Tech

These virtual obstacle courses help real robots learn to walk

A clip from the simulation where virtual robots learn to climb steps. An army of more than 4, 000 marching doglike robots is a vaguely menacing sight, even in a simulation. But it may point the way for machines to learn new tricks. The virtual robot army was developed by researchers from ETH Zurich in […]

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EU set to launch formal probe into Nvidia’s $54 billion takeover of Arm

Enlarge (credit: Arm) Brussels is set to launch a formal competition probe early next month into Nvidia’s planned $54 billion takeover of British chip designer Arm, after months of informal discussions between regulators and the US chip company. The investigation is likely to begin after Nvidia officially notifies the European Commission of its plan to […]

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AMD RX 6600XT review: A sad trombone noise of a “$379” 2021 GPU

MSI’s version of the AMD RX 6600XT, which is the one Ars Technica tested for this review. [credit: MSI / AMD ] In a traditional PC hardware cycle, AMD’s new RX 6600XT could have been a welcome stopgap for a budget audience. Over the years, we’ve regularly seen this kind of GPU from both major […]

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Velodyne and Nvidia will try to make traffic safer in Austin, Texas

Enlarge / Velodyne lidar sensors will create a real-time 3D map of this dangerous intersection in Austin to help the city make its roads safer. (credit: Velodyne ) American roads have never been especially safe compared to the streets in other countries . But the pandemic made things worse, with shocking rises in crashes and […]

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RTX 3070 Ti review: Nvidia leaves the GPU fast lane (for now)

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition, going on sale this week for $599. [credit: Sam Machkovech ] In a normal GPU marketplace, Nvidia’s new GPU—the RTX 3070 Ti—would land either as a welcome jump or a power-per-watt disappointment. In the chip-shortage squeeze of 2021, however, both its biggest successes and shortcomings may slip […]

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Nvidia and Valve are bringing DLSS to Linux gaming… sort of

Enlarge / Tux looks a lot more comfortable sitting on that logo than he probably should—Nvidia’s drivers are still proprietary, and DLSS support isn’t available for native Linux apps—only Windows apps running under Proton. (credit: Aurich Lawson / Jim Salter / Larry Ewing / Nvidia) Linux gamers, rejoice—we’re getting Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling on […]

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Review: Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti is a powerhouse—but good luck finding it at $1,199 MSRP

The RTX 3080 Ti. [credit: Sam Machkovech ] Nearly nine months ago, the RTX 3000 series of Nvidia graphics cards launched in a beleaguered world as a seeming ray of hope. The series’ first two GPUs, the RTX 3080 and 3070, were nearly all things to all graphics hounds. Nvidia built these cards upon the […]

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Nvidia will add anti-mining flags to the rest of its RTX 3000 GPU series

Enlarge / Coming soon: Nearly identical versions of these GPUs, only with “LTR” logos—and new measures to reduce their mining hash rates. (credit: Sam Machkovech) Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3000-branded graphics cards are receiving an update off the factory lines starting this month: hardware-level flags meant to slow down the mining of the popular cryptocurrency Ethereum. […]

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Intel, Nvidia, TSMC execs agree: Chip shortage could last into 2023

(credit: Intel) How many years will the ongoing chip shortage affect technology firms across the world? This week, multiple tech executives offered their own dismal estimates as part of their usual public financial disclosures, with the worst one coming in at “a couple of years.” That nasty estimate comes from Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who […]