Summary Astronomy enthusiasts in North America and parts of the Northern Hemisphere are eagerly preparing for a week of stellar observations that will climax with a total solar eclipse The darkening skies courtesy of the moon’s waning phase present a prime opportunity to witness the wonders of the night sky sparking a surge in both interest and development within the astronomy industry 摘要： 北美和北半球部分地区的天文学爱好者正在热切地准备为期一周的恒星观测，观测活动将以日全食达到高潮。 由于月亏阶段，天空变暗，提供了目睹夜空奇观的绝佳机会，激发了天文学行业的兴趣和发展。 br North American skies are set to offer a treat to astronomy enthusiasts as they prepare for a week filled with notable stargazing events topped off by a total solar eclipse This period of celestial excitement is closely tied to the moon’s diminishing presence at night which will result in an especially dark canvas for viewing 北美的天空将为天文学爱好者提供一场盛宴，他们正在准备为期一周的著名观星活动，最后一次是日全食。 这个天体兴奋的时期与月亮在夜间逐渐消失密切相关，这将导致观看时的画布特别暗。 br The countdown to April 8 enkindles a flurry of activities among amateur astronomers and curious onlookers with the promise of a rare spectacle—the sun’s corona emerging in the daytime sky as the moon completes its epic dance across the sun The buildup to the eclipse features other notable occurrences including a charming tango involving the moon and several planets in the dawn sky designed to thrill observers with a variety of cosmic alignments 4 月 8 日的倒计时引发了业余天文学家和好奇的旁观者的一系列活动，他们有望看到罕见的奇观——当月亮在太阳上完成其史诗般的舞蹈时，太阳的日冕出现在白天的天空中。 日食的形成过程中还出现了其他值得注意的事件，包括涉及月亮和黎明天空中的几颗行星的迷人探戈，旨在让观察者对各种宇宙排列感到兴奋。 br Astronomical tourism is expected to receive a significant uplift as locations known for dark skies anticipate an influx of visitors Regions like Texas Hill Country and the Ouachita Mountains with their ideal stargazing conditions are likely to enjoy the economic ripple effect of this cosmic phenomenon 天文旅游业预计将大幅增长，因为以黑暗天空闻名的地点预计将有大量游客涌入。 德克萨斯丘陵地区和沃希托山脉等地区拥有理想的观星条件，很可能会享受到这一宇宙现象带来的经济连锁反应。 br While these events pique public curiosity and bring fresh enthusiasm to the astronomy sector they also face the ongoing challenge of light pollution Organizations dedicated to protecting our window to the universe are at the forefront of this fight safeguarding the dark skies essential for these observations 这些事件激起了公众的好奇心，为天文学领域带来了新的热情，但他们也面临着光污染的持续挑战。 致力于保护我们通向宇宙的窗口的组织处于这场斗争的最前沿，保护对这些观测至关重要的黑暗天空。 br For success in stargazing during this time experts emphasize the necessity of preparation including the use of astronomy apps and special solar filters As we step into this week of wonder we are reminded of the delicate balance between our advancements and the preservation of our night skies—essential for the heritage of stargazing 为了在这段时间成功观星，专家强调做好准备的必要性，包括使用天文学应用程序和特殊的太阳滤镜。 当我们踏入这充满奇迹的一周时，我们会想起我们的进步和保护夜空之间的微妙平衡——这对观星遗产至关重要。 br Astronomy Industry and Market Forecasts 天文学行业和市场预测： br The impetus provided by such skywatching phenomena has historically benefited the astronomy industry which comprises manufacturers of telescopes binoculars and associated accessories as well as software developers for astronomy applications The global astronomy market has been on an uptrend due in part to rising public interest in space and astronomy driven by such celestial events This interest is supported by a growing number of space missions science educational programs and media focus on astronomical discoveries 这种观天现象所提供的推动力历来使天文学行业受益，其中包括望远镜、双筒望远镜和相关配件的制造商以及天文学应用程序的软件开发商。 全球天文学市场一直呈上升趋势，部分原因是此类天体事件推动了公众对太空和天文学的兴趣不断增加。 这种兴趣得到了越来越多的太空任务、科学教育计划和媒体对天文发现的关注的支持。 br Market forecasts suggest a continued growth trajectory for the astronomy industry particularly in terms of the development and sales of consumer telescopes and related technology Innovations like computerized mounts better imaging software and portable telescopes are making amateur astronomy more accessible to a wider audience 市场预测表明天文学行业将持续增长，特别是在消费望远镜和相关技术的开发和销售方面。 计算机化安装座、更好的成像软件和便携式望远镜等创新使业余天文学更容易为更广泛的受众所接受。 br Emergent sectors within the field such as astrotourism are also poised to capitalize on such events Specialty travel agencies and educational institutions organize trips and experiences that cater to both seasoned amateur astronomers and interested novices 天文旅游等该领域的新兴行业也准备利用此类事件。 专业旅行社和教育机构组织旅行和体验，以满足经验丰富的业余天文学家和感兴趣的新手的需求。 br Related Industry Issues 相关行业问题： br Despite the growing market issues such as light pollution continue to affect the astronomy industry Urbanization and the expansion of artificial lighting have significantly reduced the darkness of night skies making celestial observations challenging in many parts of the world This has a direct impact on both the experience of skywatching and the sales of astronomyrelated products as fewer people are able to enjoy what the night sky has to offer 尽管市场不断增长，但光污染等问题继续影响着天文学行业。 城市化和人工照明的扩展显着减少了夜空的黑暗，使世界许多地方的天体观测变得充满挑战。 这对观天体验和天文相关产品的销售产生了直接影响，因为能够欣赏夜空的人越来越少。 br Organizations like the International DarkSky Association are at the forefront of efforts to curb light pollution advocating for responsible outdoor lighting and raising awareness about the importance of preserving dark skies 国际黑暗天空协会等组织处于遏制光污染的最前沿，倡导负责任的户外照明并提高人们对保护黑暗天空重要性的认识。 br As technology advances there is also a push within the industry to develop more ecofriendly and energyefficient lighting alternatives that will minimize their footprint on nighttime visibility thereby aiding continuous enjoyment and study of the night sky 随着技术的进步，行业内也在推动开发更加环保和节能的照明替代品，以最大限度地减少其对夜间能见度的影响，从而有助于持续享受和研究夜空。 br Enhancing the Stargazing Experience 增强观星体验： br In preparation for observing events like the total solar eclipse there is emphasis on educational outreach to ensure that observers are wellinformed about safe viewing practices The use of special solar filters and eclipse glasses is promoted to prevent eye damage 在准备观测日全食等事件时，重点是教育宣传，以确保观测者充分了解安全观测做法。 提倡使用特殊的太阳滤镜和日食眼镜，以防止眼睛受伤。 