In a sharp departure from traditional concepts in designing and building computers, IBM’s first neurosynaptic computing chips recreate the phenomena between spiking neurons and synapses in biological systems, such as the brain, through advanced algorithms and silicon circuitry. Its first two prototype chips have already been fabricated and are currently undergoing testing.

Called cognitive computers, systems built with these chips won’t be programmed the same way traditional computers are today. Rather, cognitive computers are expected to learn through experiences, find correlations, create hypotheses, and remember – and learn from – the outcomes, mimicking the brains structural and synaptic plasticity.

To do this, IBM is combining principles from nanoscience, neuroscience and supercomputing as part of a multi-year cognitive computing initiative. The company and its university collaborators also announced they have been awarded approximately $21 million in new funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for Phase 2 of the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project.

The goal of SyNAPSE is to create a system that not only analyzes complex information from multiple sensory modalities at once, but also dynamically rewires itself as it interacts with its environment – all while rivaling the brain’s compact size and low power usage. The IBM team has already successfully completed Phases 0 and 1.

“This is a major initiative to move beyond the von Neumann paradigm that has been ruling computer architecture for more than half a century,” said Dharmendra Modha, project leader for IBM Research. “Future applications of computing will increasingly demand functionality that is not efficiently delivered by the traditional architecture. These chips are another significant step in the evolution of computers from calculators to learning systems, signaling the beginning of a new generation of computers and their applications in business, science and government.”

Neurosynaptic Chips

While they contain no biological elements, IBM’s first cognitive computing prototype chips use digital silicon circuits inspired by neurobiology to make up what is referred to as a “neurosynaptic core” with integrated memory (replicated synapses), computation (replicated neurons) and communication (replicated axons).

IBM has two working prototype designs. Both cores were fabricated in 45 nm SOI-CMOS and contain 256 neurons. One core contains 262,144 programmable synapses and the other contains 65,536 learning synapses. The IBM team has successfully demonstrated simple applications like navigation, machine vision, pattern recognition, associative memory and classification.

IBM’s overarching cognitive computing architecture is an on-chip network of light-weight cores, creating a single integrated system of hardware and software. This architecture represents a critical shift away from traditional von Neumann computing to a potentially more power-efficient architecture that has no set programming, integrates memory with processor, and mimics the brain’s event-driven, distributed and parallel processing.

IBM’s long-term goal is to build a chip system with ten billion neurons and hundred trillion synapses, while consuming merely one kilowatt of power and occupying less than two liters of volume.

Why Cognitive Computing

Future chips will be able to ingest information from complex, real-world environments through multiple sensory modes and act through multiple motor modes in a coordinated, context-dependent manner.

For example, a cognitive computing system monitoring the world’s water supply could contain a network of sensors and actuators that constantly record and report metrics such as temperature, pressure, wave height, acoustics and ocean tide, and issue tsunami warnings based on its decision making. Similarly, a grocer stocking shelves could use an instrumented glove that monitors sights, smells, texture and temperature to flag bad or contaminated produce. Making sense of real-time input flowing at an ever-dizzying rate would be a Herculean task for today’s computers, but would be natural for a brain-inspired system.

“Imagine traffic lights that can integrate sights, sounds and smells and flag unsafe intersections before disaster happens or imagine cognitive co-processors that turn servers, laptops, tablets, and phones into machines that can interact better with their environments,” said Dr. Modha.

For Phase 2 of SyNAPSE, IBM has assembled a world-class multi-dimensional team of researchers and collaborators to achieve these ambitious goals. The team includes Columbia University; Cornell University; University of California, Merced; and University of Wisconsin, Madison.

IBM has a rich history in the area of artificial intelligence research going all the way back to 1956 when IBM performed the world’s first large-scale (512 neuron) cortical simulation. Most recently, IBM Research scientists created Watson, an analytical computing system that specializes in understanding natural human language and provides specific answers to complex questions at rapid speeds. Watson represents a tremendous breakthrough in computers understanding natural language, “real language” that is not specially designed or encoded just for computers, but language that humans use to naturally capture and communicate knowledge.

