Mass Producing Carbon Nanofibers with Airbrushes
For many people, the only connection between an airbrush and technology is the tool in an image editor. For future technologies though, airbrushes me have been used in their manufacturer. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a way to grow forests of carbon nanofibers with the help of an airbrush.
A common tool for growing carbon nanofibers are nickel nanoparticles, which act as a catalyst. What the North Carolina researchers have developed is the method by which to spray the nanoparticles onto a metal substrate, so that the nanofibers will grow. First the nickel is applied in a fairly uniform coating, thanks to the airbrush, and then silicon powder is applied to the substrate with another airbrush. Now the airbrushed substrate is placed in a chemical reactor with acetylene and ammonia gas, and the whole thing is heated to 600 ºC. This results in the carbon nanofibers growing under the nickel nanoparticles, perpendicular to the substrate.
So far the researchers have tested this method with aluminum, copper, and titanium substrates, and as these are all metals, the interface between them and the nanofibers is highly conductive. This, along with the ability to airbrush large areas at room temperature, could make this technique very valuable for manufacturing devices that can benefit from carbon nanofibers, such as sensors and batteries.
Source: North Carolina State University
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AIDA64 Benchmark Gets an Upgrade
AIDA64 is a software suite used for benchmarks from FinalWire Ltd. and it has just received several updates. The latest versions, AIDA64 Extreme Edition 3.20 and Business Edition 3.20, have improved performance on multi-threaded systems and can handle up to 128 logical processors. Compatibility with Windows 8.1 RTM and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM has also been added. The software has also added support for the latest hardware technology with optimized 64-bit support for Intel Ivy Bridge-E CPUs, socket FM2+ and LGA-1150, and the Bochs PC Emulator 2.6.2. The Extreme Edition is available for $39.95 and a 10 node license for the Business Edition costs $199.90.
Source: FinalWire Ltd.
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NVIDIA Unveils the Tegra Note; 7-Inch Android Tablet Powered by Tegra 4
Last month there were rumors about an NVIDIA Tegra Tab, a 7" tablet from the company, and now it looks like those were mostly true. NVIDIA recently unveiled the Tegra Note, which is designed by NVIDIA but brought to stores by its various partners. In North America, EVGA and PNY are among the partners listed; EVGA, ZOTAC, and Oysters in Europe; ZOTAC, Colorful, and Shenzhen Homecare Technology in Asia; and XOLO in India. It means the individual markets can have tablets tailored to them, though what exactly that entails isn't exactly known yet.
What we do know about the Tegra Note is mighty impressive, as it's a 7", Android tablet with a Tegra 4 processor at its core, plus 16GB of built-in storage that can be expanded with a microSD card. Audio is handled by front-facing speakers and NVIDIA PureAudio technology to deliver some of the best sound found on a tablet. The 7" touchscreen is an IPS panel with a 1280x800 resolution, and if that isn't big enough for you then just use the micro HDMI port to connect it to your TV for some big screen action. NVIDIA is including a stylus with both Brush and Chisel tips for writing and painting, with DirectStylus technology for a more responsive experience. There are also some included apps for easy note taking.
A five megapixel camera on the rear and a VGA camera on the front sound fairly normal, but the Tegra Note's camera is really something else. NVIDIA's Tegra 4 helps deliver the processing power to the camera, while Chimera computational photography architecture brings some new features to the mix. There's also SmugMug's Camera Awesome app (one of iOS' best camera apps) with exclusive Tegra 4 features, like "tap-to-track" and 100fps video recording for slow-mo playback. If you want some gaming, well there's NVIDIA TegraZone to take full advantage of that Tegra 4 processor. Battery life on the Tegra Note is promised at 10 hours for video playback.
There are going to be various accessories for the Tegra Note, like a slide cover to protect the screen as well as doubling as a stand, and a DirectStylus Pro Pack with even more tips for different writing styles. Plus the Tegra Note's Bluetooth capabilities open up the potential for an assortment of game controllers and other devices to be used with the tablet.
The NVIDIA Tegra Note will be launching worldwide, through the partners mentioned earlier, over the next months. Retail pricing on it is an affordable $199.
Source: NVIDIA
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Stylish and Silent Chassis From Thermaltake Announced
Thermaltake is well known for its many chassis, CPU coolers, PSUs and gaming peripherals. Now it seeks to expand upon its already large chassis line up with the new Urban S31 Snow Edition. The new chassis has a minimalistic and elegant design with a brushed aluminum front panel, which hides the drive bays. However, minimalistic does not mean simplistic as this chassis demonstrates.
The case is 19.7 x 8.1 by 20.5 inches, which allows for both microATX and regular ATX motherboards. Thermaltake has also been able to make room for three 5.25 inch bays and six 3.5/2.5 inch bays, so if you plan on using this for an HTPC there is plenty of room for all the storage you might need; and should you buy the non-windowed version, the chassis comes with sound dampening foam in the side panels to ensure that you will not get distracted during movies. If you are more interested in keep things cool, there is plenty of options to do so too. There is room for two 120 mm fans in the front, two 120 mm or 140 mm fans in the top of chassis, one 120 mm fan in the rear, and one 120 mm fan in the bottom, and all of the fan mounting spots feature a dust filter, except for in the rear. As for connectivity on the outside of the chassis, there are two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a microphone and headset jack, all located on the front, with a 2.5 or 3.5 inch HDD docking station on the top of the chassis.
Source: Press Release
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Turning CPU Cache Management Over to Software
Looking at someone's desk, it is possible to determine what are the most used and most important objects on it, based on their proximity to the person. In multicore CPUs though, where the objects are stored in caches, the information is not always placed closest to the core that needs it because of the current hardware memory management system. Researchers at MIT are currently working on a software solution to optimize the last-level cache used by all cores, and are showing some promising results.
For a human, electrical signals may seem fast, but to a CPU running at gigahertz frequencies, the extra time it takes to pull data from the other side of the chip can actually impair performance. Ideally the data will be stored nearest to the core or cores that will need it, but at present the data is randomly assigned to the memory banks that comprise the cache. This is where Jigsaw comes in; the software the MIT researchers developed. By analyzing the way data is used by the cores of a CPU, it is able to recognize the best place for data for be stored in the last-level cache of the chip, whether that is nearest to a single core or in the center, where all cores can quickly access it.
So far the researchers have tested it on simulated chips with 16 and 64 cores, resulting in an average performance increase of 18% and reduced power consumption by up to 72%. As this is the first form of Jigsaw though, the increases could be made still greater, but naturally chip manufacturers will have to adopt the system before we see it.
Source: MIT
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Available Tags:NVIDIA , Android , Tablet , Thermaltake , CPU ,
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