br Astronomy apps are increasingly used to enhance the stargazing experience allowing enthusiasts to easily locate celestial bodies and events in realtime using augmented reality and GPS technology Additionally local astronomy clubs and observatories often hold public viewing events and workshops which contribute to community engagement and education in the topic 天文学应用程序越来越多地用于增强观星体验，让爱好者可以使用增强现实和 GPS 技术轻松实时定位天体和事件。 此外，当地的天文俱乐部和天文台经常举办公众观看活动和研讨会，有助于社区参与和该主题的教育。 br This dynamic relationship between public interest astronomy industry growth and the challenge of maintaining dark skies represents the intricate connections within the scientific commercial and environmental aspects of astronomy 公共利益、天文学产业发展和维持黑暗天空的挑战之间的这种动态关系代表了天文学在科学、商业和环境方面的错综复杂的联系。 br For those looking to explore more about astronomy and contribute to this thriving community reputable sources of information and developments in the field can be found through links to main domains such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASAhttpswwwnasagov and the Sky Telescopehttpswwwskyandtelescopecom website These resources offer a vast repository of knowledge for both budding enthusiasts and professional astronomers 对于那些希望更多地探索天文学并为这个蓬勃发展的社区做出贡献的人来说，可以通过美国国家航空航天局 NASA 和天空与望远镜网站等主要领域的链接找到该领域的可靠信息来源和发展。 这些资源为初露头角的爱好者和专业天文学家提供了大量的知识库。

Update 125 am EDT SpaceX scrubbed the launch due to poor weather 美国东部时间凌晨 125 更新：由于天气恶劣，SpaceX 取消了发射。 br As the month of March winds down SpaceX hoped to squeeze in one more launch from California with a batch of 22 of its Starlink satellites on board However poor weather near Vandenberg Space Force Base forced them to stand down from launching Saturday night 随着 3 月份的临近，SpaceX 希望能在加利福尼亚州再进行一次发射，搭载一批 22 颗星链卫星。 然而，范登堡太空部队基地附近的恶劣天气迫使他们暂停了周六晚上的发射。 br SpaceX later also scuttled launch attempts on both Thursday and Friday as well The company stated on social media that “we will announce a new launch date once confirmed on the Range” SpaceX 随后也在周四和周五取消了发射尝试。 该公司在社交媒体上表示，“一旦确定了 Range，我们将宣布新的发布日期。” br this will be the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission tail number B1071 in the SpaceX fleet It previously launched two SmallSat Transporter rideshare mission a pair of missions for the National Reconnaissance Office and NASA’s oceanobserving SWOT payload among others 这将是支持此次任务的第一级助推器的第 15 次飞行，尾号为 SpaceX 机队的 B1071。 该公司此前曾发射过两次小型卫星运输机拼车任务、两次为国家侦察办公室和美国宇航局海洋观测 SWOT 有效载荷执行的任务。 br Following liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East SLC4E B1071 will land on the SpaceX droneship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ a little more than eight minutes into flight This will mark the 87th landing on OCISLY and the 289th booster landing to date 从东 4 号航天发射场 SLC4E 升空后，B1071 将在飞行八分钟多一点后降落在 SpaceX 无人机“当然我仍然爱你”上。 这将标志着 OCISLY 的第 87 次着陆和迄今为止的第 289 次助推器着陆。 br SpaceX will deploy the Starlink satellites about an hour after launch from the Golden State This mission will be the 21st Starlink flight in 2024 adding to the more than 6100 Starlinks launched to date SpaceX 将在从金州发射约一小时后部署星链卫星。 此次任务将是 2024 年第 21 次“星链”飞行，迄今为止已发射超过 6100 次“星链”任务。 br According to astronomer and expert tracker Jonathan McDowell there are currently 5700 Starlink satellites currently on orbit 天文学家兼跟踪专家乔纳森·麦克道尔 Jonathan McDowell 表示，目前有 5700 颗星链卫星在轨道上运行。

Microsoft may be working on a white version of its current alldigital Xbox Series X console according to leaked images reported by Exputer and documents seen by The Verge 根据 Exputer 报道的泄露图片和 The Verge 看到的文件，微软可能正在开发其当前全数字 Xbox Series X 游戏机的白色版本。 br The design appears to be identical to the current black disc version sans the disc slot and has the same robot white finish as the white Xbox Series S 该设计似乎与当前的黑色光盘版本相同（没有光盘插槽），并且具有与白色 Xbox Series S 相同的“机器人白色”饰面。 br If accurate the news may mean delays to a rumoredhttpswwwengadgetcomhugeleakrevealsmicrosoftwilllaunchanalldigitalxboxseriesxandnewgyrocontroller090442796html Xbox Series X refresh that carriesas a different design 如果消息属实，那么传闻中采用不同设计的 Xbox Series X 更新可能会推迟。 br It's not the first time rumors of a white alldigital Xbox Series X have leaked out Last month Exputer also reported that Microsoft planned to release a white alldigital Xbox Series X sometime between June and July 2024 with a retail price $50 to $100 lower than the current Xbox Series X 这并不是关于白色全数字 Xbox Series X 的谣言第一次被泄露。 上个月，Exputer 还报道称，微软计划在 2024 年 6 月至 7 月期间发布白色全数字 Xbox Series X，零售价比当前 Xbox Series X 低 50 至 100 美元。 br Last year a large leakhttpswwwengadgetcomhugeleakrevealsmicrosoftwilllaunchanalldigitalxboxseriesxandnewgyrocontroller090442796html indicated that Microsoft would launch an alldigital Xbox Series X with a new cylindrical design arriving in November of 2024 for \$500 去年，有消息称微软将推出采用全新圆柱形设计的全数字 Xbox Series X，将于 2024 年 11 月上市，售价 500 美元。 br The device codenamed Brooklin was tipped to come with WiFi 6E Bluetooth 52 USBC front port an allnew southbridge and a 6nanometer die shrink 该设备代号为 Brooklin，预计将配备 WiFi 6E、蓝牙 52、USBC 前端口、全新南桥和 6 纳米芯片微缩技术。 br That would allow for a reduced 15 percent power draw a new lowpower standby mode and increased use of recycled plastic 这将减少（15）功耗、新的低功耗待机模式以及增加回收塑料的使用。 br Much of the news around Brooklin was effectively refuted by Xbox boss Phil Spencer shortly after the leak though 不过，在泄密事件发生后不久，Xbox 老板 Phil Spencer 就有效地驳斥了有关布鲁克林的大部分消息。 br He implied that it was based on early planning and no longer accurate 他暗示这是基于早期计划，不再准确。 br It's hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now and in the future he stated in an X post “很难看到我们团队的工作以这种方式共享，因为已经发生了很多变化，现在和未来有很多值得兴奋的事情，”他在 X 帖子中表示。 br We will share the real plans when we are ready “当我们准备好时，我们将分享真正的计划。”

