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“Memristors” are four decades in the making, but it turns out that this fourth kind of circuit element (beyond the inductor, capacitor, and resistor) might have more potential to change computing than even its creators first believed.

In a study this week in Nature, researchers with Hewlett-Packard report that they’ve achieved “stateful logic” with their memristor, whose name derives from a mashup of “memory” and “resistor.” In a nutshell, stateful logic means that the ’state’ of the memristor acts as both the computer and the memory. That’s a pretty big change from current computers, which typically load data from memory, perform operations on it, and then send it back [Nature]. In addition, memristors can store information even in the absence of electrical current.

While an engineer named Leon O. Chua theorized memristors back in 1971, they remained strictly theoretical until HP researchers created the first one two years ago. But while the researchers previously thought of it as just another kind of memory, this study’s find—that they themselves can perform logic—suggests memristors could go much further than that. Such a discovery can pave the way for chips that can both perform calculations and hold data, potentially eliminating the need for a traditional core CPU [CNET].

The H.P. technology is based on the ability to use an electrical current to move atoms within an ultrathin film of titanium dioxide. After the location of an atom has been shifted, even by as little as a nanometer, the result can be read as a change in the resistance of the material. That change persists even after the current is switched off, making it possible to build an extremely low-power device [The New York Times]. And the device’s speed is equally impressive: Stan Williams of HP, one of the lead authors, says they can turn on and off in a nanosecond.

Memristor development currently isn’t close to competing with ordinary silicon, but the ever-confident Williams and this team argue that they could overtake flash memory within three years, and someday surpass the phase-change memory of their competitors. For Chua, the dream goes further. “Our brains are made of memristors,” he said, referring to the function of biological synapses. “We have the right stuff now to build real brains” [The New York Times].

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Image: Stan Williams / Nature

Our Director, Rabbi David Saperstein, today issued a statement condemning recent incidents of Palestinian incitement, including Hamas leadership’s decision to name a Ramallah street in honor of suicide bomber Yihyeh Ayyash and remarks made by Fatah official Khatem Abd el-Kader in response to the rededication of the Hurva synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. El-Kader called upon Palestinians to “converge on al Aksa to save it” from “Israeli attempts to destroy the mosque and replace it with the [Jewish] temple.”

“Such rhetoric questioning the legitimacy of Jewish ties to Jerusalem are provocative, hateful, and simply false,” Rabbi Saperstein said. “These recent incidents of Palestinian incitement against
Israel are reprehensible and counterproductive if the Palestinian
leadership wants to make progress on the increasingly difficult path
toward peace.”

He also welcomed the U.S. State Department’s call to Palestinian leadership to curb
incitement against Israel and to cease the glorification of terrorists.
Phillip Crowley, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. State Department’s Daily Briefing, yesterday said, “Remarks by the Palestinian ministry of information denying Jewish heritage in and links to Jerusalem undermine the trust and confidence needed for substantive and productive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. We also strongly condemn the glorification of terrorists honoring terrorists who have murdered innocent civilians either by official statements or by the dedication of public places hurts peace efforts and must end. We will continue to hold Palestinian leaders accountable for incitement.”

Rabbi Saperstein’s full statement is available here.

by Brad Johnson

Cross-posted from Wonk Room.

A strong cap on carbon would significantly cut the flow of petrodollars to Iran’s hostile regime, a Wonk Room analysis shows. The economic and political strength of Iran’s dictatorship is a threat to the national security of the United States and the world, and its nuclear ambitions threaten to destabilize the Middle East. Yesterday, diplomats from “six world powers have met for the first time to discuss imposing new sanctions on Iran for its failure to suspend work on its controversial nuclear program,” but negotiators have not yet figured how to achieve President Barack Obama’s goal of being “consistent and steady in applying international pressure.”

Iran, “which holds the world’s second-biggest oil and gas reserves and supplies about 4.5 percent of the world’s oil production,” uses its oil power “as a strategic asset.”  Even though oil is “one of history’s Big Levers concerning Iran,” the idea of gas sanctions to control Iran’s oil income is not likely to succeed, and could even backfire.

