Latest news with #nanotechnology
Globe and Mail
16-07-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
NVE Schedules Conference Call on First Quarter Results
NVE Corporation (Nasdaq: NVEC) announced that it plans to release its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 after the close of the Nasdaq Regular Market. The company will hold its quarterly conference call later that day at 4:00 p.m. Central Time. The quarterly call will be webcast live in a listen-only mode through the Investor Events page of NVE's Website ( An archive of the call will also be available on NVE's Website. To dial into the conference call, parties should call 855-552-4463 inside the United States, or 312-479-9427 and enter Meeting ID 7749 14 3539. Parties may request to ask questions on the call by dialing in or logging into NVE is a leader in the practical commercialization of spintronics, a nanotechnology that relies on electron spin rather than electron charge to acquire, store, and transmit information. The company manufactures high-performance spintronic products including sensors and couplers that are used to acquire and transmit data. Statements we use that relate to future plans, events, financial results or performance are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties including, among others, the risk factors listed from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025.
Geek Tyrant
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Martin Freeman and Iain Armitage to Star in Psychological Thriller THE ADAM TRIALS — GeekTyrant
Martin Freeman ( The Hobbit ) and Iain Armitage ( Young Sheldon ) have signed on to star in The Adam Trials , a psychological thriller with a sci-fi twist from writer-director Ben Ketai (2023's River Wild ). The film tells the story of two parents who will do anything to save the life of their terminally ill son, employing experimental nanotechnology that starts to show signs of success but at a dark cost. Denis O'Sullivan ( Bohemian Rhapsody ) and Jeff Kalligheri ( I Wanna Dance with Somebody ), will produce the picture and co-finance. Freeman will exec produce alongside Noah Rosen, Dennis Casali, Matthew Gallagher, and Steven Garcia. Casting for the female lead is underway, the aim being to shoot later this year. A BAFTA, Emmy, and SAG Award winner, Freeman has most recently been seen starring in series like BBC One's The Responder and FX's comedy Breeders . Upcoming, he has Netflix's Agatha Christie series The Seven Dials Mystery and the dramedy Let's Love , among other projects. Best known for starring in CBS' Big Bang Theory prequel Young Sheldon , which finished its seven-season run last year, Armitage's other credits include Big Little Lies, Destin Daniel Cretton's The Glass Castle , and PAW Patrol: The Movie . via: Deadline
Fast Company
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
How AI is advancing even faster than sci-fi visionaries imagined
Every time I read about another advance in AI technology, I feel like another figment of science fiction moves closer to reality. Lately, I've been noticing eerie parallels to Neal Stephenson's 1995 novel The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. The Diamond Age depicted a post-cyberpunk sectarian future, in which society is fragmented into tribes, called phyles. In this future world, sophisticated nanotechnology is ubiquitous, and a new type of AI is introduced. Though inspired by MIT nanotech pioneer Eric Drexler and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, the advanced nanotechnology depicted in the novel still remains out of reach. However, the AI that's portrayed, particularly a teaching device called the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, isn't only right in front of us; it also raises serious issues about the role of AI in labor, learning and human behavior. In Stephenson's novel, the Primer looks like a hardcover book, but each of its 'pages' is really a screen display that can show animations and text, and it responds to its user in real time via AI. The book also has an audio component, which voices the characters and narrates stories being told by the device. It was originally created for the young daughter of an aristocrat, but it accidentally falls into the hands of a girl named Nell who's living on the streets of a futuristic Shanghai. The Primer provides Nell personalized emotional, social and intellectual support during her journey to adulthood, serving alternatively as an AI companion, a storyteller, a teacher and a surrogate parent. The AI is able to weave fairy tales that help a younger Nell cope with past traumas, such as her abusive home and life on the streets. It educates her on everything from math to cryptography to martial arts. In a techno-futuristic homage to George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, the Primer goes so far as to teach Nell the proper social etiquette to be able to blend into neo-Victorian society, one of the prominent tribes in Stephenson's balkanized world. No need for 'ractors' Three recent developments in AI—in video games, wearable technology and education—reveal that building something like the Primer should no longer be considered the purview of science fiction. In May 2025, the hit video game Fortnite introduced an AI version of Darth Vader, who speaks with the voice of the late James Earl Jones. While it was popular among fans of the game, the Screen Actors Guild lodged a labor complaint with Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite. Even though Epic had received permission from the late actor's estate, the Screen Actors Guild pointed out that actors could have been hired to voice the character, and the company—in refusing to alert the union and negotiate terms— violated existing labor agreements. In The Diamond Age, while the Primer uses AI to generate the fairy tales that train Nell, for the voices of these archetypal characters, Stephenson concocted a low-tech solution: The characters are played by a network of what he termed 'ractors'—real actors working in a studio who are contracted to perform and interact in real time with users. The Darth Vader Fortnite character shows that a Primer built today wouldn't need to use actors at all. It could rely almost entirely on AI voice generation and have real-time conversations, showing that today's technology already exceeds Stephenson's normally far-sighted vision. Recording