We did it y’all We bullied Google into letting the Pixel 8 run ondevice AI Starting with the next Pixel feature drop the Pixel 8 will use Gemini Nano for a couple of AI features 我们做到了，你们大家。 我们迫使 Google 让 Pixel 8 运行设备上的人工智能。 从下一个 Pixel 功能发布开始，Pixel 8 将使用 Gemini Nano 来实现一些人工智能功能。 br Google announced Gemini Nano as its mobileoptimized large language model in December and said it would be a core part of Android in the future — but in its own device lineup only the Pixel 8 Pro was able to use it 谷歌去年 12 月宣布 Gemini Nano 作为其针对移动设备优化的大型语言模型，并表示它将成为未来 Android 的核心部分——但在其自己的设备阵容中，只有 Pixel 8 Pro 能够使用它。 br Despite using the same Tensor G3 chipset the Pixel 8 wasn’t getting ondevice AI because of “hardware limitations” Pixel fans and watchful Android experts asked the same question what the heck Google 尽管使用相同的 Tensor G3 芯片组，但由于“硬件限制”，Pixel 8 并未获得设备上的人工智能。 Pixel 粉丝和细心的 Android 专家问了同样的问题：谷歌到底是怎么回事？ br The Pixel 8 will get support for Gemini Nano in the next Pixel feature drop as a developer preview powering ondevice recorder summaries and smart replies in Gboard — same as the Pixel 8 Pro Pixel 8 将在下一个 Pixel 功能发布中作为开发者预览版获得对 Gemini Nano 的支持，为设备上的记录器摘要和 Gboard 中的智能回复提供支持 与 Pixel 8 Pro 相同。 br Meanwhile Samsung started rolling out AI featureshttpswwwthevergecom202432824114363galaxyaistartsrollingoutforthes23 to its previousgeneration flagship phones today 与此同时，三星今天开始在其上一代旗舰手机中推出人工智能功能。 br In a blog post earlier this year Samsung said that this AI feature expansion would utilize both on and offdevice AI Google’s “hardware limitation” explanation for Gemini Nano’s absence on the Pixel 8 was starting to look pretty shaky 在今年早些时候的一篇博客文章中，三星表示，这种人工智能功能扩展将利用设备内和设备外的人工智能。 谷歌对 Pixel 8 上没有配备 Gemini Nano 的“硬件限制”解释开始显得相当站不住脚。 br In any case a victory is a victory and I’m pretty sure this one belongs to all of us Peer pressure works my friends 无论如何，胜利就是胜利，我确信这是属于我们所有人的。 我的朋友们，同伴压力是有效的。

Google is rolling out an update that makes it easier for users to find personalized shopping results the company announced on Wednesday 谷歌周三宣布，该公司正在推出一项更新，使用户可以更轻松地找到个性化的购物结果。 br The new feature lets users rate different products in order to get style recommendations when shopping for apparel shoes and accessories 新功能允许用户对不同的产品进行评分，以便在购买服装、鞋子和配饰时获得款式推荐。 br The update comes as Google continues to compete with companies like Amazonhttpstechcrunchcom20240201amazondebutsrufusanaishoppingassistantinitsmobileapp and Walmarthttpstechcrunchcom20240109walmartdebutsgenerativeaisearchandaireplenishmentfeaturesatces which have released AIpowered features to rival Google’s shopping capabilitieshttpstechcrunchcom20231108googlesaipoweredsearchexperienceexpandsgloballyto120countriesandterritories 此次更新之际，谷歌继续与亚马逊和沃尔玛等公司竞争，这些公司已经发布了人工智能驱动的功能来与谷歌的购物功能相抗衡。 br When you search for something like “men’s polo shirts” on Google you will now see a new section labeled “style recommendations” where you can rate options with a thumbs up or thumbs down 当您在 Google 上搜索“男士 Polo 衫”之类的内容时，您现在会看到一个标有“款式推荐”的新部分，您可以在其中对选项进行“赞成”或“反对”评分。 br You also can use a Tinderlike swipe gesture to rate the products 您还可以使用类似 Tinder 的滑动手势来对产品进行评分。 br If you’re unsure about an item you can skip it 如果您对某个产品不确定，可以跳过它 br After you have rated a selection of products Google will display personalized results for you to parse through 在您对选定的产品进行评分后，Google 将显示个性化结果供您解析。

Perhaps because it’s been a bit busy signing itself over to retail giant Walmart things have of late been a little quieter than usual on the Vizio product front 也许是因为它有点忙于与零售巨头沃尔玛签约，最近 Vizio 产品方面的情况比平时要安静一些。 br Today though Vizio has broken its silence with a big literally announcement that seems to confirm that its longrunning tradition of delivering lots of TV for surprisingly little money isn’t set to change under its new ownership 不过，今天，Vizio 打破了沉默，发布了一项重大公告，这似乎证实了其长期以来以少得可怜的价格提供大量电视节目的传统在其新所有权下不会改变。 br This big news is that Vizio will be adding a new 86inch model to its current range of 4K TVs and will only be charging \$999 for it 这个重大消息是 Vizio 将在其当前的 4K 电视系列中添加一款新的 86 英寸型号，并且售价仅为 999 美元。 br That’s a remarkably low launch price for such a colossal TV and could have home cinema fans falling over themselves to get hold of one if it follows in the footsteps of many of its Vizio predecessors by performing better than its price would lead you to expect 对于如此巨大的电视来说，这样的上市价格非常低，如果它追随许多 Vizio 前辈的脚步，性能比你预期的要好，那么家庭影院迷可能会争先恐后地购买一台。 br Set to hit US stores from April 29 the unmemorably named V4K86C0804 is unsurprisingly for its price built on a fairly basic core namely an IPS panel that doesn’t have any local dimming to bolster its contrast performance V4K86C0804 将于 4 月 29 日在美国上市，其名称并不令人难忘，它的价格并不令人意外，它建立在相当基本的核心之上，即 IPS 面板，没有任何局部调光来增强其对比度性能。 br No Quantum Dots are involved in the screen’s colour creation either 屏幕的色彩创建也不涉及量子点。 br It also though has a few features up its sleeve that suggest it’s got more going on than your typical entry level 4K TV 不过，它还有一些锦上添花的功能，表明它比典型的入门级 4K 电视有更多功能。 br For instance its high dynamic range video support includes both of the premium Dolby Vision and HDR10 formats with their extra scene by scene picture information as well as the basic HDR10 and HLG formats 例如，其高动态范围视频支持包括高级杜比视界和 HDR10 格式及其额外的逐个场景图片信息，以及基本的 HDR10 和 HLG 格式。 br This means it can take in the best version of any picture source you care to play into it 这意味着它可以吸收您想要播放的任何图片源的最佳版本。 br Unlike some of the other TVs in Vizio’s 4K range the new 86inch addition can support 120fps gaming signals albeit at only 1080p resolutions 与 Vizio 4K 系列中的其他一些电视不同，这款新的 86 英寸电视可以支持 120fps 游戏信号 尽管分辨率仅为 1080p。 br There doesn’t appear to be any support though for other HDMI 21 gaming features such as variable refresh rates or auto low latency game mode switching 不过，似乎不支持其他 HDMI 21 游戏功能，例如可变刷新率或自动低延迟游戏模式切换。 br The only HDMI 21 feature confirmed is eARC enabling the TV to pass lossless multichannel audio out to ARCcapable soundbars and AV receivers 唯一确认的 HDMI 21 功能是 eARC，使电视能够将无损多通道音频输出到支持 ARC 的条形音箱和 AV 接收器。

