A European initiative will see a quantum light source travel around Europe to 12 top laboratories in the space of a year.

Read more: Quantum on tour: Cutting-edge light source arrives in Cork

Iona Drones hopes to be up and running in Ireland by late 2025, according to founder and CEO Etienne Louvet.

Read more: Rural Ireland might get drone deliveries by next year

The Microsoft-owned platform is going multimodel for its Copilot code completion and programming tool.

Read more: GitHub Copilot brings in AI models from OpenAI rivals

With more than 40 years in the tech industry, former IBM quantum leader Bob Sutor discusses the inflection point we’re now at with the emerging technology.

Read more: How do we get to the next frontier of quantum computing?

People have long dreamed of self-driving cars and humanoid robots, but the revolution has been slow. Why is that? Founder of robotic therapy equipment start-up RoboSculptor, Dennis Ledenkof talks about factors that hinder the development of robotics.

Read more: 5 challenges for robotic development

ChatGPT Plus and Team users will have access to the function from today, while free users will gain access in the coming months.

Read more: OpenAI adds search engine to ChatGPT

Robot developers keep making it seem like housebots are imminent when they’re decades away, argue Dr Carl Strathearn and Dr Dimitra Gkatzia from Edinburgh Napier University.

Read more: How soon will robots be doing our household chores?

The announcement from Perplexity comes ahead of this year’s highly contentious US presidential election.

Read more: AI start-up launches election hub for US voters

The energy company said that the project has the potential to power 115,000 Irish homes for up to two hours at a time.

Read more: SSE Renewables to develop battery storage site in Offaly

A number of new measures have been announced as part of Ireland’s national AI strategy, including expanded upskilling initiatives.

Read more: Irish Government unveils ‘refreshed’ national AI strategy

The judge ruled in favour of OpenAI stating that the outlets were unable to prove 'concrete injury'.

Read more: News outlets lose copyright lawsuit against OpenAI

According to the start-up, the moderation API can be tailored to specific applications and safety standards.

Read more: Mistral AI launches new API for content moderation

The aim of the project is to develop and test AI tools to boost the efficiency and sustainability of Europe's energy sector.

Read more: Dublin’s EPRI leads European project to advance AI use in the energy sector

The piece draws 'heavily' from Pablo Picasso, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, according to art broker Sotheby's.

Read more: AI artwork made by robot Ai-Da sells for more than $1m

The funding is part of a total of €380m and falls under the Chips Joint Undertaking.

Read more: EU invests €133m in Dutch photonic chip plants

The team will work with CKDelta to deliver predictive maintenance models that could improve efficiency.

Read more: Trinity researchers will use AI to tackle utilities sector challenges

People think AI can solve problems instantly, says SETU’s Dr Indrakshi Dey, but the reality is much more complex.

Read more: ‘AI can only solve real-world problems with the right data’

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Anton Shilov reports via Tom's Hardware: FFmpeg is an open-source video decoding project developed by volunteers who contribute to its codebase, fix bugs, and add new features. The project is led by a small group of core developers and maintainers who oversee its direction and ensure that contributions meet certain standards. They coordinate the project's development and release cycles, merging contributions from other developers. This group of developers tried to implement a handwritten AVX512 assembly code path, something that has rarely been done before, at least not in the video industry. The developers have created an optimized code path using the AVX-512 instruction set to accelerate specific functions within the FFmpeg multimedia processing library. By leveraging AVX-512, they were able to achieve significant performance improvements -- from three to 94 times faster -- compared to standard implementations. AVX-512 enables processing large chunks of data in parallel using 512-bit registers, which can handle up to 16 single-precision FLOPS or 8 double-precision FLOPS in one operation. This optimization is ideal for compute-heavy tasks in general, but in the case of video and image processing in particular. The benchmarking results show that the new handwritten AVX-512 code path performs considerably faster than other implementations, including baseline C code and lower SIMD instruction sets like AVX2 and SSSE3. In some cases, the revamped AVX-512 codepath achieves a speedup of nearly 94 times over the baseline, highlighting the efficiency of hand-optimized assembly code for AVX-512.

