Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150643
Samuel K. Moore
In July, a University of Michigan computer engineering professor put out a new idea for measuring the efficiency of a processor design. Todd Austin's LEAN metric received both praise and skepticism, but even the critics understood the rationale: A lot of silicon is devoted to things that are not actually doing computing. For example, more than 95 percent of an Nvidia Blackwell GPU is designated for other tasks, Austin told IEEE Spectrum. It's not like these parts aren't doing important things, such as choosing the next instruction to execute, but Austin believes processor architectures can and should move toward designs that maximize computing and minimize everything else.
今年7月，密歇根大学（University of Michigan）的一位计算机工程教授提出了一种衡量处理器设计效率的新方法。Todd Austin的精益度量标准既受到赞扬，也受到质疑，但即使是批评者也理解其基本原理：许多硅片被用于实际不做计算的事情。例如，超过95%的Nvidia Blackwell GPU被指定用于其他任务，Austin告诉IEEE Spectrum。这并不是说这些部件不做重要的事情，比如选择要执行的下一条指令，但是Austin认为处理器体系结构可以而且应该朝着最大化计算和最小化其他一切的设计方向发展。
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Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150669
Lucas Laursen
Under the shade of a cocoa tree, outside the hamlet of Atan, in southwest Nigeria, Bolaji Adeniyi holds court in a tie-dyed T-shirt. “In Nigeria we see farms as father's work,” he says. Adeniyi's father taught him to farm with a hoe and a machete, which he calls a cutlass. These days, he says, farming in Nigeria can look quite different, depending on whether the farmer has access to the Internet or not. Not far away, farmers are using drones to map their plots and calculate their fertilizer inputs. Elsewhere, farmers can swipe through security-camera footage of their fields on their mobile phones. That saves them from having to patrol the farm's perimeter and potentially dangerous confrontations with thieves. To be able to do those things, Adeniyi notes, the farmers need broadband access, at least some of the time. “Reliable broadband in Atan would attract international cocoa dealers and enable access to agricultural extension agents, which would aid farmers,” he says.
{"title":"In Nigeria, Why Isn't Broadband Everywhere?: It Has 8 Undersea Cables, but Fiber-Optic Networks Miss Half the Country","authors":"Lucas Laursen","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150669","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150669","url":null,"abstract":"Under the shade of a cocoa tree, outside the hamlet of Atan, in southwest Nigeria, Bolaji Adeniyi holds court in a tie-dyed T-shirt. “In Nigeria we see farms as father's work,” he says. Adeniyi's father taught him to farm with a hoe and a machete, which he calls a cutlass. These days, he says, farming in Nigeria can look quite different, depending on whether the farmer has access to the Internet or not. Not far away, farmers are using drones to map their plots and calculate their fertilizer inputs. Elsewhere, farmers can swipe through security-camera footage of their fields on their mobile phones. That saves them from having to patrol the farm's perimeter and potentially dangerous confrontations with thieves. To be able to do those things, Adeniyi notes, the farmers need broadband access, at least some of the time. “Reliable broadband in Atan would attract international cocoa dealers and enable access to agricultural extension agents, which would aid farmers,” he says.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"62 9","pages":"22-31"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144934394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150668
David Schneider;Steven Searcy
Recently I noticed an irresistible offer on Craigslist: a Majestic 3C70 AM/shortwave radio for just US $50. This model dates from the 1930s, when such radios came in gorgeous wooden cabinets. The specimen I stumbled on was still in the possession of the original owner, who used to listen to it with her family when she was a little girl. The wood and speaker fabric were nicely preserved, probably looking much as they did when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. I snatched it up.
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Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150644
Oluwatosin Kolade
The package containing the arducopter 2.8 board finally arrived from China, bearing the weight of our anticipation. I remember picking it up, the cardboard box weathered slightly from its journey. As I tore through the layers of tape, it felt like unwrapping a long-awaited gift. But as I lifted the ArduCopter 2.8 board out of the box, my heart sank. The board, which was to be the cornerstone of our project, looked worn out and old, with visible scuffs and bent pins. This was just one of a cascade of setbacks my team would face.