OKYO – Japan spending on edge computing is expected to reach \$12 billion ¥16 trillion in 2024 an increase of 123 over 2023 according to the International Data Corporation IDChttpswwwidccom Worldwide Edge Spending GuidehttpswwwidccomtrackershowproductinfojspcontainerId=IDCP39947 Edge SG The combined enterprise and service provider buyer segment spending across hardware software professional services and provisioned services for edge solutions is forecasting a strong sustained growth through 2027 when spending will reach nearly \$17 billion ¥23 trillion Share the imagehttpswwwidccomgetdocjspcontainerId=prAP51982724 IDC defines edge as the information and communications technology ICT related actions that are performed outside of the centralized datacenter where edge is the intermediary between the connected endpoints and the core IT environment Characteristically edge is distributed software defined and flexible The value of edge is the movement of computing resources to the physical location where data is created transacted or stored thereby increasing enablement of business processes decisions and intelligence outside of the core IT environment “Edge computing is a means of leveraging digital technology to solve technological challenges outside the core IT environment However in Japan most enterprise buyers do not know or understand the term ‘edge computing'” said Masayuki ShimokawabehttpswwwidccomgetdocjspcontainerId=PRF004567 Research Manager Enterprise Infrastructure IDC Japan “Edge computing does not accomplish its goal by simply performing computing at the Edge It must be fused with the core data centers whether cloud or onpremise A key activity for IT vendors and service providers to uncover the potential computing needs of society and their customers is to create a computing environment that integrates the Edge and the Core into seamless infrastructure” Across 19 enterprise industries IDC segments edge ICT spending for 500 named enterprise use cases in six domains\^1^ In the service provider industry investments for edge services delivery is built on infrastructure spending for multiaccess edge computing MEC content delivery networks and virtual network functions Combined these three use cases will account for nearly 13 of all edge spending this year For enterprise adopters including the public sector examples of edge named use cases with large investments and rapid growth through 2027 include Smart Warehousing Augmented Maintenance Training ARVR multiple industries Traffic Management and RealTime Inventory Management Examples of emerging edge use cases that are forecast to have the fastest spending growth over the 20222027 period include Collaboration ARVR multiple industries Project Management Construction Inventory Management multiple industries Pipeline Inspection Process Manufacturing and Digital assistance multiple industries “Enterprise investments have continued to shift the past 24 months toward infrastructure expansion and greenfield deployments Companies are acting on plans to build more robust local computing infrastructure capabilities And through it all customerfacing new services and products and enabling new business processes are top enterprise drivers” said Marcus TorchiahttpswwwidccomgetdocjspcontainerId=PRF004544 Vice President Research Data Analytics group at IDC “Over the next two years the share of planned investments moderately favor MEC offerings Yet in the balance enterprises are looking to rationalize total service provider outlays This sets up a dynamic market of capex and opex based edge offerings competing for investment dollars through 2027” Across enterprise end user industries the sheer size of discrete and process manufacturing accounts for the largest portion of investments in edge solutions this year followed by the retail and utilities industries IDC expects almost all 19 enterprise industries profiled in the Edge SG will touch around 10 spending growth over the forecast period The service provider segment will see the greatest fiveyear compound annual growth rate CAGR of 232 The largest investment share will continue to be led by hardware at 45 of total to build out edge capabilities especially driven by service provider infrastructure Over the forecast period adoption of provisioned services\^2^ by enterprises will surge approaching hardware toward 2027 Within provisioned services connectivity and IaaS will represent the greatest share and fastest growth categories respectively Hardware spending will be driven by investments in edge gateways servers and network equipment Onpremise software will be a critical component of edge infrastructure but remain the smallest share category over the forecast period Figure The IDC Worldwide Edge Spending GuidehttpswwwidccomtrackershowproductinfojspcontainerId=IDCP39947 quantifies the edge computing market by forecasting enterprise and service provider spending across 22 technology markets six technology domains 19 enterprise industries and nine geographic regions This version 2024 v1 of the Edge SG also includes more than 500 use cases that were segmented across various industries and domains sourcehttpswwwemsnowcomedgecomputinginvestmentsinjapantoreach12billionC2A516trillionin2024idcforecasts

At the end of last year the tech giant IBM announced what might sound like a milestone in quantum computing the firstever chip called the Condor with more than 1000 quantum bits or qubits Given that this was barely two years after the company unveiled the Eagle the first chip with more than 100 qubits it looked as though the field was racing forward Making quantum computers that can solve useful problems beyond the scope of even the mightiest of today’s classical supercomputers demands scaling them up even more — to perhaps many tens or hundreds of thousands of qubits But that’s surely just a matter of engineering right Not necessarily The challenges of scaling up are so great that some researchers think it will require totally different hardware from the microelectronics used by the likes of IBM and Google The qubits in the Condor and in Google’s Sycamore chip are made from loops of superconducting material These superconducting qubits have so far been the hare in the race to fullscale quantum computing But now there’s a tortoise coming from behind qubits made from individual atoms Recent advances have