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Apple released the first beta of visionOS 2.2, introducing new "Wide" and "Ultrawide" modes for the Mac Virtual Display feature on the Vision Pro headset. MacRumors reports: Apple has previously said the ultra-wide version of Mac Virtual Display is equivalent to having two physical 4K displays sitting side by side on a desk. Mac Virtual Display is now available in three sizes: Normal, Wide, and Ultrawide. visionOS 2.2 will likely be released to the public in December alongside iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, macOS Sequoia 15.2, watchOS 11.2, tvOS 18.2, and other updates. Further reading: Apple Delays Cut-price Vision Headset Until 2027, Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo Says

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Sweden has vetoed plans for 13 offshore windfarms in the Baltic Sea, citing unacceptable security risks. The country's defence minister, Pal Jonson, said on Monday that the government had rejected plans for all but one of 14 windfarms planned along the east coast. The decision comes after the Swedish armed forces concluded last week that the projects would make it more difficult to defend Nato's newest member. The proposed windfarms would have been located between Aland, the autonomous Finnish region between Sweden and Finland, and the Sound, the strait between southern Sweden and Denmark. The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is only about 310 miles (500km) from Stockholm. Wind power could affect Sweden's defence capabilities across sensors and radars and make it harder to detect submarines and possible attacks from the air if war broke out, Jonson said. The only project to receive the green light to was Poseidon, which will include as many as 81 wind turbines to produce 5.5 terawatt hours a year off Stenungsund on Sweden's west coast. "Both ballistic robots and also cruise robots are a big problem if you have offshore wind power," Jonson said. "If you have a strong signal detection capability and a radar system that is important, we use the Patriot system for example, there would be negative consequences if there were offshore wind power in the way of the sensors."

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) blocked Amazon's bid to access more power from the Susquehanna nuclear plant for its Pennsylvania data center, citing grid reliability and consumer cost concerns. The Hill reports: In a 2-1 decision, the FERC found the regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection, failed to prove that the changes to the transmission agreement with Susquehanna power plant were necessary. The regulator's two Republican commissioners, Mark Christie and Lindsay See, outvoted Democratic chair Willie Phillips. The chair's two fellow Democratic commissioners, David Rosner and Judy Chang, sat out the vote. "Co-location arrangements of the type presented here present an array of complicated, nuanced and multifaceted issues, which collectively could have huge ramifications for both grid reliability and consumer costs," Christie wrote in a concurring statement. In a dissenting statement, Phillips argued the deal with Amazon "represents a 'first of its kind' co-located load configuration" and that Friday's decision is a "step backward for both electric reliability and national security." "We are on the cusp of a new phase in the energy transition, one that is characterized as much by soaring energy demand, due in large part to AI, as it is by rapid changes in the resource mix," Phillips wrote. Amazon purchased a 960-megawatt data center next to the Susquehanna power plant for $650 million earlier this year. Following the announcement, PJM sought to increase the amount of power running directly to the co-located data center. However, the move faced pushback from regional utilities, including Exelon and American Electric Power (AEP).

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Tucked inside a 32-page earnings report, oil and gas giant BP revealed it was killing 18 early-stage hydrogen projects, a move that could have a chilling effect on the nascent hydrogen industry. The decision, along with the sale of the company's U.S. on-shore wind power operations, will save BP $200 million annually and help boost its bottom line. The hydrogen industry, which has relied on oil and gas companies both financially and through lobbying efforts, is preparing for a grimmer outcome. BP has been a supporter of hydrogen. The company's venture capital arm has invested in several green hydrogen startups, including Electric Hydrogen and Advanced Ionics. Earlier this year, BP said it would develop "more than 10" hydrogen projects in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Now, BP is scaling back those plans, saying it'll develop between five and ten projects. The company is keeping quiet about which ones will receive the green light.

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"AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D debuts with impressive performance gains, powered by advanced 3D V-Cache technology and improved thermal efficiency," writes Slashdot reader jjslash. "While the CPU shines as a top choice right out of the gate, AMD's history of quick price cuts suggests waiting could yield even better value for savvy buyers." TechSpot reports: Today we're finally able to show you how AMD's new Ryzen 7 9800X3D performs, and spoiler alert -- it's a real weapon that solves the issues we encountered with the non-3D Zen 5 chips before this. Without question, this is the best CPU released since the 7800X3D, making this launch particularly exciting. [...] For now, the 9800X3D is mighty impressive, the undisputed king of gaming, and it marks a historic milestone. We don't think AMD has ever been this dominant over Intel, certainly not in the last 15 years.

