memory
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Samsung first to market with 10-nanometer DRAM
Intel may have delayed its 10-nanometer CPUs, but all systems are go for Samsung's 10-nanometer-class DRAM chips. The company is now mass producing the first DDR4 chips using the tech in 8Gb sizes, ahead of competitors SK Hynix and Micron.It will produce SIMM modules this year varying from 4GB for laptops up to 128GB for enterprise servers. Samsung also promised to reveal 10-nanometer mobile DRAM "in the near future."
Researchers believe they've discovered 'anti-memories'
According to new research out of Oxford University, and published in the journal Neuron, a team of scientists believe that they've found the neurological equivalent of anti-matter. Just as anti-matter acts as the mirror image of subatomic particles, these "anti-memories" may exist as the bizarro versions of our memories.
Samsung is building 256GB memory chips for smartphones
Your smartphone may soon have as much storage as a typical PC. Samsung has announced that it's mass producing 256GB embedded chips, double what it had last year, using the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.0 standard. That gives them read speeds nearly twice that of typical SATA-based SSDs at 850MB/s, though write speeds are lower at 250MB/s. It also supports 45,000 IOPS, more than double the speed of last-gen UFS memory. Samsung's memory division VP says the company is "moving aggressively to enhance performance and capacity" of smartphone memory and SSD products, too.
'5D' discs can store data until well after the sun burns out
Researchers at the University of Southampton's Optical Research Center announced on Tuesday that they've perfected a technique that can record data in 5 dimensions and keep it safe for billions of years. The method etches data into a thermally stable disc using femtosecond laser bursts. The storage medium itself holds up to 360 TB per disc, can withstand temperatures up to 1000 degrees C and are estimated to last up to 13.8 billion years at room temperature without degrading.
Samsung is building chips for next-gen gaming graphics
Samsung likes being the first kid on the block with new memory products, and has done it again with a type of DRAM. The so-called HBM2 modules can power through data at the rate of 256GBps (with a capital "B"), making them a whopping seven times faster than the best DDR5 chips on the market. The company said the 20-nanometer chips are mainly aimed at server manufacturers who are willing to spend for the latest toys. However, they will also allow NVIDIA and AMD to accelerate performance (and reduce power consumption) significantly on upcoming graphics cards.
ICYMI: Mousetrap for memory, balloon space launch and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30194{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30194, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30194{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30194").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A virtual reality simulator putting mice through a pretend maze is analyzing memory formation that should benefit humans. A newish space launch company plans to inflate stadium-sized balloons for a gentle flight to the stratosphere, with actual flights scheduled for 2017. Meanwhile researchers built a tractor beam using high-amplitude sound waves to move small objects, which is just as cool as it sounds.
VR simulator for mice helps researchers study Alzheimer's
A group of scientists from Janelia Research Campus have built their lab mice some sort of an Oculus Rift of their own. Okay, so it's not a tiny VR headset for rodents -- though that would have been amusing to see -- but a simulator with walls that touch the mouse's whiskers on either side. This makes the mouse think it's moving through a maze, when it's really just running on a small spherical treadmill. The researchers created the system not because the lab mice needed entertainment: they built it so they can observe how a mammal's brain reacts to injury, learns how to find routes and forms memories. They believe that by having a better grasp of memory formation, we can also understand diseases that cause memory loss (like Alzheimer's) a lot better.
A piece of memory from Gemini 3 spacecraft is up for auction
Do you want a piece of the first computer on a manned spaceflight? Of course you do -- and you're in luck, because a piece of RANAM (Random Access Non-Destructive Readout) from the Gemini 3 spacecraft's computer is up for auction. Heritage Auctions notes that the 4,096-bit memory chip orbited the earth on March 23, 1965 as part of the first manned Gemini flight. The prior Mercury missions didn't require a computer, but Gemini needed both a second astronaut and an on-board computer that aided with six mission phases: prelaunch, ascent backup, insertion, catch-up, rendezvous and re-entry.
First light-based memory chip puts SSDs on notice
Researchers have created the first optical-only chip that can permanently store data, a discovery that could lead to storage devices that leave SSDs in the dust. Non-volatile flash memory currently relies on electronic chips, which are speed-limited by the heat and resistance generated by colliding electrons. Light-based circuits don't have that problem, but so far "nano-photonic" chips created by the likes of IBM are volatile (need to be powered), making them a non-option for permanent storage. The team from Oxford and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany managed to solve that problem using a familiar light-based storage medium: DVDs.
