Category Technology/Electronics

Researchers develop a Laser that produces the Strongest Ultra-Short Laser Pulses to date

A peek inside the record-breaking laser. The image shows the round amplifier disk, through which the laser beam passes several times (bright spot at the centre). (Image: Moritz Seidel / ETH Zurich)

The word laser usually conjures up an image of a strongly concentrated and continuous light beam. Lasers that produce such light are, in fact, very common and useful. However, science and industry often also require very short and strong pulses of laser light.

These pulses can be used to machine materials or to create high harmonic frequencies up to X-rays, which can help to make extremely fast processes in the attosecond range (a billionth of a billionth of a second) visible.

A team of researchers at ETH Zurich led by Ursula Keller, professor at the Institute for Quantum Electronics,...

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Integer Addition Algorithm could Reduce Energy Needs of AI by 95%

image of computer screen with ai screen on it connected to a big energy source
Credit: AI-generated image

A team of engineers at AI inference technology company BitEnergy AI reports a method to reduce the energy needs of AI applications by 95%. The group has published a paper describing their new technique on the arXiv preprint server.

As AI applications have gone mainstream, their use has risen dramatically, leading to a notable rise in energy needs and costs. LLMs such as ChatGPT require a lot of computing power, which in turn means a lot of electricity is needed to run them.

As just one example, ChatGPT now requires roughly 564MWh daily, or enough to power 18,000 American homes...

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Holographic 3D Printing has the potential to Revolutionize Multiple Industries

Holographic 3D printing has the potential to revolutionize multiple industries, says researchers
HDSP concept and printed objects. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50923-8

A pioneering technique shows how sound can be used to create entire objects quickly and at once. Researchers at Concordia have developed a novel method of 3D printing that uses acoustic holograms. And they say it’s quicker than existing methods and capable of making more complex objects.

The process, called holographic direct sound printing (HDSP), is described in a recent article in the journal Nature Communications. It builds on a method introduced in 2022 that described how sonochemical reactions in microscopic cavitations regions — tiny bubbles — create extremely high temperatures and pressure for trillionths of a second to harden resin into complex patterns.

Now, by embe...

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New Security Protocol Shields Data from Attackers during Cloud-Based Computation

Light securing a data pathway between a computer and a cloud-based computing platform
Caption: MIT researchers have developed a security protocol that leverages the quantum properties of light to guarantee that data sent to and from a cloud server remain secure during deep learning computations.
Credit: Christine Daniloff, MIT; iStock

The technique leverages quantum properties of light to guarantee security while preserving the accuracy of a deep-learning model. Researchers developed a technique guaranteeing that data remain secure during multiparty, cloud-based computation. This method, which leverages the quantum properties of light, could enable organizations like hospitals or financial companies to use deep learning to securely analyze confidential patient or customer data.

Deep-learning models are being used in many fields, from health care diagnostics to financi...

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