transformed these “neutralatom qubits” from outsiders to leading contenders “The last two or three years have seen more rapid advances than any previous such period” said the physicist Mark Saffman of the University of Wisconsin Madison who counted at least five companies racing to commercialize neutralatom quantum computing Like the bits in ordinary computers qubits encode binary information — 1s and 0s But whereas a bit is always in one state or the other the information in a qubit can be left indeterminate in a socalled “superposition” that gives weight to both possibilities To carry out a computation qubits are linked using the phenomenon called quantum entanglement which makes their possible states interdependent A particular quantum algorithm might demand a succession of entanglements between different sets of qubits and the answer is read out at the end of the computation when a measurement is made collapsing each superposition down to a definite 1 or 0 The idea of using the quantum states of neutral atoms for encoding information this way was proposedhttpsjournalsapsorgprlabstract101103PhysRevLett852208 in the early 2000s by the Harvard physicist Mikhail Lukinhttpswwwphysicsharvardedupeoplefacpageslukin and colleagues and alsohttpsarxivorgabsquantph0003022 by a group led by Ivan Deutschhttpscquicunmedupeopleivandeutschindexhtml of the University of New Mexico For a long time the broader research community agreed that neutralatom quantum computing was a great idea in principle Lukin said but that “it just doesn’t work out” in practice “But 20 years later the other approaches haven’t closed the deal” Saffman said “And the skill set and the techniques needed to make neutral atoms work have been gradually evolving to the point where they are looking very promising” Share this article httpwwwfacebookcomsharerphpu=httpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325httpstwittercomshareurl=httpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325text=The20Best20Qubits20for20Quantum20Computing20Might20Just20Be20Atomsvia=QuantaMagazineCOPIEDhttpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms202403250mailtosubject=The20Best20Qubits20for20Quantum20Computing20Might20Just20Be20Atomsbody=In20the20search20for20the20most20scalable20hardware20to20use20for20quantum20computers20qubits20made20of20individual20atoms20are20having20a20breakout20moment0A0Ahttpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325 httpsgetpocketcomsaveurl=httpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325title=The20Best20Qubits20for20Quantum20Computing20Might20Just20Be20Atomshttpswwwredditcomsubmiturl=httpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325httpsnewsycombinatorcomsubmitlinku=httpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325t=The20Best20Qubits20for20Quantum20Computing20Might20Just20Be20Atomshttpsshareflipboardcombookmarkletpopoutv=The20Best20Qubits20for20Quantum20Computing20Might20Just20Be20Atomsurl=httpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325 Newsletter Get Quanta Magazine delivered to your inbox Subscribe nowhttpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325newsletter Recent newslettershttpus1campaignarchive2comhomeu=0d6ddf7dc1a0b7297c8e06618id=f0cb61321c In Lukin’s lab an elaborate system of lasers is used to move around and change the states of atoms held inside a vacuum cell hidden in the sceneKen Richardson for Quanta Magazine Introduction Lukin’s lab at Harvard has been among those leading the way In December he and his colleagues reportedhttpswwwnaturecomarticless41586023069273 that they created programmable quantum circuits with hundreds of neutralatom qubits and had performed quantum computations and error correction with them And this month a team at the California Institute of Technology reportedhttpsarxivorgabs240312021 that they made an array of 6100 atomic qubits Such results are increasingly winning converts to this approach “Ten years ago I would not have included these neutralatom methods if I were hedging bets on the future of quantum computing” said Andrew Steanehttpswwwphysicsoxacukourpeoplesteane a quantum information theorist at the University of Oxford “That would have been a mistake” Battle of Qubits A key issue in the contest between qubit types is how long each kind of qubit can maintain its superposition before it is altered by some random for example thermal fluctuation For superconducting qubits like IBM’s and Google’s this “coherence time” is typically around a millisecond at best All steps of a quantum computation must happen within that time frame One advantage of encoding information in the states of individual atoms is that their coherence times are typically far longer Moreover unlike superconducting circuits atoms of a given type are all identical so bespoke control systems aren’t needed to input and manipulate subtly different quantum states And whereas the wiring used to link up superconducting qubits into quantum circuits can become horribly complicated — more so as the system scales up — no wiring is needed in the case of atoms All the entangling is done using laser light This benefit initially presented a challenge There’s a welldeveloped technology for carving out complicated microelectronic circuitry and wires and one probable reason IBM and Google invested initially in superconducting qubits is not because these were obviously the best but because they required the kind of circuitry such companies are used to said Stuart Adamshttpswwwdurhamacukstaffcsadams a physicist at Durham University in the United Kingdom who works on neutralatom quantum computing “Laserbased atom optics looked totally unfamiliar to them All the engineering is completely different” Merrill ShermanQuanta Magazine sources Block Lab at Stanford arxiv231203982 Qubits made of electrically charged atoms — known as ions — can also be controlled with light and ions were