One mechanism to control the flow of petrodollars to Iran — whose oil production is worth $120 billion a year at current prices — is for the United States to control its appetite for oil. Based on an economic analysis by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of a carbon cap that reduces global warming pollution by 80 percent by 2050, the Wonk Room has found that Iran would lose approximately $1.8 trillion worth of oil revenues over the next forty years — over $100 million a day:

 

The United States is by far the world’s biggest consumer of oil, accounting for 25 percent of world production. Our demand is more than the four next biggest consumers — China, Japan, India, and Russia — combined, despite having only 11 percent of their population. Unilateral action by the United States to reduce oil consumption has a profound effect on the world market, and is the first step towards global climate policy that builds a zero-carbon economy.

If the world moves away from oil dependence, Iran’s regime will no longer be able to rely on petrodollars to stay afloat. Other unfriendly regimes propped up by carbon-fuel money, such as Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, will also feel the pinch, improving our national security and making it less likely our armed services will fight battles amid the oil fields.  For that to happen, the United States must pass comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation as fast as possible, the stronger the better.

A note about methodology:

Iran’s oil production is assumed fixed at 2008 oil production levels of 4,174,000 barrels/day [EIA]. Iran’s lost oil production value is calculated by the projected effect of strong global climate policy on the world oil price for producers, as determined by the 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology report Assessment of U.S. Cap-and-Trade Proposals, which calculated a reference scenario crude oil price and a 167 bmt scenario producer crude oil price [see reference data]. That difference is multiplied by Iran’s annual oil production to estimate lost production value. The 167 bmt scenario has cumulative US carbon dioxide emissions between 2010 and 2050 of 167 billion metric tons, equivalent to emissions targets of 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. These targets are similar to those in current legislation. Under the reference scenario, global CO2 concentrations reach 880 ppm and temperatures increase 3.5 – 4.5°C over current temperatures, a global catastrophe. Under the 167 bmt scenario, CO2 concentrations reach 520 ppm, and temperatures increase only 1.8 – 2.2°C.

Related Links:

Senate Energy spox responds; more on fossil-fuel safety and our energy future

Abandoning Congress is not a winning strategy for climate activists

One more blow to the ailing Great Barrier Reef

We expected this to be a lawsuit story, but its more like a marketing story. The Dallas, TX based sandwich chain “Which Wich” is naming a sandwich after Mr. Chad Ettmueller, a customer who experienced lockjaw after trying to take a bite of a really big sandwich called a “Wicked.”

Our favorite part of the story is that his jaw locked on the first bite, so he went to the hospital and while they were taking care of him, his best friend went into his wife’s van, found the sandwich and ate it. That guy is awesome.

YouTube with reenactment:

With the Senate gearing up to consider unemployment insurance extension legislation next week, the National Employment Law Project has a useful chart breaking down the number of Americans losing their jobless benefits by month and by week, state by state. I took that data and Census Bureau state population data to determine the number of people per 10,000 who might lose their unemployment insurance in April if the Congress fails to act. (I lopped off the top half of the chart to make it readable, so only 25 states are depicted.)

The 10 states with proportionally the most people due to lose benefits are Indiana, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Wyoming, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Arkansas, Georgia, and Ohio. (The state least affected? Montana.) Of these, two have elected senators who voted against extending unemployment insurance the first time around — Wyoming and South Carolina. That provision passed 78 to 19.

Click to enlarge:

The ARITMO project will allow more informed decision making by clinicians when prescribing drugs. Drug-induced tachycardia and cardiac arrhythmia, potentially leading to sudden cardiac death, are serious side effects of some drugs.

This week’s highlight on the Video Store goes to Lord of the Rings. Starting today, you can download the Fellowship, the Two Towers, and the Return of the King right into your personal video collection, and in

To preview L.A.’s Friday evening contest with the Minnesota Timberwolves, we sat down for a chat with Timberwolves.com’s Jonah Ballow to discuss Al Jefferson’s absence, Kevin Love’s role as a fill in, how Jonny Flynn runs head coach Kurt Rambis’s offense and more.

