, and add an established team of cybersecurity specialists which will help F-Secure bring its advanced technology and security expertise to a greater number of organizations in the UK.

Digital Assurance develops a range of security testing, information assurance and security training products and services to reduce the cost and complexity of mandatory and regulatory compliance.

Through the acquisition, Digital Assurance will become part of F-Secure’s Cyber Security Services business unit.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-innovative-technologies-and-developments/?&tag=Acquisitions

Under CEO Satya Nadella's leadership, Microsoft continues to focus on the enterprise productivity market with its flagship service, Office 365. By emphasizing the need for a modern workforce to collaborate across geographies, departments, disciplines, and even organizations, Microsoft has given Office 365 users a plethora of tools and applications that enable cooperation and collaboration like never before.

But Microsoft is not done developing its collaboration tools just yet. In April 2017, the company announced it was acquiring Intentional Software for an undisclosed amount. Intentional Software is led by former Microsoft executive and Office product development guru Charles Simonyi, who once led the team that created Microsoft products like Word and Excel.

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New research into a copper-graphene interconnect design could dramatically boost performance and cut waste heat.

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Developers will be able to create VR software for the Chrome browser to cover both desktop and mobile environments.
Google is updating its Chrome browser to support WebVR, a JavaScript application programming interface (API) that enables virtual reality (VR) experiences delivered over the web to work with VR headsets.

For software developers this opens up a new avenue on which they can build VR and 360 degree experiences that are not limited to specific apps or platforms.

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Just how much future space trash is up there?

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IBM hat mit dem Crypto-Anchor den kleinsten Computer der Welt entwickelt. Das System soll künftig in neuartigen Edge-Lösungen zum Einsatz kommen.

IBM stellte auf seiner Hausmesse „Think 2018“ mit dem Crypto-Anchor den kleinsten Computer der Welt vor. Er ist kleiner als ein grobes Salzkorn. Damit unterbietet er den Michigan Micro Mote, der rund doppelt so viel Platz benötigt. Vorerst nur ein Protoyp, soll der Crypto-Anchor künftig als Edge-Gerät an Produkten zum Einsatz kommen, etwa zur Echtheitsprüfung von Medikamenten.
Eckdaten

Der Mini-Computer erreicht die Rechenleistung eines x86-Prozessors aus den 1990er-Jahren
In der Herstellung kostet er weniger als 10 Cent
Zur Authentifizierung von Daten greift der Crypto-Anchor auf eine Blockchain zu

Details
IBMs Crypto-Anchor hat eine Größe von 1 x 1 Millimeter. Das große Bild auf der linken Seite zeigt übrigens nicht nur einen Mini-Computer – auf dem Chip, der auf der Fingerkuppe liegt, be­finden sich vielmehr 64 Stück davon. Der Prozessor des Kleinstrechners verfügt über rund eine Million Transistoren. Das entspricht in etwa der Zahl an Tran­sistoren früherer 486er-Prozessoren von Intel. Die Datenübertragung erfolgt über eine LED. Ein lichtempfind­licher Sensor empfängt Daten von außen. Der Crypto-Anchor verfügt über eine integrierte Solarzelle. Sie ermöglicht einen komplett autarken Betrieb des Edge-Geräts. Das Edge-Gerät soll als „kryptografischer Anker“ Lieferketten überwachen oder Produktinformationen speichern. Für die Authentifizierung und Prüfung der Daten setzt IBM auf eine Blockchain.

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https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-innovative-technologies-and-developments/?&tag=IBM

Windows 10 : Microsoft veut mettre le machine learning au service des développeurs

Technologie : Microsoft a annoncé l’arrivée d’une nouvelle plateforme baptisée Windows ML. Celle-ci devrait être intégrée au sein de la prochaine mise à jour Redstone 4 de Windows 10 et offrir aux développeurs la possibilité d’utiliser au sein de leurs applications les modèles de machines learning déjà développés par Microsoft.

Depuis plusieurs années, Microsoft infuse ses outils à l’intelligence artificielle et au machine learning. Mais l’éditeur souhaite maintenant mettre ses jouets au service des développeurs et annonce l’arrivée prochaine d’une plateforme baptisée Windows ML. 

Celle-ci sera proposée avec la prochaine version de Windows 10, Redstone 4, attendue pour le printemps 2018. L’annonce a été faite à l’occasion du Windows Developer Day, un événement qui rassemble les annonces de Microsoft destinées aux développeurs de son écosystème.

Il était déjà possible d’accéder aux modèles de machine learning en passant par le cloud Azure. L’idée de la plateforme Windows ML est d’offrir les mêmes fonctionnalités en local, afin de permettre aux utilisateurs de réduire les coûts et le temps d’accès nécessaire aux ressources situées dans le cloud, en s’appuyant entièrement sur la puissance de la machine pour avoir recours aux modèles de machine learning préconçus par Microsoft.

La plateforme sera conçue pour fonctionner sur les différentes machines fonctionnant sous Windows, ainsi que sur d’autres types d’appareils tels que le casque de réalité augmentée Hololens. Microsoft annonce avoir noué plusieurs partenariats avec des fabricants de processeurs afin que la plateforme Windows ML puisse tirer parti des technologies développées pour l’occasion par les fondeurs.