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According to a partial teardown video of Apple's new Mac mini, the new machine features modular storage that can be removed. "As we saw with the Mac Studio, however, replacing the modular storage is complicated," notes MacRumors. The teardown also reveals two 128GB storage chips in the 256GB model, enabling faster SSD speeds comparable to higher-capacity versions. From the report: The criticism surrounding Apple's decision to use a single 256GB chip in some base-model Macs a few years ago primarily came from a vocal contingent of tech enthusiasts, and the average customer is unlikely to even notice the slower speeds in common day-to-day tasks. Nevertheless, it appears that customers who do want the fastest SSD speeds do not need to worry about which storage capacity they choose when ordering the new Mac mini.

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Starting November 11, TSMC plans to stop supplying 7 nm and smaller chips to Chinese companies working on AI processors and GPUs. "The move is reportedly to ensure it remains compliant with US export restrictions," reports The Register. From the report: This will not affect Chinese customers wanting 7 nm chips from TSMC for other applications such as mobile and communications, according to Nikkei, which said the overall impact on the chipmaker's revenue is likely to be minimal. TrendForce further cites another China-based source who claims the move was at the behest of the US Department of Commerce, which informed TSMC that any such shipments should not proceed unless approved and licensed by its BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security). We asked the agency for confirmation. Any moves by the silicon supremo is likely to be out of caution to pre-empt accusations from Washington that it isn't doing enough to prevent advanced technology from getting into the hands of Chinese entities that have been sanctioned. As TrendForce notes, it "highlights the foundry giant's delicate position in the global semiconductor supply chain amid the heating chip war between the world's two superpowers."

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After missing a chance to capitalize on the AI boom, "Samsung's profit has plunged," reports CNBC, and "around $126 billion has been wiped off its market value, according to data from S&P Capital IQ." It's gotten so bad that "an executive issued a rare public apology about the company's recent financial performance." [A]s AI applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT rose in popularity, the underlying infrastructure required to train the huge models they rely on became a bigger focus. Nvidia has emerged as the top player in this space with its graphics processing units (GPUs) that have become the gold standard used by tech giants for AI training. A crucial part of that semiconductor architecture is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM. This next generation of memory involves stacking multiple dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, but it had a small market before the AI boom. That's where Samsung got caught out and failed to invest... SK Hynix saw this opportunity. The company aggressively launched HBM chips which were approved for use in Nvidia architecture and, in the process, the South Korean firm established a close relationship with the U.S. giant. Nvidia's CEO even asked the company to speed up supply of its next generation chip, underscoring the importance of HBM to its products. SK Hynix posted record quarterly operating profit in the September quarter... Analysts said that Samsung is lagging behind competitors for a number of reasons, including underinvestment in HBM and the fact that it is not a first-mover. "It is fair to say that Samsung has not been able to close the gap with SK Hynix on the HBM development roadmap," said Kazunori Ito [director of equity research at Morningstar]. Samsung's ability to make a comeback in the short term appears to be closely linked to Nvidia. A company must pass a strict qualification process before Nvidia approves it as a HBM supplier — and Samsung has not yet completed this verification. But a green light from Nvidia could open the door for Samsung to return to growth and compete more effectively with SK Hynix, according to analysts.

