Noctua NH-D9L Review
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Finding How Memories are Made
The brain is an extraordinary organ that humanity may never fully grasp, but that does not stop us from trying. One of the fundamental functions of the human brain is to store memories, and for some the brain has difficulty forming new memories, so a better understanding of the processes involved could lead to treatments for them. Now researchers at Vanderbilt University have found a link between a signaling protein and the formation of memories.
Neurons have two types of fibers that reach out from them, dendrites and axons, with the axons sending signals that dendrites receive. Each dendrite is covered in filaments called filopodia that will develop into spines when they touch an axon, and these connections are what store memories. The Vanderbilt researchers found that the signaling protein Asef2 promotes spine formation by activating another protein, and is used by another to guide specific spines. Previously Asef2 has been linked to disorders including autism, Alzheimer's, and Down Syndrome. Autism has been associated with immature spines, which fail to form good connections, and Alzheimer's is well known for disrupting a person's memory.
The hope is to one day understand the mechanisms well enough to develop treatments to restore spine formation. Until then, we have a lot more studying to do to unravel our brains at a cellular and molecular level.
Source: Vanderbilt University
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is Looking Gorgeous With Six New Screenshots
Today marks the first day of May, which means the wait is almost over for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The boots of Geralt await us, and to help tide you over a little bit longer we have six new screenshots. In them we have Geralt taking on some bandits in a three on one fight, which may not seem entirely fair, but then again, they're the fools taking on a witcher. Another one has Geralt on horseback as he's heading towards a herd of sheep, with plenty of them on-screen to show what REDengine 3 is capable of. We also have the witcher running through a field with some impressive shadows in front, and another where he's again on horse heading towards a shrine or monument of some kind.
A griffin appears yet again, so it certainly seems like the past comment about multiple griffins is true, and evidently the Igni sign is the best way to combat them (or bandits). Finishing it off is Geralt in a spiffy shirt wandering through a town, with a fast travel prompt over a road sign. The only loading screens during The Witcher 3 are when you decide to fast travel, with the loading time dependent on how far you're traveling. You'll also see them when you start up the game or die and reload (as expected), but otherwise CD Projekt RED has said that is it for loading screens.
The quest text in all the screenshots has been blurred to avoid spoilers, luckily. The HUD is rather large and the button prompts are displayed in all of them, so hopefully we can play with as many of those turned off as possible. Regardless, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is looking fantastic, and we can all play it on May 19. An Expansion Pass is also available to help extend the adventure by an additional 30 hours.
Source: Facebook [1] & [2] and VG24/7
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AMD Cuts Price of R9 285 GPUs to $200
AMD first released the R9 285 based on the Tonga GPU last year at a price point of $249. The R9 285 offered performance similar to the R9 280 and 280X with a price that was between the other two cards. Both the 280 and 280X have received price cuts since launch, but the 285 is now in line with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 for both price and performance. The price drop could help AMD take sales from NVIDIA as the R9 285 "features a better memory bus which results in better texture processing and further features a robust geometry processing engine," in comparison to the GTX 960.
Source: WCCF Tech
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Square Enix, Microsoft, and NVIDIA Show Off DX12
Want to see multiple scenes with over 63 million polygons in it being rendered in real-time? Of course you do, so check out the video below where Square Enix, Microsoft, and NVIDIA show off the power of DirectX 12 with a project called WITCH CHAPTER 0 [cry] at Microsoft’s BUILD 2015 conference. That 63 million polygons is some 6 to 12 times more than what DX11 is capable of, and that is not the only impressive number, as the textures used in the scenes are 8K by 8K. Perhaps the most impressive part of the scene though is hair, with each strand being an actual polygon, with over 50 shaders being applied.
Driving the machine behind the demonstration were four Titan X GPUs, so we probably cannot expect this level of detail to arrive on our PCs any time soon. Still leaves me looking forward to the launch of DX12 and the games that will use it.
Source: NVIDIA
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Hardware Roundup: Friday, May 1, 2015, Edition
Today is May Day, and to help kick it off we have some items for you to check out and wrap up the week with. There is a look at the SilverStone Mammoth MM01, a case that lives up to its name while also providing a HEPA air filter and spill-proof panels. We also have 20 of the worst PC setups seen throughout the month of April, so if you need some laughs or maybe a few cringes, you're covered. A new case mod is highlighted that is based on The Riddler, with a sweet color scheme and paint job to match. Wrapping up the day's items is a new podcast covering the latest news and reviews from the past week.