and guiding in real time Synthesizing James Earl Jones' voice in Fortnite wasn't the only recent AI development heralding the arrival of Primer-like technology. I recently witnessed a demonstration of wearable AI that records all of the wearer's conversations. Their words are then sent to a server so they can be analyzed by AI, providing both summaries and suggestions to the user about future behavior. Several startups are making these 'always on' AI wearables. In an April 29, 2025, essay titled 'I Recorded Everything I Said for Three Months. AI Has Replaced My Memory,' Wall Street Journal technology columnist Joanna Stern describes the experience of using this technology. She concedes that the assistants created useful summaries of her conversations and meetings, along with helpful to-do lists. However, they also recalled 'every dumb, private and cringeworthy thing that came out of my mouth.' These devices also create privacy issues. The people whom the user interacts with don't always know they are being recorded, even as their words are also sent to a server for the AI to process them. To Stern, the technology's potential for mass surveillance becomes readily apparent, presenting a 'slightly terrifying glimpse of the future.' Relying on AI engines such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Google's Gemini, the wearables work only with words, not images. Behavioral suggestions occur only after the fact. However, a key function of the Primer—coaching users in real time in the middle of any situation or social interaction—is the next logical step as the technology advances. Education or social engineering? In The Diamond Age, the Primer doesn't simply weave interactive fairy tales for Nell. It also assumes the responsibility of educating her on everything from her ABCs when younger to the intricacies of cryptography and politics as she gets older. It's no secret that AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are now being widely used by both teachers and students. Several recent studies have shown that AI may be more effective than humans at teaching computer science. One survey found that 85% of students said ChatGPT was more effective than a human tutor. And at least one college, Morehouse College in Atlanta, is introducing an AI teaching assistant for professors. There are certainly advantages to AI tutors: Tutoring and college tuition can be exorbitantly expensive, and the technology can offer better access to education to people of all income levels. Pulling together these latest AI advances—interactive avatars, behavioral guides, tutors—it's easy to envision how an AI device like the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer could be created in the near future. A young person might have a personalized AI character that accompanies them at all times. It can teach them about the world and offer up suggestions for how to act in certain situations. The AI could be tailored to a child's personality, concocting stories that include AI versions of their favorite TV and movie characters. But The Diamond Age offers a warning, too. Toward the end of the novel, a version of the Primer is handed out to hundreds of thousands of young Chinese girls who, like Nell, didn't have access to education or mentors. This leads to the education of the masses. But it also opens the door to large-scale social engineering, creating an army of Primer-raised martial arts experts, whom the AI then directs to act on behalf of 'Princess Nell,' Nell's fairy tale name. It's easy to see how this sort of large-scale social engineering could be used to target certain ideologies, crush dissent or build loyalty to a particular regime. The AI's behavior could also be subject to the whims of the companies or individuals that created it. A ubiquitous, always-on, friendly AI could become the ultimate monitoring and reporting device. Think of a kinder, gentler face for Big Brother that people have trusted since childhood.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mars: Dust Fountains and the Future of Space Colonization
The Brief UCF physicist Dr. Ramses Ramirez has a plan to warm Mars using nanotechnology and "dust fountains" to make future colonization more feasible. Colonizing Mars could unlock valuable mining resources, including Helium-3 and rare metals, while preparing us to venture deeper into space. Ramirez believes warming parts of Mars could enable plant growth, aid space tourism, and set the stage for interstellar exploration. TAMPA - As NASA and SpaceX plan future missions to Mars, scientists like Dr. Ramses Ramirez are looking beyond the first landing. Getting to Mars takes months, and astronauts would likely need to stay several months or more than a year before returning. While risky and politically complex, the potential payoffs go beyond the search for life. "There's a lot of mining materials there. We also have close proximity from Mars to the asteroid belt," said Dr. Ramirez. From rare Earth metals to Helium-3, Mars could hold resources that revolutionize energy and industry back on Earth. Helium-3, a rare isotope already found on the Moon, could power the planet for generations using fusion energy. Dr. Ramirez believes Mars—and its proximity to the outer planets—could be key to accessing even larger reserves. "If we are able to mine the Helium-3 resource, we have enough energy to power the world for a century or something like that," he said. Dr. Ramirez has developed a unique plan: engineer dust fountains to help terraform the planet. Here's how it works: Martian soil would be sucked into a machine and reformed into cylindrical nanorods (much smaller than glitter). These nanorods would be sprayed into the lower atmosphere like a fountain. As they interact with solar radiation, they would trap heat near the surface, acting like a localized thermal blanket. "So, you warm the planet," said Dr. Ramirez. "You can really intensify and create a greenhouse effect on a local area." The idea is to gradually warm small patches of Mars to about 30°F—still cold, but a step toward growing plants, enriching soil, and producing breathable air. Radiation exposure is a concern, but Ramirez believes the risks are manageable. "Your chance of cancer only goes up a couple percent if you stay a year on Mars," he said. "With shielding, you can minimize those risks even further." In his view, Mars could become a "second Earth," opening the door for space tourism and even permanent settlements. Ramirez believes Mars is just the beginning. With the rise of artificial intelligence and quantum computing, our capabilities could leap forward within two decades. "By the time we colonize Mars, we could very well have the technology to go on to other star systems," he said. Programs like "Breakthrough Starshot," supported by the late Stephen Hawking, are already working on probes capable of reaching Alpha Centauri—our nearest star system—at 100 million miles per hour. READ: Amazon's Project Kuiper launches first full batch of satellites from Florida What's next On Wednesday night, "Breakthroughs in Science" will explore the next step in space infrastructure: how Florida scientists are designing roads and buildings for the Moon. It will air at 10 p.m. on Wednesday. