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US scientists toy with lasers to cool computer chips, bring down data center costs

US scientists toy with lasers to cool computer chips, bring down data center costs

Yahoo14-04-2025

A high amount of the energy used by data centers is for cooling purposes.
Data centers handle everything from basic tasks like email processing to complex operations like AI training. However, these systems face a major challenge with the heat generated by the servers.
The current air and water-based cooling systems are struggling to keep up.
As Sandia National Laboratories physicist Raktim Sarma explains, "About 30 to 40 percent of the energy data centers use is spent on cooling. In some communities, the amount of water needed can strain local resources."
Now, a Minnesota-based startup, Maxwell Labs, is teaming up with Sandia and the University of New Mexico to explore laser-based photonic cooling.
This new technology seeks to control computer chip temperatures, lower energy use, and improve efficiency compared to current methods.
'A successful project will not only address the immediate need for energy savings but also pave the way for processors to operate at performance levels that were previously thought impossible,' said Mike Karpe, Maxwell Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer.
Photonics, the science of harnessing light, is already being used for data processing, national security, and communication. But the team at Sandia and Maxwell says they are the first to explore its potential for cooling computers.
Despite their common use for heating, lasers can also produce a cooling effect in specific situations.
This happens when a precise light frequency interacts with a highly pure target of a specific element. The team describes it as using lasers to hold individual atoms at incredibly low temperatures in quantum computers.
The laser cooling method might work for GPUs if the cooling light targets small, hot areas.
'We really only have to cool down spots that are on the order of hundreds of microns, about the size of a speck of dust,' Sarma noted.
Maxwell Labs envisions a photonic cold plate, a light-based alternative or complement to existing water and air cooling systems.
A key element in cold plate design is gallium arsenide, a semiconductor similar to silicon. For the laser cooling to work effectively, the gallium arsenide needs to be incredibly pure and grown in extremely thin, crystalline layers known as epitaxial layers.
This innovative design utilizes materials and microscopic features, thousands of times smaller than a human hair. The technique allows to channel cooling laser light directly to those critical hot spots.
According to the company's models, laser cooling can achieve lower chip temperatures than water cooling.
'This will enable novel energy-recovery paradigms not possible with traditional cooling technology,' said Maxwell CEO Jacob Balma.
If successful, this technology could unlock significant benefits. Cooler chips can operate at higher speeds without overheating, leading to improved performance and greater power efficiency.
Furthermore, it might be possible to recapture the light generated as heat and transform it back into electrical power.
The bright idea of using lasers to cool computers might just be the key to unlocking the next generation of high-performance, energy-conscious computing.

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One Tech Tip: How to protect your 23andMe genetic data
One Tech Tip: How to protect your 23andMe genetic data

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One Tech Tip: How to protect your 23andMe genetic data

Remember 23andMe? The company that gave customers saliva-based DNA testing kits to learn about their ancestry? Founded in 2006, the company also conducted health research and drug development. But it struggled to find a profitable business model and eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in March, raising concerns about the safety of customer data. Well, 27 states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of the company's archive of genetic data without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks court's approval to buy the struggling firm. If you were a customer of 23andMe, you're probably wondering what is going on with your data. It turns out you do have options if you want to protect your genetic self. What happened to 23andMe? 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in March. Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded the company nearly two decades ago and served as its CEO stepped down. The San Francisco-based company said that it would look to sell 'substantially all of its assets' through a court-approved reorganization plan. Wojcicki intends to bid on 23andMe as the company pursues a sale through the bankruptcy process. In a statement on social media, Wojcicki said that she resigned as CEO to be 'in the best position' as an independent bidder. 23andMe said that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection helps facilitate a sale of the company, meaning that it's seeking new ownership. The company said it wants to pull back on its real estate footprint and has asked the court to reject lease contracts in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California, and elsewhere to help cut costs. But the company plans to keep operating during the process. I used the service, is my DNA data safe? In a post about the Chapter 11 process, 23andMe said its users' privacy and data are important considerations in any transaction and that any buyer will be required to comply with applicable laws when it comes to how it treats customer data. But experts note that laws have limits. For one, the U.S. has no federal privacy law and only about 20 states do. There are also security concerns. For instance, the turmoil of bankruptcy and related job cuts could leave fewer employees to protect customers' data against hackers. It wouldn't be the first time — a 2023 data breach exposed the genetic data of nearly 7 million customers at 23andMe, which later agreed to pay $30 million in cash to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to protect customers whose personal information was exposed. Experts note that DNA data is particularly sensitive — and thus valuable. 'At a fundamental biological level, this is you and only you,' said David Choffnes, a computer science professor at Northeastern University and executive director of its Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. 'If you have an email address that gets compromised, you can find another email provider and start using a new email address. And you're pretty much able to move on with your life without problem. And you just can't do that with your genetic code.' 23andMe says it does not share information with health insurance companies, employers or public databases without users' consent and with law enforcement only if required by a valid legal process, such as a subpoena. Choffnes said while that's good, it's a fairly narrow set of categories. 'There's still other things that they are allowed to do with that data, including, as they mentioned, provide cross context, behavioral or targeted advertising,' he said. 'So, you know, in a sense, even if they aren't sending your personal data to an advertiser, there's a long line of research that identifies how third parties can re-identify you from de-identified data by looking for patterns in it. And so if they're targeting you with advertisements, for example, based on some information that they have about your genetic data, there's probably a way that other parties could piece together other information they have access to.' How can I delete my data from 23andMe? California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an urgent consumer alert before 23andMe filed for bankruptcy — noting the company's financial distress and reminding people they have the right to have their data deleted. If you have a 23andMe account, you can delete your data by logging in and going to 'settings' and scrolling to a section called '23andMe Data' at the bottom of the page. Then, click 'View,' download it if you want a copy then go to the 'Delete Data' section and click 'Permanently Delete Data.' 23andMe will email you to confirm and you will need to follow the link in the email to confirm your deletion request. If you previously asked 23andMe to store your saliva sample and DNA, you can also ask that it be destroyed by going to your account settings and clicking on 'Preferences.' And you can withdraw consent from third-party researchers to use your genetic data and sample under 'Research and Product Consents.'