IBM’s cognitive computing chips were built at its highly advanced chip-making facility in Fishkill, N.Y. and are currently being tested at its research labs in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. and San Jose, Calif.

The new technology, called CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics, is the result of a decade of development at IBM’s global Research laboratories. The patented technology will change and improve the way computer chips communicate – by integrating optical devices and functions directly onto a silicon chip, enabling over 10X improvement in integration density than is feasible with current manufacturing techniques.

IBM anticipates that Silicon Nanophotonics will dramatically increase the speed and performance between chips, and further the company’s ambitious Exascale computing program, which is aimed at developing a supercomputer that can perform one million trillion calculations–or an Exaflop–in a single second. An Exascale supercomputer will be approximately one thousand times faster than the fastest machine today.

In addition to combining electrical and optical devices on a single chip, the new IBM technology can be produced on the front-end of a standard CMOS manufacturing line and requires no new or special tooling. With this approach, silicon transistors can share the same silicon layer with silicon nanophotonics devices. To make this approach possible, IBM researchers have developed a suite of integrated ultra-compact active and passive silicon nanophotonics devices that are all scaled down to the diffraction limit – the smallest size that dielectric optics can afford.

By adding just a few more processing modules to a standard CMOS fabrication flow, the technology enables a variety of silicon nanophotonics components, such as: modulators, germanium photodetectors and ultra-compact wavelength-division multiplexers to be integrated with high-performance analog and digital CMOS circuitry. As a result, single-chip optical communications transceivers can now be manufactured in a standard CMOS foundry, rather than assembled from multiple parts made with expensive compound semiconductor technology.

The hand-held precision magnifier with a USB interface, introduced recently by the 25-year-old optical inspection systems company based in Michigan, has several best-in-class features to provide maximum precision, sensitivity and convenience.

Its focus range is fully adjustable to any magnification from 10 times to 200 times, unlike earlier models that limit users to fixed settings or limited ranges. Think of it as a mini-camera that zooms. A brightness control wheel allows fingertip adjustments of illumination from six white LEDs to suit varied interior or exterior environments — another design improvement.

Three digital models include one with 500-times magnification and one with six ultraviolet lights operating at 405 nanometers (nm). An analog model also is available.

“Customers have told us this is an extremely useful tool for parts inspection and precision testing,” says Mike Shahpurwala, marketing director at Aven. “Manufacturing engineers use it to check incoming deliveries of metal part for cracks or other microscopic defects, simply by plugging the Mighty Scope into any laptop.”

Aven’s hand-held scope, which includes a measurement tool, also simplifies color inspection by printers and textile manufacturers, as well as quality assurance checks of large parts because of its infinite working distance. Active pixel sensor technology provides sharp images and accurate color reproduction.

Images, interval shots or video are captured instantly by a 1.3-megapixel camera with a color CMOS sensor and Microsoft-compatible software on digital models.

A Microtouch shutter button eliminates the need to tap a computer key, whether Aven’s scope is hand-held or mounted on an optional stand.

“This handy workbench or field tool is ideal for science labs, dermatology offices, classrooms, crime labs, electronic assembly or repair, printed circuit board inspection and other quality control checks,” says Shahpurwala. “It’s equally practical for jewelers, hobbyists and appraisers of small items.”

In educational settings, research scholars or students can readily obtain custom-enlarged images to email or insert in documents.

Mighty Scope innovations include an ergonomic design for comfortable use with either hand.

“We’re proud to add our first hand-held microscope to an extensive line of optical inspection and measurement tools,” says Aven’s marketing director. “The Digital Mighty Scope fills the need for lightweight, freely portable microscopy and imaging. It also meets our standards for performance and durability.”