long regarded as better qubit candidates than neutral atoms Because of their charge ions are relatively easy to trap in electric fields Researchers have created ion traps by suspending the ions in a tiny vacuum cavity at ultralow temperatures to avoid thermal jiggling while laser beams switch them between different energy states to manipulate the information Iontrap quantum computers with dozens of qubits have now been demonstrated and several startups are developing the technology for commercialization “So far the system with the highest performance in terms of fidelity control and coherence has been trapped ions” Saffman said Trapping neutral atoms is harder because there’s no charge to hold onto Instead the atoms are immobilized within fields of intense light created by laser beams called optical tweezers The atoms typically prefer to sit where the light field is most intense And there’s a problem with ions They all have an electric charge of the same sign That means the qubits repel one another Jamming a lot of them into the same small space gets harder the more ions there are With neutral atoms there’s no such tension This researchers say makes neutralatom qubits much more scalable What’s more trapped ions are arranged in a row or recently a looping “racetrackhttpswwwquantinuumcomhardwareh2” This configuration makes it difficult to entangle one ion qubit with another that’s say 20 places along the row “Ion traps are inherently onedimensional” Adams said “You have to arrange them in a line and it’s very hard to see how you get up to a thousand qubits that way” Neutralatom arrays can be a twodimensional grid which is much easier to scale up “You can put a lot in the same system and they don’t interact when you don’t want them to” Saffman said His group and others have trapped over 1000 neutral atoms this way “We believe we can pack tens or even hundreds of thousands in a centimeterscale device” he said Indeed in their recent work the team at Caltech created an opticaltweezer array of about 6100 neutral cesium atoms although they haven’t yet performed any quantum computations with them These qubits also had coherence times of a whopping 126 seconds a record so far for this qubit type The Rydberg Blockade For two or more qubits to become entangled they need to interact with one another Neutral atoms “feel” one another’s presence via socalled van der Waals forces which arise from the way one atom responds to fluctuations in the cloud of electrons in another atom nearby But these feeble forces are felt only when atoms are extremely close together Manipulating normal atoms to the required precision using light fields just can’t be done As Lukin and his colleagues pointed out in their original proposal back in 2000 the interaction distance can be dramatically increased if we boost the size of the atoms themselves The more energy an electron has the further it tends to roam from the atomic nucleus If a laser is used to pump up an electron into an energy state far greater than those usually found in atoms — called a Rydberg state after the Swedish physicist Johannes Rydberg who in the 1880s studied the way atoms emit light at discrete wavelengths — the electron can roam thousands of times farther out from the nucleus than usual This boost in size enables two atoms held several micrometers apart — perfectly feasible in optical traps — to interact video src=httpsd2r55xnwy6nx47cloudfrontnetuploads202403hypercubecrLukinLabHarvardv2mp4 alt=Movie of an array of dots representing groups of atomic qubits Blocks of qubits are moved around and entangled with each other autoplay=autoplay muted=true loop=true playsinline=true width=100 poster=httpsd2r55xnwy6nx47cloudfrontnetuploads202403hypercubecrLukinLabHarvardstilljpgvideo This movie created by the Harvard team shows the execution of a 48logicalqubit circuit which they say is the most advanced circuit ever executed on a quantum computer Groups of eight atomic qubits are first brought together and entangled into errorcorrected logical qubit blocks indicated by red ovals These blocks are then entangled with each other to create a circuit with hundreds of logical gate operationsLukin LabHarvard Introduction To implement a quantum algorithm the researchers first encode quantum information in a pair of atomic energy levels using lasers to switch electrons between the levels They then entangle atoms’ states by switching on Rydberg interactions between them A given atom may be excited to a Rydberg state or not depending on which of the two energy levels its electron is in — only one of these sits at the right energy to resonate with the frequency of the excitation laser And if the atom is currently interacting with another this excitation frequency shifts slightly so that the electron won’t resonate with the light and won’t be able to make the jump This means only one or the other of a pair of interacting atoms can sustain a Rydberg state at any moment their quantum states are correlated — or in other words entangled This socalled Rydberg blockade first proposedhttpsjournalsapsorgprlabstract101103PhysRevLett87037901 by Lukin and colleagues in 2001 as a way of entangling Rydbergatom qubits is an allornothing effect Either there’s a Rydberg blockade or there isn’t “The Rydberg blockade makes interactions between atoms digital” Lukin said At the end of the computation lasers read out atoms’ states If an atom is in the state that is resonant with the illumination the light is scattered but if it’s in the other state there’s no scattering In 2004 a team at the University of Connecticut demonstratedhttpsjournalsapsorgprlabstract101103PhysRevLett93063001 a Rydberg blockade between rubidium atoms trapped and cooled to just 100 microkelvins above absolute zero They cooled the atoms by using lasers to “suck out” the atoms’ thermal energy The approach means that unlike superconducting qubits neutral atoms require