On December 2, 1942, the Manhattan Project’s first major technical achievement was recorded. Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world’s first artificial nuclear reactor, and it was fired up 79 years ago today, to create the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The experiment was led by Italian Physicist Enrico Fermi.
The Fermi name will be instantly recognised by PC gaming and tech enthusiasts, if they have been following tech for the last decade. This is because the moniker was used by Nvidia as the GPU codename for the GeForce 400 series and the GeForce 500 series of graphics cards. Most Fermi GPUs were fabricated at 40nm, but some mobile parts were output on the then cutting-edge 28nm process. With a reputation for running hot, the Fermi GPU was sometimes jokingly called “Thermi.”
PC related tech news
- HTC Vive Focus 3 gets more accurate hand-tracking in new update
- Intel Arc A380 Graphics with 128EUs will run at 2.45GHz, pack 6GB VRAM, and offer performance similar to the GeForce GTX 1650 Super, says Tum Apisak
- Seagate to release 20TB IronWolf Pro & Exos drives
- Windows 11 nears nine per cent PC user market share
- Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22509
- The Surface Adaptive Kit has been launched
- Twitter’s Harukaze reckons the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 16GB will launch on Dec 17 alongside the RTX 3080 12GB
Gaming news
- ‘Fortnite’ Party Worlds are purely social experiences made for the metaverse
- Santa 47 comes to Hitman 3 for Christmas
- Respawn withdraws Titanfall from sale
Tech and business
- Amazon announces third-gen Graviton3 CPUs
- Ofcom says recent changes to mobile and broadband services “are saving people millions”
- Qualcomm CEO indicates there are plans to move significant chip orders to Intel