Click below to listen.Lakers-Timberwolves Jonah Ballow Podcast

Mandy Moore is checking into Seattle Grace, TVGuide.com reported Friday. The 25-year-old singer-actress has been tapped to appear as a patient on the two-hour season finale of ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. Mandy will play Mary, an ill young woman being treated by Chandra Wilson’s Dr. Bailey, on the May 20 finale.

If you hadn’t noticed, there’s been a growing moral panic around the concept of “cyberbullying”, with various states passing laws against it and Congress even considering it as well. And, of course, if you read stories in the news these days, you might think that cyberbullying is happening everywhere and that It Must Be Stopped at all costs To Protect The Children.

However, as Larry Magid is pointing out, actual studies on the issue show that so-called “cyberbullying” is on the decline and most kids are good kids who are as disgusted with the concept as adults. In fact, some research suggests that all of the stories about this “cyberbullying” threat may actually make the problem worse. That’s because kids are more likely to engage in the practice if they think it’s common. And, even though it’s not common today, all the press reports may spread the idea that it is. In the end, as Magid points out, as with other moral panics, the real solution tends to be parental education — not misguided laws.

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by Jonathan Hiskes

Courtesy

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ST. CHARLES, Ill. — The music booster club at Central Community Unit School District 301 in St. Charles isn’t bothering with bake sales and car washes this year. Instead, it’s selling bags of something promoters call "paca poo." Minus the cute name, the product is alpaca manure.

Booster club secretary Gudrun Dorgan said it is a great garden fertilizer, and it comes in little pellets that are easy to work into the ground.

Parents, students and teachers will be scooping and selling droppings on Saturday at Inspiration Farm Alpacas. A 30-pound bag will cost $10.

Farm owner Jeff Koehl has been raising alpacas for four years and usually sells manure for profit. He said alpacas digest their food more efficiently than most farm animals, so their waste doesn’t smell too bad and doesn’t require lengthy composting.

— Associated Press

Animal news on the go: Follow Unleashed on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo: An alpaca at the zoo in Zurich, Switzerland. Credit: Steffen Schmidt / European Pressphoto Agency

MARQUETTE MICHIGAN- Bart Stupak has put an end to his 18 year career as a pro-life, pro-gun Democratic congressman. Stupak chose snow covered Marquette Michigan to announce his retirement at the end of his term, saying he wanted to spend more time with family, and that “my main goal (national healthcare reform) was accomplished”. He called the efforts to campaign in one of the largest districts in the country “exhausting”. In a district that covers much of the upper peninsula of Michigan and part of the lower peninsula, its more than ten hours to drive from one end to the other.

At the start of the press conference, a teary eyed Laurie Stupak, Bart’s wife, spoke for a few minutes about his years of service, and the last few months, since he voted in support of the healthcare legislation. She says there were death threats via phone call and emails. In a word, she says it was “scary”. “We have gotten a number of very ugly phone calls and faxes into the congressional offices, into the campaign office, at home. I actually had to disconnect the telephone at home and our answering machine”. She practically sobbed as she introduced her husband of 36 years to the waiting media. An hour and a half away from the presser location, in Escanaba, Michigan, hundreds of members of the Tea Party gathered to celebrate and claim credit for what they called the downfall of the congressman.

Many people believe the backlash on Stupak’s vote for the healthcare bill is the reason for his retirement, but Stupak says he’s proud of his vote. And despite those who labeled him a “baby killer”, Stupak’s priest, Father Ron Skufca, told me he thinks that’s unfair and that he fully supports him. “I think the pro life people put a spin on everything that kind of, unless it specifically says this is not going to impact the money spent, they take offense to that…I think this amendment is very pro life. Its pro life not just for cute little babies but its pro life for people like you and I who need protection from the insurance giants”

As for Stupak…he says he’s not leaving right away, he still has 8 more months left in his term. His future plans? Stupak says “Maybe I’ll just sit on my deck, look at lake Michigan and watch the boats go by”

Apple unveiled the 4.0 version of the iPhone operating system yesterday and a big part of the announcement was about a new advertising platform called iAd. Apple will soon provide an easy way for app developers to put advertisements in their mobile apps and keep 60% of the revenue.