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Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper than lithium-ion batteries — and they're also more environmentally friendly. And "In the past few years, sodium-ion battery production has increased in the United States," reports the Washington Post, with a new factory planned to manufacture them "in the same way as lithium-ion batteries, just with different ingredients. Instead of using expensive materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt, these will be made of sodium, iron and manganese..." Last month, sodium-ion battery manufacturer Natron Energy announced it would open a "gigafactory" in North Carolina that would produce 24 gigawatt hours of batteries annually, enough energy to charge 24,000 electric vehicles. But sodium-ion batteries are still early in their development compared with lithium-ion, and they have yet to hit the market on a massive scale. "It's unlikely sodium-ion could displace lithium-ion anytime soon," said Keith Beers, polymer science and materials chemistry principal engineer at technical consultancy firm Exponent... The biggest limitation of sodium-ion batteries is their weight. Sodium weighs nearly three times as much as lithium, and it cannot store the same amount of energy. As a result, sodium-ion batteries tend to be larger. Jens Peters, an economics professor at the University of Alcalá in Madrid, said the energy density could be improved over time in sodium-ion batteries. But, he added, "what we found out so far in our assessments is that it is not a game changer." Sodium-ion batteries are touted to be the environmentally friendly alternative to their lithium-ion counterparts, thanks to their raw materials. Sodium, iron and manganese are all abundant elements on the planet, so they require less energy to extract and cost less... Sodium-ion batteries also last longer than lithium-ion ones because they can withstand more charge cycles, said Wendell Brooks, co-CEO of Natron Energy. "Our product can have millions of cycles," said Brooks, "where lithium-ion would have three to five thousand cycles and wear out a lot faster...." Sodium-ion batteries aren't the best fit for smartphones or electric vehicles, which need to store lots of energy. However, one advantage is their low cost. And they could be a good candidate in situations where the size of the battery isn't a concern, like energy storage. "When something is built out to support grid or backup storage, it doesn't need to be very dense. It's staying put," Beers said. Natron will invest nearly $1.4 billion in the factory "to meet the rapidly expanding demand for critical power, industrial and grid energy storage solutions," according to their announcement. "Natron's high-performance sodium-ion batteries outperform lithium-ion batteries in power density and recharging speed, do not require lithium, cobalt, copper, or nickel, and are non-flammable... Natron's batteries are the only UL-listed sodium-ion batteries on the market today, and will be delivered to a wide range of customer end markets in the industrial power space, including data centers, mobility, EV fast charging, microgrids, and telecom, among others."

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Wednesday Cuba was hit by a major hurricane which took down its entire power grid again, this time for about 24 hours, according to CNN: Videos of the aftermath showed power infrastructure turned into a mangled mess and power poles down on streets. Hundreds of technicians were mobilized Thursday to reestablish power connections, according to state media... Operations at two electrical plants were partially restored and parts of eastern and central Cuba had electricity back up by Thursday afternoon, state media reported... The country's power grid has collapsed multiple times, including when Hurricane Oscar hit in October and killed at least 7 people. In the capital of Havana, where 2 million people live, power had been restored to less than 20% of the city by late Friday afternoon, . "Authorities had not yet given an estimate for when power would be fully restored..." Then tonight, CNN reported: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Cuba on Sunday, causing material damage in several regions as the island continues to recover from widespread blackouts and the impact of two hurricanes over the past few weeks. The earthquake was reported about 39 km (24 miles) south of Bartolomé Masó before noon local time, about an hour after a 5.9 magnitude quake rocked the area, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. "There have been landslides, damage to homes and power lines," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said, adding that authorities are evaluating the situation to start recovery efforts.

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Renew Home says they're building a "virtual power plant" in Texas by "enabling homes to easily reduce and shift the timing of energy use." Thursday they announced a 10-year project distributing hundreds of thousands of smart thermostats to customers of Texas-based power utility NRG Energy, starting next spring. (Bloomberg calls them "AI-enabled thermostats that use Alphabet Inc.'s Google Cloud technology.") The ultimate goal? "Create a nearly 1-gigawatt, AI-powered virtual power plant" — equivalent to 1.9 million solar panels, enough to power about 200,000 homes during peak demand. One NRG executive touted the move as "cutting-edge, AI-driven solutions that will bolster grid resilience and contribute to a more sustainable future." [Residential virtual power plants] work by aggregating numerous, small-scale distributed energy resources like HVAC systems controlled by smart thermostats and home batteries and coordinating them to balance supply and demand... NRG, in partnership with Renew Home, plans to offer Vivint and Nest smart thermostats, including professional installation, at no cost to eligible customers across NRG's retail electricity providers and plans. These advanced thermostats make subtle automatic HVAC adjustments to help customers shift their energy use to times when electricity is less constrained, less expensive, and cleaner... Over time, the parties expect to add devices like batteries and electric vehicles to the virtual power plant, expanding energy savings opportunities for customers... Through the use of Google Cloud's data, analytics, and AI technology, NRG will be able to do things like better predict weather conditions, forecast wind and solar generation output, and create predictive pricing models, allowing for more efficient production and ultimately ensuring the home energy experience is seamless for customers. Google Cloud will also offer "its AI and machine learning to determine the best time to cool or heat homes," reports Bloomberg, "based on a household's energy usage patterns and ambient temperatures." It was less than a year ago that Renew Home was formed when Google spun off the load-shifting service for its "Google Nest" thermostats, which merged with load-shift management startup OhmConnect. Bloomberg describes this week's announcement as "Three of the biggest names in US home energy automation... coming together to offer some relief to the beleaguered Texas electrical grid." But they point out that 1 gigawatt is roughly 1% of the record summer demand seen in Texas this year. Still, "The entire industry has been built to serve the peak load on the hottest day of the year," said Rasesh Patel, president of NRG's consumer unit. "This allows us to be a lot more smarter about demand in shaving the peak."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: LG Display, one of the global leaders in display technologies, unveiled a new stretchable display prototype that can expand by up to 50%. This makes it the most stretchable display in the industry, more than doubling the previous record of 20% elongation. [...] The prototype being flexed in [this image] is a 12-inch screen with a 100-pixel-per-inch resolution and full RGB color that expands to 18-inches when pulled. LG Display said that it based the stretchable display on a "special silicon material substrate used in contact lenses" and then improved its properties for better "stretchability and flexibility." It also used a new wiring design structure and a micro-LED light source, allowing users to repeatedly stretch the screen over 10,000 times with no effect on image quality.