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The Source This report is based on original interviews with UCF Physics Professor Dr. Ramses Ramirez, NASA documents, and scientific analysis related to terraforming and deep space exploration.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The CEO building the 'Ikea of factories' wants to democratize semiconductor production
New York-based Nanotronics builds compact, modular semiconductor plants called "Cubefabs." Its goal is to improve chip-making to be more time and cost-efficient, enabling factories to run with fewer workers. "The vision is that any region — whether in the Global South or the United States — should be able to produce what it needs locally," CEO Matthew Putman told BI. In his 1986 book "Engines of Creation," engineer K. Eric Drexler — often called the godfather of nanotechnology — made a prediction. "The coming era of molecular machines will mean the end of many limits: the limit of scarcity, the limit of slow development, the limit of ignorance enforced by the lack of tools," he wrote. Reading those words a few years later, when he was 16, Matthew Putman started thinking. "Our bodies work as these little micro-machines where you have ribosomes and enzymes and things that are working and replicating and making things all the time, but our factories work the way that they've worked for the last hundred years," Putman told Business Insider he thought at the time. He wondered how a world would look "where you don't have large assembly lines, you don't have smokestacks, you instead just make things so perfectly," he said. Putman became fascinated by the possibilities of machines that are "atomically precise." It wasn't until the recent AI boom, however, that the idea really took off with fabrication plants. Putman, now 50, is the CEO of Brooklyn-based Nanotronics, which he cofounded with his father in 2010. The company started out building microscopes and tools to detect defects in semiconductors, among other materials. Now, it builds small, modular semiconductor manufacturing plants called Cubefabs. While the biggest fabs in the country are often millions of square feet in size, Cubefabs measure anywhere from 25,000 square feet for the smallest units up to about 60,000 square feet for a full-sized fab. They're adaptable, and the company says they can be assembled in under a year in most places on Earth. They're also smart — thanks to the power of AI — so they can self-monitor their production and improve in real time, the company said. And they're relatively cheap, costing a minimum of $30 to $40 million, compared to large fabs that can cost billions to build. With President Donald Trump back in the White House and pledging to reinvigorate US manufacturing, a new opening has emerged for Nanotronics — even as sweeping tariffs challenge companies that produce or depend on semiconductors. Putman says that in the long term, the tariffs will bolster domestic innovation. Tariffs "should be a wake-up call — a push to create something better than what either the US or China has done before," he told BI in a video interview from the Nanotronics headquarters in Brooklyn Navy Yard. "If we get this right, American innovation won't just protect our future — it could help redefine global progress in a way that benefits humanity." Putman says compact, modular factories are exactly that. "Your factory should be incredibly small," Putman said, gesturing to the room behind him. "Eventually, it could be the size of this room." Semiconductor manufacturing has surged since the launch of ChatGPT. Global annual revenue for the industry is expected to reach more than $1 trillion by 2030, according to McKinsey & Company. In the US, despite legislation subsidizing domestic semiconductor production, fabs are more expensive to construct and maintain than those built in places like mainland China and Taiwan, McKinsey says. The US also suffers from a shortage of qualified labor, which can delay construction timelines, according to the firm. To attempt to solve some of these issues, Nanotronics teamed up with architecture firm Rogers Partners and engineering firm Arup to design compact factories. Each one runs with 37 people, but Putman says the ideal setup is four factories — about 180 workers total — which allows them to scale up without halting production. "It's like the Ikea of factories," Putman said. The company has raised $182 million to date from firms including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. Cubefabs can be used to produce chips that span a range of uses across electronics applications, electric vehicles, and photodetectors for cube satellites, Putman said. "The more precise we make things, the more abundance we bring to the world," he said. "The business of making things grow bigger and bigger starts small — molecular small." Building on the foundational research of scientist Philippe Bove — now chief scientist at Nanotronics — the company also uses gallium oxide — a type of semiconductor that can handle more power than traditional materials like silicon — to produce advanced chips. The company plans to have its first installation set up in New York within the next 18 months. "These fabs do not require billions in capital expenditure or large populations of highly trained workers," Putman told BI in a follow-up email. "The vision is that any region — whether in the Global South or the United States — should be able to produce what it needs locally." Read the original article on Business Insider 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