Tech financial analysts are going bonkers over the news, with one headline-grabbing prediction putting the opportunity at $4.67 billion per year for Apple. Why? Because the platform has the potential to change online advertising like nothing else has in a long time.

Sponsor

Cullen Wilson offers this explanation on the Austin Startup Blog:

The reason iAd has a chance to change how users interact with ads is simple: The fear and unknown of clicking on an ad is gone. Apple is throwing its brand behind an entire ad network to create the perception that if you trust Apple, you can trust these ads too! Worried about installing malware from clicking on that ad? Hate that ads open up a new window? No problem, Apple has solved this by keeping these ads within the app itself and vetting all of the ads on their network.

iAd reminds me of two ad networks I’m already a fan of, The Deck and Fusion Ads. Their ads are well designed, they advertise in applications I use and love, and they vet everyone on the network before accepting them. If you’ve ever used the free Twitter clients Tweetie or Twitterrific, you’ve seen these ads.

If Apple can convince its users that it’s safe to click anything with the iAd logo they will have single handedly changed the perception users have of ads, resulting in more clicks and more money made by both Apple and developers.

They will have done this by taking advantage of a closed system, their own brand, and a platform that their users already love (the app store).

The iPad is clearly changing peoples’ experience with computing – take one out around non-geeks and you’ll see strangers clamor to get their hands on it. But if Apple can transform mobile advertising from an annoyance to a trusted, appealing experience – that would be huge. The iAd platform could impact advertising more than the iPad impacts computing. It may very well generate more revenue, too.

Wilson points out that though many people complain about the closed nature of the App Store, this is the other side of the coin and is worth considering. One question I have about this is how scalable vetting such a huge ad platform could be. Where there’s money to be printed, there must be money to pay ad examiners, though.

If the platform can prove effective and make app building all the more financially viable, then we as users can cheer for a new world of apps that will be built in the future. If Apple can deliver a high-quality experience on the iAd platform, then we as users can cheer for a less grating experience than a wild west of mobile advertising would likely deliver. There is something a little frightening about Apple’s end-to-end control over the platform though, isn’t there?

What do you think about iAd? Do you think it will be effective? Revolutionary? Do you think it’s fair?

Discuss

LONDON — Britain’s postal service says it has suspended deliveries to a woman following repeated attacks by her 19-year-old cat.

The Royal Mail said Friday that it had halted deliveries because postal workers had already sustained "nasty injuries" at the address in the town of Farsley, near Leeds in northern England.

The woman was identified as a 43-year-old pharmacy worker. Media reports say she found it hard to believe that her cat, named "Tiger," could be behind the attacks.

She told two newspapers the animal spent most of its day sleeping and didn’t have the energy to chase postal workers.

— Associated Press

Stay up-to-date on animal news: Follow Unleashed on Facebook and Twitter.

First, your scorecard:

• DOW: Up 70 points to 10,997, breached 11,000 for a short time.

• S&P: Up 8 points to 1194.

• NASDAQ: Up 17 points to 2454.

Today’s big gainers:

• S&P 500:
  –Jacobs Engineering Group Inc (JEC): $47.61 / +7.52%
  –Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): $49.98 / +6.57%
  –Lexmark Intl. Inc. (LXK): $37.32 / +4.48%
• DJIA:
  -Chevron Corp (CVX): $79.50 / +2.37%
  -AT&T Inc (T): $26.44 / +1.61%
  -The Coca-Cola Company (KO): $54.59 / 1.54%
  

Now here’s what you need to know before you leave work today:

• The Greek crisis is escalating even further going into the weekend. Rumors suggest that the proposed European bailout of Greece is based upon 6% interest rates on three year loans. The EU also plans on charging Greece an additional 100 bps for any year greater than 3 the country takes loans for.

• Howard Davidowitz has called the positivity over recent retail sales numbers the result of a “sucker’s rally.” “We’re in a bad place, heading for a worse place,” he added.

