DTN 062: Light-based Chips for AI Compute

Plus: NASA wants lunar maglev, DoD thinks Russia launched a space weapon, microplastics in testicles, RIP doge, swarming alien solar systems with picospacecraft, and more.

“Right now small spacecrafts are being shipped by FedEx or UPS, and very large spacecrafts are being shipped in fancy containers but there is no good solution for anything in the middle. In a world where spacecraft, laden with propellant, are going out to space twice a day, things need to become more systematized. That is where we come in.”

The Big Picture

“It’s no secret that the Allies won World War II on the back of the U.S.’s enormous industrial output. One of the most important elements in the “Arsenal of Democracy” was aircraft. Over the course of the war the U.S. produced around 325,000 airplanes valued at roughly $46 billion ($800 billion in 2024 dollars). Not only is this more aircraft than what Germany, Japan, and Italy combined produced during the war — it’s also more aircraft than have been built for commercial transport in the entire history of aviation.World War II aircraft production shows that it's possible for a complex manufacturing industry to grow incredibly rapidly. But it also shows the limits of that scale up; that even in an emergency some things can only be accelerated so much, and success depends on what preparations have been taken beforehand." (Construction Physics)

Deep Tech News

JPEG of the Week

An electric Hall thruster

This is an operating electric Hall thruster identical to those being used to propel NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on the way to its namesake asteroid. The blue glow comes from the charged atoms, or ions, of xenon.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft passed its six-month checkup with a clean bill of health, and navigators fired up its electric Hall thrusters, which emit a blue glow, as the orbiter zips farther into deep space. They are part of Psyche’s incredibly efficient solar electric propulsion system, which is powered by sunlight. The thrust created by the ionized xenon is gentle, but it does the job. Even in full cruise mode, the pressure exerted by the thrusters is about what you’d feel holding three quarters in your hand. (via NASA)

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Miscellanea

Trying out the Panel-of-Experts prompting strategy for LLMs / University suspends students for AI homework tool it gave them $10,000 prize to make / She sold her bathwater — PayPal took her profits / Scarlett Johansson says that OpenAI approached her to use her voice / Edited highlights from the evisceration of Craig Wright / FBI arrests man for generating AI child sexual abuse imagery / Scientists Confirm Microplastics Now Detected in Human Testicles / China uses giant rail fun to shoot a smart bomb nine miles into the sky / NYPD will deploy drones to respond to 911 calls in 5 NYC precincts, officials say / Swarming Proxima Centauri: Picospacecraft Swarms over Interstellar Distances / Daily cannabis use overtakes drinking in US first / Cement recycling method could help solve one of the biggest climate challenges / Wi-Fi devices set to become object sensors by 2024 via new IEEE standard / Kabosu, the Dog Behind the 'Doge' Meme, Has Died / Imperceptible sensors can be printed directly on human skin / Peeking underground with giant flying antennas / Google AI: People should eat at least one small rock a day

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