no cryogenic cooling and no cumbersome refrigerants These systems can therefore be made very compact “The apparatus as a whole is at room temperature” Saffman said “One centimeter away from these super cold atoms you have a roomtemperature window” In 2010 Saffman and his coworkers reportedhttpsjournalsapsorgprlabstract101103PhysRevLett104010503 the first logic gate — a fundamental element of computers in which one or more binary input signals generate a particular binary output — made from two atoms using the Rydberg blockade Then crucially in 2016 Lukin’s team and research groups in France and in South Korea all independentlyhttpswwwscienceorgdoi101126scienceaah3752 figured outhttpswwwscienceorgdoi101126scienceaah3778 how to load many neutral atomshttpsarxivorgabs160103833 into arrays of optical traps and move them around at will “This innovation brought new life to the field” said Stephan Dürrhttpswwwmpqmpgdeperson346725381858 of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching Germany who uses Rydberg atoms for experiments in lightbased quantum information processing Much of the work so far uses rubidium and cesium atoms but the physicist Jeff Thompsonhttpseceprincetonedupeoplejeffthompson at Princeton University prefers encoding the information in the nuclear spin states of metal atoms such as strontium and ytterbium which have even longer coherence times Last October Thompson and colleagues reportedhttpsdoiorg101038s41586023064381 twoqubit logic gates made from these systems And Rydberg blockades don’t have to be between lone atoms Last summer Adams and his coworkers showedhttpsjournalsapsorgprlabstract101103PhysRevLett131013401 that they could create a Rydberg blockade between an atom and a trapped molecule which they made artificially by using optical tweezers to pull a cesium atom next to a rubidium atom The advantage of hybrid atommolecule systems is that atoms and molecules have very different energies which could make it easier to manipulate one without affecting others What’s more molecular qubits can have very long coherence times Adams stresses that such hybrid systems are at least 10 years behind allatom systems and entanglement of two such qubits has yet to be achieved “Hybrid systems are really hard” Thompson said “but we will probably be forced to do them at some point” HighFidelity Qubits No qubit is perfect All can incur errors And if these go undetected and uncorrected they scramble the result of the computation But a big obstacle to all quantum computing is that errors can’t be identified and corrected in the way they are for classical computers where an algorithm simply keeps track of what states the bits are in by making copies The key to quantum computing is that the qubits’ states are left undetermined until the final result is read out If you try to measure those states before that point you terminate the computation How then can qubits be protected from errors that we can’t even monitor One answer is to spread information over many physical qubits — constituting a single “logical qubit” — so that an error in one of them doesn’t corrupt the information they collectively encode This only becomes practical if the number of physical qubits needed for each logical qubit isn’t too great That overhead depends in part on what errorcorrecting algorithm is used From left Simon Evered Sophie Lee Alexandra Geim Mikhail Lukin Dolev Bluvstein and Markus Greiner peer at the experimental setup in Lukin’s labKen Richardson for Quanta Magazine Introduction Errorcorrected logical qubits have been demonstrated with superconducting and trappedion qubits but until recently it hasn’t been clear if they can be made from neutral atoms That changed in December when the Harvard team unveiled arrays of several hundred trapped rubidium atoms and ran algorithms on 48 logical qubits each made from seven or eight physical atoms The researchers used the system to conduct a simple logical operation called a controlled NOT gate in which a qubit’s 1 and 0 states are flipped or left unchanged depending on the state of a second “control” qubit To conduct the computations the researchers moved the atoms between three distinct regions in the trapping chamber an array of atoms an interaction region or “gate zone” where specific atoms were dragged and entangled using the Rydberg blockade and a readout zone It’s all made possible Adams said because “the Rydberg system offers you all this ability to shuffle qubits around and decide who’s interacting with who which gives you a flexibility that superconducting qubits don’t have” The Harvard team demonstrated errorcorrection techniques for some simple logicalqubit algorithms although for the largest ones with 48 logical qubits they merely achieved error detection According to Thompson those latter experiments showed that “they can preferentially reject measurement outcomes with errors and therefore identify a subset of outcomes with lower errors” This approach is called postselection and while it can play a role in quantum error correction it doesn’t by itself solve the problem Rydberg atoms might lend themselves to novel errorcorrecting codes The one used in the Harvard work called the surface code “is very popular but also very inefficient” Saffman said it tends to require many physical qubits to make one logical qubit Other more efficient proposed errorcorrecting codes require longerrange interactions between qubits not just nearestneighbor pairings Practitioners of neutralatom quantum computing think longrange Rydberg interactions should be up to the task “I am extremely optimistic that experiments over the next two to three years will show us that the overhead need not be as bad as people thought” Lukin said Though there’s still more to be done Steane considers the Harvard work “a step change in the degree to which errorcorrection protocols have been realized in the laboratory” Spinning