Samsung is building chips that will give smartphones 6GB of memory
Your next smartphone or tablet could have double the memory and run much faster thanks to new chips from Samsung. The company just revealed that it's mass-producing 12Gb (1.5GB) DDR4 RAM modules for mobile devices from its 20nm fab plant. The chips take up the same space as the company's 6Gb modules, meaning that companies can double a device's memory in the same space -- or make smaller phones that still have 3GB of RAM.
Chrome's next update makes it less resource hungry
A big part of what's won Chrome a lot of converts is how much faster it is over the competition. That speed comes at a price, though: The web browser is notoriously a resource hog (especially if you have a dozen or so tabs open at once) and it dramatically cuts into battery life. As Google tells it, the latest version of the browser will help absolve those sins a bit. New tweaks include restoring only the most frequently used tabs should it detect that your machine is precariously low on resources, and a way of detecting when a page isn't busy with something else and using the free processor cycles to clean up idle memory.
Toshiba's new flash chips hold twice the data
Judging by recent announcements, we're about to enter a golden age of fast, nearly unlimited storage for all the high-res selfies you can shoot. Following an announcement by Intel and Micron last week, Toshiba and partner SanDisk revealed their own 256Gb flash chips. Toshiba already has the smallest flash cells in the world at 15 nanometers, which it stacks in 48 layers to maximize density. The new chips add in 3-bit tech (first used by Samsung) to squeeze even more bytes in, helping it double the storage of chips it announced just a few months ago. The result will be faster and more reliable memory for smartphones, SSDs and other devices.
Intel's 3D memory is 1,000 times faster than modern storage
Intel and Micron unveiled a novel new kind of non-volatile data storage device during a press conference on Tuesday. The chips, dubbed "3D XPoint" (pronounced "cross-point"), are being touted as the first new class of "mainstream memory" to hit the market since 1989. These new chips could soon speed up everything from cell phones and SSD laptops to genomic sequencers and supercomputers.
'Amnesiac' mice made to remember what they forgot with blue light
Mice with amnesia were able to recover training memories with assistance from blue light, in research that suggests that memories lost in brain trauma could still exist (and perhaps even be recalled) from the human brain. It marks the first time scientists were able to suppress a memory and then bring it back. The research focused on retrograde amnesia, which affects the ability to form memories after a brain injury, or recall what happened before the accident. The group trained two mice teams to remember that one room would deliver a mild electric shock when entered into. Afterwards, placing the mice in the room would cause this reaction without even delivering the shock. Researchers then identified which neurons were active in mice brains when they froze at being in the shock room. labelling those cells with a protein sensitive to blue light, and using a virus to get it where they wanted it. When blue light hit these "memory engram cells" the mouses experienced the same shock — and froze up.
Samsung app helps Alzheimer's patients remember their families
If you've seen Still Alice, you know how important a smartphone can be for an Alzheimer's patient -- it helps jog memories that might otherwise be lost. Samsung is clearly aware of this, as it just released a dedicated Backup Memory app to stimulate the memories of early-onset patients. The Android tool uses Bluetooth to detect when friends and family running the app are nearby. If they are, it'll both identify the person and show user-uploaded photos and videos that recall past events. The app is currently very simple (Samsung still wants to add GPS locations, for instance), but it's reportedly promising enough in early tests that it's slowing down the effects of Alzheimer's and making life just a little bit easier.
Samsung can put 128GB of storage in your low-cost phone
Just because you're not splurging on a top-of-the-line smartphone doesn't mean that you have to settle for a tiny amount of storage. Samsung certainly thinks that way -- it just announced a 3-bits-per-cell flash memory chip that promises 128GB of storage in "mass market" (read: more affordable) mobile devices. It's based on the plain eMMC tech you see in most phones instead of the fast UFS format inside the Galaxy S6, but you probably won't complain about the speed when it can still read sequential data at a very respectable 260MB per second. The one catch? There's no word on when it'll be ready, so you may be waiting a while before you're carrying a budget phone with more drive space than some laptops. [Top image credit: Samsung Tomorrow, Flickr]
Researchers say treadmill desks make you smarter
Every week, a group of scientists publish a study that arrives at a ker-azy, headline-grabbing conclusion. Unfortunately, it's easy to just report on these studies as if they were handed down as truth by St. Albert, the patron saint of scientists. That's why we should take this Canadian study, published in Computers in Human Behavior, with an obligatory pinch of salt. According to its conclusions, you see, people who work at a treadmill desk aren't only healthier, but are also significantly smarter.
