Finally, a cost estimate for building a real Death Star

by Laura Domela

Sometimes it seems the world is so screwed up we should just build a new one from scratch–and now we finally know how much such a project would cost.

In gloriously geeky fashion, economics students at Lehigh University tried to estimate how long it would take and how much it would cost to build the Empire’s ginormous man-made planetship if we were to get started today.

The students started by assuming the Death Star could be made from steel, and that the ship would be about as steel-dense as a modern warship, in particular the HMS Illustrious. Applying that steel density to the Death Star’s size–the moon-size weapon was reportedly 140 km in diameter–they determined that just over a quadrillion tons of steel (quadrillion comes after trillion) would be required for construction.
via cnet

Introducing FPGAi – Innovations Unlocked by AI-enabled FPGAs

Quantized Neural Networks for FPGA Inference

Sponsored by Intel

Implementing a low precision network in FPGA hardware for efficient inferencing provides numerous advantages when it comes to meeting demanding specifications. The increased flexibility allows optimization of throughput, overall power consumption, resource usage, device size, TOPs/watt, and deterministic latency. These are important benefits where scaling and efficiency are inherent requirements of the application.

Click to read more

featured chalk talk

Driving Next-Gen Efficiency and Productivity to the Battery Lifecycle

Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Vicor

In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and David Krakauer from Vicor explore the evolution of battery technology and the specific benefits that power modules bring to battery cell formation, battery testing and battery recycling. They investigate what sets Vicor power modules apart from other solutions on the market today and how you take advantage of Vicor power modules in your next design.

Click here for more information about Vicor Battery Formation & Test Applications

May 24, 2024

36,401 views

Finally, a cost estimate for building a real Death Star

Related