computer

Smart Devices Are Spying on You Everywhere, And That’s a Problem

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Have you ever felt a creeping sensation that someone’s watching you? Then you turn around and you don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Depending on where you were, though, you might not have been completely imagining it. There are billions of things sensing you every day. They are everywhere, hidden in plain sight – … Read more

Scientists Unveil Extremely Small Battery For The Smallest Computers in The World

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There was a time, not so long ago, when computers were so large, they occupied entire rooms. Today, some processing units can come as small as a few specks of dust. Even next to a grain of rice, these stacks of micrometer-sized chips look infinitesimal.    Shrinking computer batteries to fit that size, however, has proved … Read more

Detecting water pollution: DNA computer could tell you if your drinking water is contaminated

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A simple test for water pollution involving engineered strands of DNA can report levels of contamination, and this biological system can carry out logical operations like those done by computers Technology 17 February 2022 By Matthew Sparkes The DNA computer – although not set up for a formal analysis Julius Lucks/Northwestern University A biological computer … Read more

Gran Turismo AI: Computer driver can beat some of the world’s best players

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An AI trained to win the PlayStation 4 game Gran Turismo Sport has beaten some of the world’s best players by learning to handle the most difficult parts of racing tracks Technology 9 February 2022 By Carissa Wong Gran Turismo Sport is a racing game Polyphony Digital An artificial intelligence has beaten four of the … Read more

Neutral atom quantum computer made fully programmable for first time

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Most quantum computers are based on superconductors or trapped ions, but an alternative approach using ordinary atoms may have advantages Technology 18 January 2022 By Alex Wilkins Quantum computers use the properties of quantum physics to perform calculations ArtemisDiana/Shutterstock A quantum computer that uses ordinary atoms to perform calculations could be a rival to more … Read more

What is a quantum computer?

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Quantum computers are machines that use the properties of quantum physics to store data and perform computations. This can be extremely advantageous for certain tasks where they could vastly outperform even our best supercomputers. Classical computers, which include smartphones and laptops, encode information in binary “bits” that can either be 0s or 1s. In a … Read more

Fish: Archerfish prove they can count by spitting at computer screens

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Previous research has suggested that fish have an innate sense of numbers, but critics say these experiments aren’t the final word. Now, a new study has shown that archerfish really can count Life 24 December 2021 By Michael Le Page Archerfish spit water at their prey Shutterstock / Roberto Dani Can fish count? An experiment involving … Read more

Dog news: Collies notice when computer animations violate Newton’s laws of physics

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Dogs seem to understand the basic way objects should behave, and stare for longer if animated balls violate expectations by rolling away for no obvious reason Life 22 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A dog taking part in the study Rooobert Bayer When 3D animated balls on a computer screen defy certain laws of physics, … Read more

iPhone hack: NSO malware builds a computer inside your phone to steal data

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An incredibly sophisticated piece of malware developed by the Israeli tech firm NSO Group works by creating an entirely separate computer inside the memory of an iPhone, allowing attackers to snoop and steal data Technology 16 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes The hack targeted iPhones Photo by Richard Drew/AP/Shutterstock NSO Group, an Israeli tech firm, … Read more