Cases
SilverStone Mammoth MM01 @ TechSpot
Miscellany
20 of the Worst PC Setups - April 2015 @ ThinkComputers
Case Mod Friday: The Riddler @ ThinkComputers
Podcast #347 @ PC Perspective
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New Technique Discovered for Creating Terahertz Radiation
When X-ray photography was first discovered, it allowed us to peer into places previously impossible, and we may see a revolution like that happen again with terahertz radiation. Though at a much lower frequency, this form of light can be used to identify various illnesses and materials, at range and without damaging the subject. To best accomplish this though, a wide range of frequencies need to be created, and researchers at the University of Rochester have found a new way of doing so at a lower power than thought possible.
Specific frequencies of terahertz radiation can be made by special diodes and lasers, but these are only good for imaging work. Spectroscopy, which identifies materials by how light interacts with it, requires a broadband light source, which is made by a microplasma. To produce such a plasma requires either two powerful lasers of different frequencies, or one even more powerful laser. The Rochester researchers wondered if maybe working with special polarizations of light could improve efficiencies. It turns out this is not the case, but once the researchers learned why this did not work and the underlying physics, they found another solution. This new approach allows for the creation of the microplasma with a single laser at a much lower power than previously thought possible, and it may go even lower, by changing the gas used.
One thing interesting about this technique is that the terahertz waves go in a different direction than the laser beam, which should make it easier to couple the waves to a waveguide in a microchip.
Source: University of Rochester
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Grooveshark Shuts Down After Settling Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
The parent company of Grooveshark, Escape Media, has announced that it has officially shutdown the service after settling a copyright infringement lawsuit that it has been battling for years. Grooveshark, which launched in 2007 and let millions of web and mobile users stream an unlimited number of songs from major record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, was found to have lacked the proper rights to upload copyrighted songs. As a part of the agreement to shutdown Grooveshark, Escape Media has surrendered its website, mobile applications, and intellectual property. The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major labels affected by Grooveshark, revealed in a statement that "This is an important victory for artists and the entire music industry."
In a letter posted to the Grooveshark website, users of the service are being urged to seek out legal and licensed music services to satisfy their music listening needs.
Source: CNET
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XIGMATEK Launches Nebula C in Multiple Spring Colors
XIGMATEK, a manufacturer of computer peripherals and thermal solutions, has launched its Nebula C in multiple springtime colors. The Nebula C, which is available in white, pink, purple, yellow, and two shades of green, is a mini-ITX case that features support for CPU colors up to 80mm tall, graphics cards up to 230mm long, and a standard ATX PSU. The cube-shaped computer case is built with SECC steel frames and includes glossy ABS panels, one 3.5-inch drive bay, one 2.5-inch drive bay, passive vents on the bottom, USB 3.0 front panel ports, and a 120mm rear mounted fan.
Source: TechPowerUp
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Microsoft Announces Windows 10 Support for Small Devices
As part of the Build 2015 conference, Microsoft has announced the Windows 10 Internet of Things Core Insider Preview. This new version of Windows targets small computing devices such as the Raspberry Pi 2, Arduino, and Minnowboard Max and will be available "free for Makers and commercial device builders." Microsoft is hoping to enter a market that has been dominated by other OSs including various flavors of Linux by "bringing our world-class development tools, the power of the Universal Windows Platform, direct access to hardware capabilities, and the ability to remotely debug, update, and manage the software running on Raspberry Pi 2 devices." Microsoft will also release an "Arduino Certified" version of Windows that will combine the hardware platform with Windows as an OS. It will be interesting to see if Windows can make a dent in the market and how it will perform on the lower powered devices.
Source: Microsoft
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Details Confirmed For NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
Rumors surrounding the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti have been making the rounds this month, with sources confirming a number of these rumors to Videocardz. The card will have 6GB of VRAM as initially rumored, half of the 12GB found in a TITAN X card. The 980 Ti will be available with several different cooling options including reference, water, and hybrid though it appears the rumor of a "metal enhanced edition" is in fact a rumor. It was also confirmed that the 980 Ti will have three DisplayPorts, one HDMI, and one DVI-I outputs. The final confirmation was that the card will use a GM200-310 GPU, though parameters such as core and GPU frequency remain unknown.
Source: Videocardz
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Lithium-Ion Batteries Observed While Exploding in Real-Time
Lithium-ion batteries are used in so many devices they practically surround us, and while most of the time this is not an issue, there are rare occasions when these batteries will explode. Obviously it is not good when a single battery explodes, but often one explosion can cause a chain reaction and neighboring batteries will explode as well. Researchers at University College London, Imperial College London, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) have now performed the first analysis of the internal structure of a battery as it explodes, in real-time.
