Edd Gent

Bangalore

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Contributor at IEEE Spectrum

Freelance science and technology writer. Contributing editor @IEEESpectrum.

Articles

Honda Surprises Space Industry by Launching and Landing a New Reusable Rocket

1 week ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

The private space race has been dominated by SpaceX for years. But Japanese carmaker Honda may be about to throw its hat in the ring after demonstrating a reuseable rocket. Space rockets might seem like a strange side hustle for a company better known for building motorcycles, fuel-efficient cars, and humanoid robots. But the company’s launch vehicle program has been ticking away quietly in the background for a number of years.
Scientists Can Now Design Intricate Networks of Blood Vessels for 3D-Printed Organs

1 week ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

Bioprinting holds the promise of engineering organs on demand. Now, researchers have solved one of the major bottlenecks—how to create the fine networks of blood vessels needed to keep organs alive. Thanks to rapid advances in additive manufacturing and tissue engineering, it’s now possible to build biological structures out of living cells in much the same way you might 3D print a model plane.
IBM Tackles New Approach to Quantum Error Correction

2 weeks ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Edd Gent

IBM has unveiled a new quantum computing architecture it says will slash the number of qubits required for error correction. The advance will underpin its goal of building a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, called Starling, that will be available to customers by 2029. Because of the inherent unreliability of the qubits (the quantum equivalent of bits) that quantum computers are built from, error correction will be crucial for building reliable, large-scale devices.
Sandia Fires Up a Brain-Like Supercomputer That Can Simulate 180 Million Neurons

3 weeks ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

Computers that operate on the same principles as the brain could be key to slashing AI’s massive energy bills. Sandia National Laboratories has just switched on a device capable of simulating between 150 and 180 million neurons. The race to build ever-larger AI models has yielded huge leaps in capability, but it’s also massively increased the resources AI requires for training and operation.
A Knee Injury Launched This VR Pioneer's Career

1 month ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Edd Gent

Carolina Cruz-Neira is living proof of just how far a "plan B" can take you. Growing up, she was determined to become a professional ballet dancer. But after injury ended her ballet dreams, Cruz-Neira went on to become a pioneer of virtual-reality technology.
A Knee Injury Launched This VR Pioneer’s Career

1 month ago | flipboard.com | Edd Gent

7 hours agoWorld's first therapy to reverse spinal cord injury enters human trialA paradigm shift in the way we treat spinal injuries is now in sight, with the world's first regenerative cell therapy being granted approval for a …NowApple May Fundamentally Change Smartwatch DesignA new patent suggests a potential major design change for the Apple Watch.
Teaching AI Like a Kindergartner Could Make It Smarter

1 month ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

Despite the impressive performance of modern AI models, they still struggle to match the learning abilities of young children. Now, researchers have shown that teaching models like kindergartners can boost their skills. Neural networks are typically trained by feeding them vast amounts of data in one go and then using this data to draw statistical patterns that guide the model’s behavior.
Scientists Say Earth Has Made Enough Hydrogen to Power Humanity. Here’s How to Find It.

1 month ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

There’s growing optimism that huge amounts of natural hydrogen are stored deep underground. Now, researchers have identified the key geological features that could help us hunt for the clean-burning fuel. Hydrogen is a leading contender to replace fossil fuels because it only produces water when burned in combustion engines or used to power fuel cells. We already produce a substantial amount of hydrogen for industrial purposes, such as during the production of fertilizer.
Why are quantum computers so error prone?

1 month ago | livescience.com | Edd Gent

Quantum computing is expected to leave classical computing in the dust when it comes to solving some of the world’s most fiendishly difficult problems. The best quantum machines today have one major weakness, however — they are incredibly error-prone. That’s why the field is racing to develop and implement quantum error-correction (QEC) schemes to alleviate the technology’s inherent unreliability.
Stratolaunch’s Hypersonic Plane Breaks Mach 5 and Lands Without a Pilot

1 month ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

Hypersonic vehicles have become the latest military prestige technology, and the US seems to be lagging its rivals. That could change after the successful flight of an autonomous and reusable hypersonic aircraft by US firm Stratolaunch. In recent years, both China and Russia have unveiled missiles capable of hypersonic speeds, which means they can travel at more than five times the speed of sound.