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https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=machine+learning

Robert Schoelkopf is at the forefront of a worldwide effort to build the world’s first quantum computer. Such a machine, if it can be built, would use the seemingly magical principles of quantum mechanics to solve problems today’s computers never could.

Three giants of the tech world — Google, IBM, and Intel — are using a method pioneered by Mr. Schoelkopf, a Yale University professor, and a handful of other physicists as they race to build a machine that could significantly accelerate everything from drug discovery to artificial intelligence. So does a Silicon Valley start-up called Rigetti Computing. And though it has remained under the radar until now, those four quantum projects have another notable competitor: Robert Schoelkopf.

After their research helped fuel the work of so many others, Mr. Schoelkopf and two other Yale professors have started their own quantum computing company, Quantum Circuits.

MUST read to understand!!!

Today’s computers store information as “bits,” with each transistor holding either a 1 or a 0. But thanks to something called the superposition principle — behavior exhibited by subatomic particles like electrons and photons, the fundamental particles of light — a quantum bit, or “qubit,” can store a 1 and a 0 at the same time. This means two qubits can hold four values at once. As you expand the number of qubits, the machine becomes exponentially more powerful.

Todd Holmdahl, who oversees the quantum project at Microsoft, said he envisioned a quantum computer as something that could instantly find its way through a maze. “A typical computer will try one path and get blocked and then try another and another and another,” he said. “A quantum computer can try all paths at the same time.”

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Following what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance,” entangled particles exist in a special state that allows information carried in one to be instantaneously reflected in another — a sort of quantum teleportation.

Researchers have recently made significant progress in building this quantum communication network. China launched the world’s first quantum communication satellite last year, and they’ve since been busy testing and extending the limitations of sending entangled photons from space to ground stations on Earth and then back again. They’ve also managed to store information using quantum memory. By the end of August, the nation plans to have a working quantum communication network to boost the Beijing-Shanghai internet.

Leading these efforts is Jian-Wei Pan of the University of Science and Technology of China, and he expects that a global quantum network could exist by 2030. That means a quantum internet is just 13 years away, if all goes well.

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Intel liefert 17-Qubit-Testchip aus
Auch Intel arbeitet an Quantencomputern: Ein neuer Testchip weist 17 Qubits auf und ist an Qutech geschickt worden. Wichtig bei diesem Schritt ist das spezielle Package samt den Anschlüssen, weniger die Leistung des supraleitenden Prozessors.

Intel hat einen Testchip mit 17 Qubits für Quanten-Computing versendet, dieser ist mittlerweile bei Qutech angekommen. Gemeinsam wollen Intel und das niederländische Institut weiter daran forschen, wie es gelingen kann, einen Quantencomputer zu bauen, und welche Materialien sowie Herstellungsverfahren dafür notwendig sind.

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IBM scientists have developed new algorithms to help improve the knowledge of complex chemistry and quantum computing.

Using IBM Q, the tech team successfully applied an efficient algorithm in relation to the number of quantum operations required for stimulation using a six qubits of a seven-qubit quantum processor to address the molecular structure problem for beryllium hydride which is to date the largest molecule simulated on a quantum computer.

IBM develop algorithm to create best quantum computing yet.
As a result of the breakthrough, it could result in effective practical applications across various sectors such as medicine to help develop personalised drugs, material engineering and energy to discover better sustainable energy sources.

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On the stage of Google I/O, CEO Sundar Pichai announced Google.ai, a new initiative to democratize the benefits of the latest in machine learning research. Google.ai will serve as a center of Google’s AI efforts — including research, tools and applied AI.

The new site will host research from Google and its Brain Team. It also allows anyone to quickly access fun experiments that highlight the company’s progress in the field. This includes AutoDraw, that makes it possible for unskilled artists to put their ideas on paper, Duet that can play along with piano players and Quick, Draw!, a game where an AI tries to guess your drawings. A selection of videos and posts about Google’s AI-first efforts are also co-located.

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Google has acquired the VR game studio behind such popular gaming titles like Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality.

In a blog post, the founding team of the Austin-based Owlchemy Labs detailed that it has been acquired and will be joining the team at Google. “Today is a REAAAALLY BIG day for Owlchemy. We’re positively thrilled to announce that Owlchemy Labs has been acquired by Google!”

Owlchemy Labs, founded in 2010, has raised $5 million in seed funding from Capital Factory, Qualcomm Ventures, Colopl VR Fund, HTC and The Venture Reality Fund.

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Mastercard said it is acquiring NuData so it can integrate its technology into its fraud management and security products.

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Auf der Wearable Technologies Conference gab die Branche einen Ausblick auf die Zukunft der technischen Begleiter, die uns Freizeit und Arbeit künftig erleichtern sollen.

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We've all been struck by a jolt of inspiration at the most inopportune moment, only to have the brilliant idea slip away before it can be jotted down. A new voice-recording wearable could ensure that never happens again.

Launched on Kickstarter earlier this month, Senstone is a compact brooch-sized device designed to capture your spur-of-the-moment thoughts at the tap of a button, transferring them to a companion app on your smartphone. But it doesn't stop there: the device's real potential is in its purported automatic-transcription feature, which takes your voice memos and turn them into text you can edit and share.

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The Raspberry Pi Foundation has launched the Compute Module 3, a slimmed-down Raspberry Pi missing the SD card and other sockets for embedding in other products.