Recall where the fox buried the eggs with Chicken Recall
Chicken Recall is a free game that requires good memory and concentration. In an typically peaceful green pasture, a fox comes along and steals the chicken's eggs. As part of the game, it buries them in various piles, which expand into larger rows and columns as the game progresses. As the chicken, you must retrieve your eggs by focusing on where the fox buries them and remembering which pile the egg is in by the time you catch up. The title is available for iPhone and iPad. Chicken Recall reminds me of a classic arcade game that could in theory use a joystick as a controller, or a fun mini-game as part of a full video game. It comes with three playing modes: Classic, Timer and Guess It. Classic is the default mode and the only one that's unlocked from the start. The game plays a quick introduction video explaining that the fox has stolen the chicken's eggs, then instructions on how to play to get the eggs back. At the start, there are four rows of dirt piles and two per row, but the grid slowly expands The fox hops around between the columns and it's up to you to remember where it goes burying the egg. Bear in mind that the fox is at the top of the screen before you even get to start, so it's not as simple as just following in the fox's footsteps. It's time to put that cerebral cortex to work. In Timer mode, Chicken Recall gets a bit more complicated as you have to dig through the piles at a faster rate to keep up with the fox before it escapes, otherwise the game ends. Luckily, the only mechanism necessary in any of the modes is just tapping, so it's quick to speed through. In Guess It mode, the fox isn't even visible so you're forced to just guess which pile holds the egg until you're wrong. This mode is truthfully pointless. Timer and Guess It modes are unlocked via an in-app purchase for US$0.99 that also removes ads or by sharing the game with your friends on Facebook, the latter of which I suspect to be the more popular option. The upgrade price is still inexpensive enough though. Chicken Recall is also flexible in that it allows you to customize the game by tapping "Customize" on the menu screen. Set the starting number of holes per row, the maximum number of holes in a row and how many correct answers it takes to progressively increase the number of holes. It's great for fine-tuning and challenging yourself if it becomes too easy or if you have supernatural memorization capabilities. The graphics are a bit amateur, but it's easily overlooked. I also wish the introduction video and instructions didn't display every time you play the game. It's an entertaining and distinctive memory game with plenty of customization options. The in-app purchase is a worthy upgrade for the price, but even otherwise the free portion of Chicken Recall is perfectly fine on its own. Find the app for iOS in the App Store.
Scientists show how you can restore lost memories
It's scary to lose memories, especially in the early phases of diseases like Alzheimer's -- you're really losing part of yourself. Thankfully, researchers at UCLA may have found a way to get those memories back. They've conducted experiments suggesting that memories aren't stored in synapses, as established theory dictates. Instead, you only need to make sure that neurons are intact and that the brain can synthesize the proteins needed to form new synaptic links. In a snail, memories came rushing back after scientists stopped using a protein synthesis inhibitor that curbed synaptic growth. Those memories would have been gone forever if the synapses themselves were really the key.
Flipop is a colorful memory game with gratifying bonuses
Flipop is a game that puts your memory to the test. The tiles unleash a world of color that's flipped over and hidden until you tap two matching colors and rack up points. They drop out of the grid when matched, leaving room for coins and other goodies to enter for some sweet bonuses. After matching as many as possible, see if you beat your high score and compare with friends. The app is free for iPhone and iPad. This game takes on a similar theme to the classic memory match games when you'd look at a set of cards, then pick pairs to see if you remembered which ones were the same. Flipop takes that concept, twists it a bit and also manages to throw in some of its very own flair. The colorful game is clearly meant to appeal to kids, adults and any age in between. The design specifically reminds me a bit of Threes in that it's very whimsical, though Threes is hardly for kids. While the main objective of Flipop is to remember the colors on the tiles and match them, the game as a whole isn't as simple as just pairing up tiles. You're given 60 seconds each round, but after a certain number of matches you might quality to enter Fever mode. This is when all the tiles are revealed and you have a few seconds to match as many colors together as possible - no memory necessary, just speed. After you finish a game of Flipop, some extras add to your score. For instance, the game chooses a color at random and adds all of those in the grid. Plus, any remaining coins, boosts or hinted colors get tossed into the mix as well. It's a fun way to gain a small edge when you think you've run out of time and all hope is lost. It doesn't really end there either because the game has achievements in the form of a Booster list. You know those coins you've been collecting? They don't just add to your score. Collect enough and you're able to unlock some in-game aids. I'm currently at 45 coins, but when I get to 50 I'm able to trade them in for the ability to have a coin at the beginning of the game. Other goals in the Booster list are locked until achieving a certain number of points first, then those become available for a coin exchange as well. If the desire to constantly improve your high score didn't drive you to replay Flipop over and over, those "boosts" probably will. They add a new dimension to an otherwise minimal game and that's not to be taken in a negative way. It's fun, it's colorful, it's attractive, it's functional and it's free. What Flipop isn't is difficult to recommend. Its mass appeal makes it so just about anybody carries some sort of ability to get enjoyment out of playing the game, so go for it. You won't be disappointed.