{"title":"Lessons from a Janky Drone: What a Failed Class Project Taught Me About Engineering","authors":"Oluwatosin Kolade","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150644","url":null,"abstract":"The package containing the arducopter 2.8 board finally arrived from China, bearing the weight of our anticipation. I remember picking it up, the cardboard box weathered slightly from its journey. As I tore through the layers of tape, it felt like unwrapping a long-awaited gift. But as I lifted the ArduCopter 2.8 board out of the box, my heart sank. The board, which was to be the cornerstone of our project, looked worn out and old, with visible scuffs and bent pins. This was just one of a cascade of setbacks my team would face.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"62 9","pages":"38-49"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144934457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150645
Allison Marsh
Millions of people worldwide have reason to be thankful that Swedish engineer Rune Elmqvist decided not to practice medicine. Although qualified as a doctor, he chose to invent medical equipment instead. In 1949, while working at Elema-Schonander (later Siemens-Elema), in Stockholm, he applied for a patent for the Mingograph, the first inkjet printer. Its movable nozzle deposited an electrostatically controlled jet of ink droplets on a spool of paper, recording physiological signals from a patient's electrocardiogram in real time. Nine years later, Elmqvist worked with cardiac surgeon Åke Senning to develop the first fully implantable pacemaker. So whether you're running documents through an inkjet printer or living your best life due to a pacemaker, give a nod of appreciation for Dr. Elmqvist and his creative career pivot.
{"title":"Past Forward: The First Inkjet Printer Was a Medical Device","authors":"Allison Marsh","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150645","url":null,"abstract":"Millions of people worldwide have reason to be thankful that Swedish engineer Rune Elmqvist decided not to practice medicine. Although qualified as a doctor, he chose to invent medical equipment instead. In 1949, while working at Elema-Schonander (later Siemens-Elema), in Stockholm, he applied for a patent for the Mingograph, the first inkjet printer. Its movable nozzle deposited an electrostatically controlled jet of ink droplets on a spool of paper, recording physiological signals from a patient's electrocardiogram in real time. Nine years later, Elmqvist worked with cardiac surgeon Åke Senning to develop the first fully implantable pacemaker. So whether you're running documents through an inkjet printer or living your best life due to a pacemaker, give a nod of appreciation for Dr. Elmqvist and his creative career pivot.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"62 9","pages":"68-68"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11150645","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144934463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150666
G. Pascal Zachary
I dined Recently with Joe, a Nigerian who manages a 400-hectare rice farm in the north of his country. Nigeria imports about 2.4 million tonnes of rice annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers like Joe are helping to move his country of 237 million people toward self-sufficiency in rice.
{"title":"What It Will Really Take to Electrify All of Africa: Don't Underestimate the Sub-Sahara's Grid Issues and Population Growth","authors":"G. Pascal Zachary","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150666","url":null,"abstract":"I dined Recently with Joe, a Nigerian who manages a 400-hectare rice farm in the north of his country. Nigeria imports about 2.4 million tonnes of rice annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers like Joe are helping to move his country of 237 million people toward self-sufficiency in rice.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"62 9","pages":"32-35"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144934389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150673
James Blanchard
In 1970, surgeons in paris implanted the first nuclear-powered pacemaker, and over the next five years, at least 1,400 additional people received the devices, mostly in France and the United States. Encased in titanium, the batteries for these devices contained a radioactive isotope—typically about a tenth of a gram of plutonium-238—and could operate for decades without maintenance. The invention provided relief to a population of people who previously needed surgery every few years to change out their pacemaker's chemical battery.
{"title":"The Unlikely Revival of Nuclear Batteries: Startups Plan to Put them in Robots, Sensors, and Medical Implants","authors":"James Blanchard","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150673","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150673","url":null,"abstract":"In 1970, surgeons in paris implanted the first nuclear-powered pacemaker, and over the next five years, at least 1,400 additional people received the devices, mostly in France and the United States. Encased in titanium, the batteries for these devices contained a radioactive isotope—typically about a tenth of a gram of plutonium-238—and could operate for decades without maintenance. The invention provided relief to a population of people who previously needed surgery every few years to change out their pacemaker's chemical battery.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"62 9","pages":"42-48"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144934523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150636
Margo Anderson
The future of wireless communication is today being sketched out in the skies and in space. A new generation of intelligent aerospace platforms—drones, airships, and satellites—will be part of tomorrow's 6G networks, acting as, in effect, base stations in the sky. They're expected to roll out in the earl 2030s.
{"title":"The Data: Drones: Tomorrow's Cell Towers?","authors":"Margo Anderson","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150636","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2025.11150636","url":null,"abstract":"The future of wireless communication is today being sketched out in the skies and in space. A new generation of intelligent aerospace platforms—drones, airships, and satellites—will be part of tomorrow's 6G networks, acting as, in effect, base stations in the sky. They're expected to roll out in the earl 2030s.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"62 9","pages":"14-15"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144934559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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