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However, vibration is not the only source of ambient energy available to be harvested. Other sources of energy such as light, heat and radio frequency energy can also be harvested.
While some applications will have only one source of energy to harvest from, other applications may have multiple sources of energy. To take advantage of applications where both solar and vibration energy are available, Midé has combined the Volture™ Vibration energy harvester with the Solar Energy Harvester

This hybrid energy harvester (HeH) is made possible by incorporating a rugged encapsulated solar-panel into the Volture™ enclosure. Currently, the solar panel is integrated with the standard electronics offered for the Volture™; however, Midé is developing the next generation electronics that will add solar and piezoelectric power in a method that will enable intelligent battery charging.
Midé’s Director of Engineering, Chris Ludlow, stated; “Midé is launching the first Volture Hybrid product in Fall ’08. It will provide night and day power production, and long-term battery storage. You could say the Volture™ Solar Hybrid Energy Harvesting module shines another light on Midé’s energy harvesting capabilities”.

Midé envisions a modular energy harvesting suite for the future of the popular Volture™ products. The next generation Midé hybrid energy harvester, the Volture™ Hybrid, will incorporate several energy harvesting methods, expanding the energy harvesting source envelope, while also providing optimal power management in a versatile modular design. The Volture™ Hybrid Solar module is the first step in making Midé’s hybrid energy harvester suite a reality.

The machine was designed by IBM and uses Cell Broadband Engine chips, technology originally developed for video game platforms. “Roadrunner” was built for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and will be housed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. “Roadrunner’s” primary duty will be to help ensure that the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile is safe and reliable without nuclear testing, by running complex nuclear weapons calculations that give scientists critical data.

StreetLab Mobile is a portable, user-friendly handheld device that will be able to reliably identify a broad range of chemical and biological substances in liquid, powder and solid forms when later completed with the bio component. Using Raman Spectroscopy for data capture and analysis, StreetLab Mobile consumes little or no substance sample and makes it easy for the operator to understand and share results. The handheld unit uses extended-range wireless technology to allow first responders to quickly deliver accurate results from the field to tactical commanders at remote command centers.

The StreetLab Mobile chemical identification unit is available for customer orders now. These units will be easily upgradeable to dual mode versions when the biological substance detection capability becomes available later this year.

StreetLab Mobile is presently capable of identifying more than one thousand potentially dangerous chemicals, including toxic industrial substances such as formaldehyde and liquid and solid explosives, as well as the chemical components of common explosives. It can also identify chemicals such as Cresol and Benzene, exposure to which can have serious health consequences. It is expected that StreetLab Mobile will be able to recognize many biological substances when the bio component becomes available.

Utilizing Raman Spectroscopy, StreetLab Mobile identifies substances based on their molecular structure. Raman technology works by analyzing the interactions of light with the sample’s chemical bonds, allowing a sample to be analyzed without being consumed or destroyed in most cases.

In the U.S., more than 21 million adults suffer from some kind of depressive disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Of these, only about 80 percent can be effectively treated with currently available therapies, according to the National Advisory Mental Health Council. Unfortunately, that means approximately 4 million adult Americans live with depression that does not respond to medications, psychotherapy and, in certain cases, electroconvulsive therapy.

The BROADEN (BROdmann Area 25 DEep brain Neuromodulation) study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of deep brain stimulation in patients with depression for whom currently-available treatments are not effective.

The Libra Deep Brain Stimulation System, which is being evaluated in this study, is designed to deliver mild electrical pulses from a device implanted near the collarbone and connected to small electrical leads placed at specific targets in the brain.

“Major depressive disorder is severely disabling,” said Dr. Lozano. “Currently, there are no widely-accepted treatment options for patients with this condition once multiple medications, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy have failed.”

The dedication of the new Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which took place Jan. 12, local time (U.S. stations in Antarctica keep New Zealand time), also reasserts the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) vital role in managing the U.S. Antarctic Program in order to meet the needs of the U.S. research community as well as those of other federal agencies. NSF manages the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Drivers or pilots could see a vehicle’s speed projected onto the windshield. Video-game companies could use the contact lenses to completely immerse players in a virtual world without restricting their range of motion. And for communications, people on the go could surf the Internet on a midair virtual display screen that only they would be able to see.

“Looking through a completed lens, you would see what the display is generating superimposed on the world outside,” said Babak Parviz, a UW assistant professor of electrical engineering. “This is a very small step toward that goal, but I think it’s extremely promising.”