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The pilot programme funding marks the largest single investment in lung cancer in Ireland’s history.

Read more: Lung cancer research gets €4.9m boost for early detection

Projects funded include a study to reduce seizures in epilepsy, the development of antimicrobial food packaging and the use of AI in speech and language therapy.

Read more: 290 ‘exceptional’ early-career researchers awarded €27.5m

It is estimated that 10 to 28pc of reproductive-aged women complain of persistent pain during intercourse.

Read more: Digital health platform to give support for genito-pelvic pain issues

Julius Ceaser once called the aurochs 'extraordinary'. Now ancient DNA is unlocking secrets of this mysterious beast.

Read more: Trinity scientists find surprising genetic diversity in early cows

Smart energy communities could be a ‘game-changer’ in the transition to renewables, says SETU’s Sean Lyons.

Read more: Why small energy parks are a smart piece of the clean-energy puzzle

MRSA is an antibiotic resistant superbug that causes 120,000 deaths annually.

Read more: UCD research offers potential for new ways to fight MRSA superbug

Marine Institute’s Dr Niall McDonough talks about the upcoming Ocean Knowledge 2030 Conference and a new national marine strategy.

Read more: Why knowledge is vital for securing Ireland’s ocean economy

‘For young people to thrive, they need strong ties to their community and easy access to mental health services,’ says NCI’s Dr April Hargreaves.

Read more: How this neuropsychologist is tackling the loneliness epidemic

This year's grant winners represent the highest proportion of women since the scheme began.

Read more: Trinity and UCD among 57 teams to win €571m in ERC Synergy Grants

UCD's Prof Kate Robson Brown leads the development of analytical models that predict the lifetime of composites in low-Earth orbit.

Read more: UCD professor part of team developing new space materials

The findings open the door for new microbial-based therapy for anxiety and depression, according to UCC.

Read more: Gut bacteria affects stress response, UCC scientists find

Black holes form when a star dies, or do they? Cosmologist Dr Syksy Räsänen says solving fundamental questions about the universe helps us better understand our own place in it.

Read more: Can studying the ‘inhuman universe’ make us more humane?

The largest number of doses (85pc of the allocation) will go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicentre of the current outbreak.

Read more: WHO announces 899,000 mpox vaccines for nine African nations most affected

Led by Prof Breandán Kennedy, the research project will bring together 21 institutions from 11 countries.

Read more: UCD-led EU project aims to revolutionise biomedical research

The mission includes studies of solar wind, a radiation-tolerant moss, spacecraft materials, and a cold-welding experiment for space applications.

Read more: SETU researchers contribute to NASA space mission

The global average temperature this past year was 1.62 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

Read more: 2024 on track to become the warmest year on record

The project was described by judges as a 'creative and inspiring submission that will spark curiosity in space exploration'.

Read more: ‘Runtime Terror’ wins Dublin’s NASA Space Apps Challenge

To celebrate Science Week, we’ve put together a bumper list of 25 scientists based in Ireland who are innovating across STEM.

Read more: 25 scientists you need to know about