The latest idea to cross our desks comes from Gabriel Ferraz, a computer engineer and TechPowerUp’s SSD database maintainer, who turned a 512GB QLC SATA III SSD into a 120GB SLC one.
You probably know this, but just as refresher, SLC NAND holds one bit of data per cell, resulting in faster data writing, lower power consumption, and higher cell endurance than QLC NAND which stores four bits per cell. QLC NAND is denser and cheaper, but with the downside of compromised longevity and speed.
3000% endurance increase
Ferraz’s idea was to trade capacity for massively improved performance and endurance. He took 512GB a Crucial BX500 SSD which has a Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 controller and NAND flash dies from Micron. Using an app called MPtools for the Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 controller, he identified the precise die used in the SSD and inputted in new die reference numbers.
Was it worth it? Well, while Ferraz lost a lot of drive space, he says “the SSD endurance jumps to 4000 TBW (write cycles), which is about a 3000% increase. Additionally, performance increased as well.”
Ferraz explains his process here, and you can also watch him perform his clever trick in the video below, which includes benchmarking results.
More from TechRadar Pro
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Google‘s Long Exposure photo mode is actually decent. There, I said it. Photographer me is putting his neck on the line by saying that another smartphone computational photography mode, recently given its own tab in Google’s revamped Camera app, is one less reason to use a ‘proper’ camera – and mine’s a TechRadar-approved best mirrorless camera, no less.
I was on a short family break at the coast recently and set an early alarm to sneak out for a little solo time at first light at a secluded cove nearby. It would be me, the gentle lapping waves, and hopefully a little color in the sky. Of course, I would take a camera too.
Hot tea in a travel flask, banana, notepad and pen, mirrorless camera, two pro lenses covering the 24-200mm focal length between them, an ND filter plus a tripod, and I was good to go. Oh, and the Google Pixel 6 was in my pocket.
Image 1 of 3
The standard version of the headline image, completely unedited.(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
With the Long Exposure photo mode applied but no edit. That horizon needs straightening!(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
An edited version in the original 4:3 aspect ratio, whereas our headline images get cropped 16:9.(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
A steep descent through a wooded area and the sheltered east-facing cove came into view. I’ve learned the importance of enjoying nature first before taking a camera out of the bag, especially given my screen-intensive day job.
After grounding myself in the peace and unrushed pace of the quiet sunrise I started moving around the beach looking for compositions that caught my eye, for photos that would transport me back to what it was like being there.
Sunrise was lovely – not award-winning, but adding a splash of color. The outgoing tide was steadily revealing more of the beach. Small waves crashed against the clay-red sandy incline, climbed up the beach a little, and then retreated around small rocks, creating interesting patterns.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
I’ve taken a few long exposure seascape photos down the years, and love the technique, especially for accentuating the movement of water as it retreats around rocks. I take a quick snap of the scene on the Pixel 6 and it occurs to me that I’ve not properly used its Long Exposure photo mode yet, now prominent in the camera app with its own tab.
Image 1 of 2
Most of my favorite images of the morning were taken in vertical format. I’ve made a cooler, moody edit to this photo using the Google Pixel 6’s camera app editor (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
The unedited standard version of the same image. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
The Long Exposure photo mode blurs movement, while keeping still objects sharp. The creative technique can be used in several ways, with blurring moving water a popular choice. Having observed the water trails, I line up the picture and take the snap.
It works a little like Night Sight – you need to keep your phone as steady as possible while the long exposure is captured. That way the still objects – in this case the rocks, cliff faces, and untouched sand – remain sharp. This computational photography mode is like a pro mirrorless camera’s in-body image stabilization on steroids.
The phone stores both the regular photo and the long exposure effect image (I’ve included both versions of every image for comparison). I have to say, the effect in this scenario is convincing (see above), similar to what I’d expect from my mirrorless camera which remains in the bag 50 meters away up the beach.
Whatever camera you use for long exposure photography (be it mirrorless or a cameraphone) – in this context of accentuating retreating ocean waters – you need to keep trying and trying and trying to get the shot. Timing is so hard.
Your best bet is starting the capture with the wave at its peak up the beach and just as the water starts to retreat. That way the natural path back to the ocean, be it straight or snaking around rocks, is accentuated and depicts the tidal energy.