The researchers studied two specific battery types, with one having an internal support and one not, and what occurs when thermal runaway happens. To do this they used one of the ESRF beamlines, which is capable of high speed 3D image capture. As the batteries were exposed to temperatures above 250 ºC, the researchers were able to watch the structures inside. The battery with the internal support apparently hit temperatures around 1000 ºC internally, because the copper support melted, and the heat spread out from there. In the other battery the tightly packed core collapsed, which would increase the risk of short circuits and damage to nearby objects.
While this study only worked with two types of battery, it demonstrates the feasibility of this analysis method for other types. Now the researchers are going to study a larger sample of batteries and examine the microscopic changes involved with failure.
Source: University College London
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Windows 10's Project Spartan Browser Gets Renamed Microsoft Edge
Microsoft unveiled Project Spartan, a brand new Web browser for Windows 10, earlier this year. It has a new rendering engine, said to be faster and less resource intensive than Internet Explorer, and would better compete with the likes of Chrome and Firefox. Project Spartan is Microsoft's browser for Windows 10, with Internet Explorer being relegated to legacy duty, but until now it didn't have an official name. During the Build conference, it was revealed just what Project Spartan would be called: Microsoft Edge. It is a fitting name considering the new rendering engine is called EdgeHTML, and a welcome change from the past with IE. Its logo is a familiar design, but one that should help with the acclimation to the new browser. Edge will be faster, and will also have some nice built-in features, like Cortana for voice commands, digital ink annotation, and a reading list, among others. It has a sleek and minimalist design, much like Chrome and Firefox, and now should be a true competitor to those other browsers.
Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge will arrive sometime this summer, potentially July, although an exact date still is not known. Once Microsoft reveals that information, you can be sure to find it here.
Source: The Verge
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NVIDIA Launches GeForce 352.63 Beta Driver
In order to provide GeForce owners with the best experience when it comes to the prerelease versions of Windows 10, NVIDIA has launched its GeForce 352.63 beta driver. The driver, which is only compatible with GeForce 900, 700, and 600 series GPUs, as well as 900M, 800M, 700M, and 600M series GPUs, provides proper support for WDDM 2.0 and DirectX 12.
The latest beta driver can be downloaded immediately for desktops and notebooks from the official NVIDIA website.
Source: TechPowerUp
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New Trillion FPS Camera Developed
For most people, it may be hard to imagine something happening in a trillionth of a second, but for some researchers, that is how fast the processes they are trying to study occur. As you can guess, that tremendous speed makes studying these processes difficult, which is why one group of researchers have created a new camera to capture what happens. As reported by The Optical Society, researchers from Japan have succeeded in creating a camera capable of capturing 4.4 trillion frames per second.
Normally if someone wants to study some ultrafast processes, they have to utilize the pump-probe method to record what is happening. While this method can achieve astounding framerates, it can only capture a frame at a time. To create movies using the method requires repeating the process multiple times, which is not always viable. The new camera, called STAMP (Sequentially Timed All-optical Mapping Photography) however can capture multiple frames and at a resolution of 450x450 pixels. It works by splitting an ultrashort pulse of light into colored flashes, like sunlight dispersing into a rainbow. These flashes then strike the target at different times and can be analyzed to create a motion picture. As electrical and mechanical cannot keep up with the necessary processing speed, STAMP uses optical components exclusively.
The applications for STAMP are numerous, including studying nuclear fusion and lattice vibrations, and it is almost certain many have not yet been imagined. Currently the researchers are working on an improved STAMP system that will be capable of catching 25 sequential images, while the original was only able to capture 6. Eventually this could be pushed up to 100 frames.
Source: The Optical Society
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ASUSTOR Will Showcase Innovative Products at Computex
ASUSTOR, a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, has revealed that it will be showcasing some exciting and innovative products at this year’s Computex. Some of the products that ASUSTOR will exhibit include its 2, 3, 5, and 7 series rackmount and tower model devices, as well as the soon to be released 61 series and 10 series NAS devices. The 61 series is aimed at prosumer and enterprise users, while the 10 series is geared towards price conscious consumers. ASUSTOR also plans to showcase an improved version of ASUSTOR Data Manager, an operating system developed by the company that comes pre-installed with its NAS products. The latest version of ADM features a local backup function, upgrades for multiple applications, optimized multimedia streaming, expanded support for up to 40 different camera channels, and added convenience for remote access from mobile devices.
Source: Press Release
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