One Tech Tip: How to protect your 23andMe genetic data
One Tech Tip: How to protect your 23andMe genetic data

Yahoo

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Remember 23andMe? The company that gave customers saliva-based DNA testing kits to learn about their ancestry? Founded in 2006, the company also conducted health research and drug development. But it struggled to find a profitable business model and eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in March, raising concerns about the safety of customer data. Well, 27 states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of the company's archive of genetic data without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks court's approval to buy the struggling firm. If you were a customer of 23andMe, you're probably wondering what is going on with your data. It turns out you do have options if you want to protect your genetic self. What happened to 23andMe? 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in March. Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded the company nearly two decades ago and served as its CEO stepped down. The San Francisco-based company said that it would look to sell 'substantially all of its assets' through a court-approved reorganization plan. Wojcicki intends to bid on 23andMe as the company pursues a sale through the bankruptcy process. In a statement on social media, Wojcicki said that she resigned as CEO to be 'in the best position' as an independent bidder. 23andMe said that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection helps facilitate a sale of the company, meaning that it's seeking new ownership. The company said it wants to pull back on its real estate footprint and has asked the court to reject lease contracts in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California, and elsewhere to help cut costs. But the company plans to keep operating during the process. I used the service, is my DNA data safe? In a post about the Chapter 11 process, 23andMe said its users' privacy and data are important considerations in any transaction and that any buyer will be required to comply with applicable laws when it comes to how it treats customer data. But experts note that laws have limits. For one, the U.S. has no federal privacy law and only about 20 states do. There are also security concerns. For instance, the turmoil of bankruptcy and related job cuts could leave fewer employees to protect customers' data against hackers. It wouldn't be the first time — a 2023 data breach exposed the genetic data of nearly 7 million customers at 23andMe, which later agreed to pay $30 million in cash to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to protect customers whose personal information was exposed. Experts note that DNA data is particularly sensitive — and thus valuable. 'At a fundamental biological level, this is you and only you,' said David Choffnes, a computer science professor at Northeastern University and executive director of its Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. 'If you have an email address that gets compromised, you can find another email provider and start using a new email address. And you're pretty much able to move on with your life without problem. And you just can't do that with your genetic code.' 23andMe says it does not share information with health insurance companies, employers or public databases without users' consent and with law enforcement only if required by a valid legal process, such as a subpoena. Choffnes said while that's good, it's a fairly narrow set of categories. 'There's still other things that they are allowed to do with that data, including, as they mentioned, provide cross context, behavioral or targeted advertising,' he said. 'So, you know, in a sense, even if they aren't sending your personal data to an advertiser, there's a long line of research that identifies how third parties can re-identify you from de-identified data by looking for patterns in it. And so if they're targeting you with advertisements, for example, based on some information that they have about your genetic data, there's probably a way that other parties could piece together other information they have access to.' How can I delete my data from 23andMe? California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an urgent consumer alert before 23andMe filed for bankruptcy — noting the company's financial distress and reminding people they have the right to have their data deleted. If you have a 23andMe account, you can delete your data by logging in and going to 'settings' and scrolling to a section called '23andMe Data' at the bottom of the page. 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Walmart taps Mastercard, Synchrony for new cards
Walmart taps Mastercard, Synchrony for new cards

Yahoo

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Walmart taps Mastercard, Synchrony for new cards

This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. OnePay, a digital financial services venture majority owned by Walmart, is collaborating with Synchrony and Mastercard to issue new credit cards for the retail behemoth, according to a Monday press release. The digital financial services entity, which is also backed by Ribbit Capital, will work with the card issuer and the network to launch general purpose and private label credit cards this fall, per the release. 'The credit card functionality will be embedded inside the OnePay app,' the release said, referencing the functionality of the new card to be issued by Synchrony, with processing by Mastercard. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart has long been seeking ways to reduce the costs that it incurs when consumers use card payments across its chain of stores. Banks that issue credit cards and the networks that process payments charge merchants fees every time a card is swiped. The retailer has been working with the venture capital firm Ribbit since at least 2021 to develop new ways for customers to pay. OnePay already offers a digital wallet as well as banking, financing and peer-to-peer payments services. Walmart added new payment options in recent years as it seeks to become a destination for financial services and as a bevy of financial technology companies scramble to profit from new payment channels across an increasingly digitized payments ecosystem. Early in the development of OnePay, Ribbit poached two top executives — Omer Ismail and David Stark — from Goldman Sachs's consumer bank, Marcus. 'Our goal with this credit card program is to deliver an experience for consumers that's transparent, rewarding, and easy to use,' Ismail, the CEO of OnePay, said in the release. Mastercard is the second-largest U.S. network behind rival Visa. Synchrony has long issued white label cards for retailers and has often worked with consumers that have below prime credit histories. Recommended Reading Walmart drives toward instant payments Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

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