Image 1 of 2
Not all scenes are worth using the Long Exposure photo mode for. The water is too far away in this composition and now I’m blowing out highlights.(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
For this scene I prefer the standard photo. Also, if you look closely at the detail in the image using the Long Exposure photo mode, it’s a little softer.(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
Google Pixel’s Long Exposure mode isn’t perfect – detail is usually softer than in the standard version – but it’s pretty darn good and convincing enough that I didn’t really need to bring my mirrorless camera, tripod, and ND filters along for the ride. If I owned the OM System OM-1 II (or OM-1), I could use that camera’s Live ND computational photography mode instead and leave the tripod and ND filters behind.
I haven’t lost faith in my ‘proper’ camera, far from it. Towards the end of my time at the beach, while still alone, a playful seal popped its head up like a floating rock. I steamed back up the beach to my bag, grabbed the camera with a 70-200mm lens, and got a few photos that far exceed what I could possibly hope to get with the Pixel 6 – though some of today’s best cameraphones might have done a decent job.
I’ll also still use my ‘proper’ camera with tripod and ND filters for long exposure photography, too. It’s just that now I might think twice if lugging all of that gear to get the creative effect is worth it when I have the computational mode in a device that slips into my pocket.
Sammy, from considerable distance, taken with my pro mirrorless camera that I still love. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
Samsung Electronics has announced plans to raise the price of its enterprise SSDs by 20-25% in Q2 of 2024. This is a significant increase from the initially projected 15%, with the price hike being attributed to the booming AI industry.
The past few weeks have seen a global shortage of NAND flash enterprise SSDs, a situation that is being blamed on high demand from new data centers and the rapid expansion of AI-related storage servers.
A semiconductor industry insider told BusinessKorea, “Server companies seeking to expand their storage capacity are rushing their SSD orders recently, and some products are even experiencing shortages, leading to considerations for increased production.”
Same price hike everywhere
Samsung significantly influences price decisions as it supplies about 50% of the enterprise SSD market. TrendForceestimates that where Samsung leads others will follow, with the 20-25% jump in price mirrored across the board.
TrendForce’s Bryan Ao says, “With large-capacity SSD orders experiencing low order fill rates, suppliers continue to influence price trends, likely forcing buyers to accept higher prices. As some buyers attempt to increase their inventory levels before the peak season in 2H24, Enterprise SSD contract prices are forecast to jump by 20–25% in Q2 – marking the highest rise across all product lines.”
This increase is unique to enterprise SSDs, with eMMC and consumer SSDs only getting 10-15% more expensive in Q2.
As The Register reports, “With much of the growth of the SSD market being propped up by AI-induced demand, there’s lots riding on AI being a success. After all, if there is a bubble and it pops, not only will those super-expensive SSDs have become a pretty bad deal in retrospect, but SSD makers like Samsung will see a major source of increasing revenue evaporate. Just as long as the money for expensive computer components keeps coming, there’s nothing to worry about. No pressure.”
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here.
Credit: incamerastock/Alamy
Left-handed people are almost three times more likely to have rare variants in the genes for tubulins, proteins that build cells’ internal skeletons. Tubulins assemble into long filaments called microtubules, which control the shapes and movements of cells. Microtubules could influence handedness because they form hair-like protrusions in cell membranes that can direct fluid flows in an asymmetric way during embryonic development.
Super-Earth LHS 3844b is the first exoplanet to show convincing signs of tidal synchronization, meaning one of its hemispheres is permanently illuminated by its star and the other is in permanent darkness. The planet is relatively cool, indicating that it lacks the tidal heating non-locked planets experience. It’s unclear whether tidally locked planets could be habitable. These worlds “don’t have tides, or seasons or day–night cycles”, says astronomer and study co-author Nicolas Cowan. “Could you get the same kind of diversity and complexity of life evolving? I have no idea.”
Biotechnology company LyGenesis has injected donor liver cells into a lymph node of a person with liver failure for the first time. The idea is that, within months, the donor cells will grow into a blood-filtering ‘miniature liver’. “It’s a very bold and incredibly innovative idea,” says liver-regeneration specialist Valerie Gouon-Evans. The treatment, which has been trialled in mice, dogs and pigs, might not relieve all of the complications of end-stage liver disease — but could provide a stopgap until a donor organ becomes available or make people healthy enough to undergo a transplant.
Nearly 20% of almost 600 image-containing papers that scientists compiled for a systematic review had suspicious images, including those that had been duplicated, stretched or rotated. Out of the 132 studies the researchers included in their final review, which was about a test to identify depression-related symptoms in rats, 10 contained potentially doctored images. Analysing these 10 alone assessed the test as 50% more effective than did the remaining 122 studies. This “clearly highlights [that falsified images] are impacting our consolidated knowledge base”, says systematic-review methodologist Alexandra Bannach-Brown.