Off Advances like these have Rydbergatom qubits drawing even with their competitors “The combination of highfidelity gates the large numbers of qubits highaccuracy measurements and flexible connectivity allows us to deem the Rydbergatom array as a real competitor to the superconducting and trappedion qubits” Steane said Compared to superconducting qubits the technology comes at a fraction of the investment cost The Harvard group has a spinoff company called QuErahttpswwwqueracomabout which has already made a 256qubit Rydberg quantum processor called Aquilahttpswwwqueracomaquila — an analog “quantum simulator” which can run simulations of systems of many quantum particleshttpswwwquantamagazineorgquantumsimulatorscreateatotallynewphaseofmatter20211202 — available on the cloud in partnership with Amazon’s Braket quantum computing platform QuEra is also working to advance quantum error correction RELATED 1 What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explainhttpswwwquantamagazineorgwhyisquantumcomputingsohardtoexplain20210608 2 New Codes Could Make Quantum Computing 10 Times More Efficienthttpswwwquantamagazineorgnewcodescouldmakequantumcomputing10timesmoreefficient20230825 3 How Quantum Computers Will Correct Their Errorshttpswwwquantamagazineorghowquantumcomputerswillcorrecttheirerrors20211116 Saffman joined a company called Infleqtionhttpswwwinfleqtioncom which is developing the neutralatom optical platform for quantum sensors and communications as well as quantum computing “I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the big IT companies goes into some sort of partnership with one of these spinoffs soon” Adams said “Doing scalable error correction with neutralatom qubits is definitely possible” Thompson said “I think 10000 neutralatom qubits is clearly possible within a few years” Beyond that he thinks that practical limitations on laser power and resolution will necessitate modular designshttpsarxivorgabs240104075 in which several distinct atom arrays are linked together If that happens who knows what will come of it “We don’t even know yet what we can do with quantum computing” Lukin said “I really hope these new advances will help us answer these questions” sourcehttpswwwquantamagazineorgthebestqubitsforquantumcomputingmightjustbeatoms20240325

Microsoft is naming Pavan Davuluri as its new Windows and Surface chief today After Panos Panay’s surprise departurehttpswwwthevergecom202392723892462amazonhirespanospanaymicrosoft to Amazon last year Microsoft split up the Windows and Surface groupshttpswwwthevergecom202391823878759microsoftwindowspanospanaysurfaceyusufmehdi under two different leaders Davuluri took over the Surface silicon and devices work with Mikhail Parakhin leading a new team focused on Windows and web experiences Now both Windows and Surface will be Davuluri’s responsibility as Parakhin has “decided to explore new roles” The Verge has obtained an internal memo from Rajesh Jha Microsoft’s head of experiences and devices outlining the new Windows organization Microsoft is now bringing together its Windows and devices teams once more “This will enable us to take a holistic approach to building silicon systems experiences and devices that span Windows client and cloud for this AI era” explains Jha Davuluri joined AMD CEO Lisa Su onstage in December Image AMD XhttpstwittercomAMDstatus1732522836189757570 Pavan Davuluri is now the leader of Microsoft’s Windows and Surface team reporting directly to Rajesh Jha Davuluri has worked at Microsoft for more than 23 years and was deeply involved in the company’s work with Qualcomm and AMDhttpswwwthevergecom201910220888999microsoftsurfaceproxlaptop3customprocessorqualcommamdspecs to create custom Surface processors sourcehttpswwwthevergecom202432524111931microsoftwindowssurfacepavandavuluri

VIDEO CARDS GPUS Intel's nextgen Battlemage Xe2HPG GPU with up to 24 GPU cores 12GB VRAM spotted Intel's nextgen Battlemage 'Xe2HPG' GPU shows up with 20 24 GPU cores 12GB of VRAM running in SiSoft Sandra benchmark database ntel's nextgeneration Battlemage Xe2HPG GPUs have been spotted running with 20core and 24core GPU variants inside the SiSoft Sandra database Check them out Intel is expected to roll out its nextgen Battlemage GPU later this year filling out the Xe2HPG and Xe2LPG variants Xe2HPG will be discrete graphic cards while Xe2LPG will be integrated GPUs inside upcoming processors like Intel's nextgen Lunar Lake CPUs The new Battlemage Xe2HPG GPUs were spotted by miktdt with the 20core Xe2HPG GPU featuring 160 Vector Engines and 2560 ALUs while the 24core Xe2HPG GPU packed 192 Vector Engines and 3072 ALUs Both of the Xe2HPG GPUs featured 8MB of L2 cache which is half of the cache Intel uses on Alchemist XeLPG GPUs with 32 cores Both of the GPUs also packed 12GB of VRAM on what seems to be a 192bit memory interface GPU clocks at sitting at 18GHz but these are early pieces of Intel Xe2HPG silicon so we should expect 20GHz in final retail form As for the benchmark results the new Intel Battlemage Xe2HPG GPUs get their asses kicked by Arc Alchemist with GPGPU benchmark results for the Xe2HPG GPUs scored 7231Mpixs and 6030Mpixs for the 24core and 20core GPUs respectively Comparing this to the Arc A770 already on the market which hits 11058Mpixs and the Arc A750 with 9927Mpixs you can see Intel has a long way to go with Battlemage 3 Intel Battlemage Xe2HPG GPUs source SiSoft Sandra database As explained earlier this is early silicon for Battlemage with much more work to go on the software side too Intel will continue to plug away but will Battlemage be enough to compete with the currentgen NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series Ada Lovelace GPUs or AMD's current fleet of Radeon RX 7000 series RDNA 3 graphics cards Hmm that remains to be seen sourcehttpswwwtweaktowncomnews97103intelsnextgenbattlemagexe2hpggpuwithupto24cores12gbvramspottedindexhtm