The results were presented today at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ international conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems by Harvey Ho, a former graduate student of Parviz’s now working at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif. Other co-authors are Ehsan Saeedi and Samuel Kim in the UW’s electrical engineering department and Tueng Shen in the UW Medical Center’s ophthalmology department.

The prototype device contains an electric circuit as well as red light-emitting diodes for a display. The lenses were tested on rabbits for up to 20 minutes and the animals showed no adverse effects.

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In the second breakthrough, IBM scientists have observed “logic switching” inside a single-molecule, the first time this has been observed where the molecule’s outer frame is not disrupted, a step which IBM says is significant to building computing elements at the molecular scale.

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“This $40 million payment will bring the total milestone payments received from Novartis under our Albuferon co-development and commercialization agreement to $132.5 million,” said H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, HGS. “Novartis and HGS are also sharing clinical development costs equally. From a strategic perspective, our collaboration with Novartis is proceeding very well. Our companies are jointly committed to the highest quality of clinical development, and we are working closely together to bring Albuferon to market as rapidly as possible.”

Under a co-development and commercialization agreement entered into in June 2006, HGS and Novartis will co-commercialize Albuferon in the United States and will share clinical development costs, U.S. commercialization costs and U.S. profits equally. Novartis will be responsible for commercialization in the rest of the world and will pay HGS a royalty on those sales. Clinical development, commercial milestone and other payments to HGS could total as much as $507.5 million, including $92.5 million received to date and the $40 million payment expected in September 2007.

A 2.5 kg brick is supported by a piece of aerogel weighing only 2.38 grams.

Aerogel, one of the world’s lightest solids, can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a blowtorch at more than 1,300C.

According with Wikipedia Aerogel is a low-density solid-state material derived from gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with gas. The result is an extremely low density solid with several remarkable properties, most notably its effectiveness as an insulator. It is nicknamed frozen smoke, solid smoke or blue smoke due to its semi-transparent nature and the way light scatters in the material; however, it feels like expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) to the touch.

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In the late Paleozoic Era, with atmospheric oxygen levels reaching record highs, some insects evolved into giants. When oxygen levels returned to lower levels, the insect giants went extinct.

The basis of this gigantism is thought to lie in the insect respiratory system. In contrast to vertebrates, where blood transports oxygen from the lung to the cell, insects deliver oxygen directly through a network of blind-ending tracheal tubes. As insects get bigger, this type of oxygen transport becomes far less effective. But if the atmospheric oxygen levels increase, as they did in the late Paleozoic, then longer tracheal tubes can work. This would allow larger-sized insects — even giants — to evolve.

Recent research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science helps confirm the hypothesis that the tracheal system actually limits how big insects can be. The research provides a specific explanation for what limits size in beetles: the constriction leading to the legs.

A collaborative team of researchers from Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source (APS), Midwestern University and Arizona State University wanted to study how beetles’ tracheal systems change as their body sizes increase. The team took advantage of richly detailed X-ray images they produced at the APS to examine the dimensions of tracheal tubes in four beetle species, ranging in body mass by a factor of 1,000. Overall, they found that larger beetle species devote a disproportionately greater fraction of their body to tracheal tubes than do smaller species.

The team focused in particular on the passageways that lead from the body core to the head and to the legs. They reasoned that these orifices may be bottlenecks for tracheal tubes, limiting how much oxygen can be delivered to the extremities.

“We were surprised to find that the effect is most pronounced in the orifices leading to the legs, where more and more of the space is taken up by tracheal tubes in larger species,” said Alex Kaiser, biologist at Midwestern University.

They then examined the tracheal measurements of the four species to see if they could predict the largest size of currently living beetles. The head data predicted an unrealistically large, foot-long beetle. In contrast, the leg data predicted a beetle that nicely matches the size of the largest living beetle, Titaneus giganteus.

“This study is a first step toward understanding what controls body size in insects. It’s the legs that count in the beetles studied here, but what matters for the other hundreds of thousands of beetle species and millions of insect species overall is still an open question,” said Jake Socha, Argonne biologist.

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