When microbes’ ability to develop is pitted against their ability to make pharmaceuticals or biofuels, “the cells are going to choose to grow every time”, says synthetic biologist Brian Pfleger. To sidestep this unwinnable metabolic-resource war, researchers are introducing new biosynthesis pathways that can run alongside natural processes. For this, they have zeroed in on cofactors, small molecules that help enzymes do their work. Eventually, synthetic cofactors paired with the enzymes that use them could allow cells to churn out compounds more efficiently or even make those that rarely occur in nature.
With Twitter on the wane among many scientists — both as a place to post and a source of social-media data — some are turning to Reddit. Access to Reddit data is free for non-commercial researchers and academics. And its communities offer a space to network and chat, with an ‘upvote and downvote’ system helping good content rise to the top. Nature offers some context and advice for those looking to take the plunge.
Cancer cells make proteins found nowhere else in the body. Vaccines could teach the body’s immune system to recognise these proteins and destroy the cancer cells. The most powerful vaccines are created from the specific proteins extracted from a patient’s tumour and, in some cases, use the patient’s own immune cells. Researchers are also working on doing this vaccination process entirely within the body: first, drugs activate the immune system, then radiotherapy kills cancer cells, releasing the cancer proteins for the switched-on immune cells to find.
This article is part of Nature Outline: Cancer vaccines, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support from Moderna.
Where I work
Muh Aris Marfai is head of the Geospatial Information Agency of Indonesia in Bogor and a geography researcher at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.Credit: Gaia Squarci for Nature
Geographer Muh Aris Marfai collects reference data for Indonesia’s coastal areas to prepare for the impacts of climate change. “Because so much of the country is surrounded by water, it’s important to pay attention to coastal areas,” he says. “Many coastal cities, including Jakarta, are experiencing subsidence owing to geological processes and coastal dynamics.” (Nature | 3 min read)
Quote of the day
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s blockbuster new book The Anxious Generation suggests that digital technologies are rewiring our children’s brains and causing an epidemic of mental illness — but its claims are not backed up by science, writes psychologist Candice Odgers. (Nature | 6 min read)
Today I’m enjoying the fish doorbell — a charming solution to alert the lock keepers of Utrech’s boat canal to let through migrating fish. A webcam allows watchers to ‘ring the doorbell’ for the fish, sending a photo to ecologists who signal that it’s time to clear the underwater traffic jam. The doorbell has struck a chord with nature-lovers, meaning the 950-ish slots for aspiring doorbell-ringers are often full. And even if you do get access, you might wait days to spot a fish in the murky waters. But all the enthusiasm is good news for ecologist Mark van Heukelum, who created the gadget. “We ‘only’ get a thousand pictures of every fish that appears for the camera,” he jokes on the fish-doorbell website.
In a recent interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shared details about the company’s upcoming Blackwell chip which cost $10 billion in research and development to create.
The new GPU, which is built on a custom 4NP TSMC process and packs a total of 208 billion transistors (104 billion per die), with 192GB of HMB3e memory and 8TB/s of memory bandwidth, involved the creation of new technology because what the company was trying to achieve “went beyond the limits of physics,” Huang said.
During the chat, Huang also revealed that the fist-sized Blackwell chip will sell for “between $30,000 and $40,000”. That’s similar in price to the H100 which analysts say cost between $25,000 and $40,000 per chip when demand was at its peak.
A big markup
According to estimates by investment services firm Raymond James (via @firstadopter), Nvidia B200s will cost Nvidia in excess of $6,000 to make, compared with the estimated $3320 production costs of the H100.
The actual final selling price of the GPU will vary depending on whether it’s bought directly from Nvidia or through a third party seller, but customers aren’t likely to be purchasing just the chips.
Nvidia has already unveiled three variations of its Blackwell AI accelerator with different memory configurations — B100, B200, and the GB200 which brings together two Nvidia B200 Tensor Core GPUs and a Grace CPU. Nvidia’s strategy, however, is geared towards selling million dollar AI supercomputers like the multi-node, liquid-cooled NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 rack-scale system, DGX B200 servers with eight Blackwell GPUs, or DGX B200 SuperPODs.
More from TechRadar Pro
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!