• U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stevens has announced his retirement for this summer. Its likely to make President Obama’s attempts to pass both financial reform and energy reform difficult, as the polarizing selection of a another Supreme Court Justice occurs just months before the November mid-term elections.

• China car sales are showing just why oil has been on such a tear. China’s year-over-year growth in auto sales is now at 60%.

• Chinese trade data is released tonight, and it may be an early weekend signal of where the yuan revaluation story will go by Monday. Trade imbalances with the United States will be a particularly important statistic to watch for.

• Bonus: Workers at Carlsberg, the Danish brewer, are striking because of a reduction of how much free beer they can drink while on the job.

Join the conversation about this story »

This item by the WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib was first posted on the Capital Journal blog:

In Congress, tough votes have real consequences, as Rep. Bart Stupak has just reminded us. The question is: Which other lawmakers also have to worry about that harsh reality?

Stupak, a conservative Democrat from Michigan, announced Friday he’s retiring after nine terms. He was among the most influential figures in the just-completed health debate, first forcing the House to adopt tough anti-abortion language in is version of the health bill. Then he voted for a final version that didn’t have that same language, in exchange for a presidential executive order asserting that federal dollars wouldn’t pay for any abortions.

His reward: He went from hero to villain in the eyes of many in the anti-abortion movement, and became a target of tea party followers for voting in favor of the final legislation.

Stupak is insisting that his angry foes aren’t driving him out, but it’s likely that the idea of a tough and ugly re-election race didn’t make the idea of sticking around any more especially appealing to him.

But Stupak is hardly the only Democrat who cast a tough vote on health care that could color a re-election campaign this year. Among the others:

Colorado Rep. Betsey Markey has been targeted by health-overhaul foes for her vote in favor of the legislation, as the Journal has written. Beyond her, the Cook Political Report, which follows congressional races exhaustively, has noted the health-vote problems facing Democrats Steve Driehaus of Ohio, John Boccieri of Ohio and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota. It also cites these Democrats who figure to have health-care issues:

–Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a freshman from Arizona. Her vote in favor of health overhaul “amounts to a big political risk in a substantially rural district with a libertarian streak,” the Cook report says.

–Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of Florida. “As if Kosmas’s switch from opposition to support of health care reform wasn’t enough of a leap of faith in a district that voted for GOP presidential nominee John McCain in 2008, her eleventh hour negotiations with the White House and Democratic leaders were a public relations mess.”

–Rep. Debbie Halvorson of Illinois. She “has done little to distance herself from the Democratic leadership on major votes.”

–Rep. Mike Arcuri of New York. His problem arises from fellow Democrats upset he ultimately voted against the health bill. The Cook report says “his vote against the Senate version of health care reform, which came just five months after his vote in favor of the House version, has drawn the ire of labor groups who now seem bent on giving Arcuri his comeuppance.”

–Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon. “Schrader, a former state senator, has voted with Democrats down the line on major votes, and this suburban district is the most marginal in the state.”

–Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania. Also an anti-abortion Democrat, Dahlkemper followed Stupak “from the ‘no’ to ‘yes’ camp, calling the bill a ‘whole-life’ piece of legislation.”

–Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia. The Cook Report says: “Knowledgeable observers say Connolly’s vote in favor of health care reform may soften some of his support in northern Virginia’s business community.”

Photo: Associated Press

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos

A couple of new videos have landed on the tubes dedicated to presenting all the yummy details on the new Ferrari 599 GTO. The only problem – for us, at least – is that both videos are in Italian. That doesn’t mean gearheads can’t still enjoy the imagery, including in-car video of test driver Raffaele de Simone tapping the carbon fiber flappy paddles. Actually, carbon fiber seems to be the operative material everywhere in GTO’s interior.

While we don’t speak Italian, we can certainly pick up words like “Formula Uno,” “composite” and “aggresiva.” Regardless of your mother tongue, it’s worth spending a few minutes watching Ferrari’s latest creation after the jump before the GTO debuts at the Beijing Motor Show in two week’s time.

Continue reading Bone up on your Italian: Ferrari releases 599 GTO videos

Bone up on your Italian: Ferrari releases 599 GTO videos originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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