Post #1165643
2026-04-15 18:12 UTC
i remember there was a diode and transistor that were literally completely seperated from the traces of the rest of the chip, and yet they were functional pieces and the chip wouldnt work if you removed them.
If that was true they would be getting the Nobel in physics for discovering some incredible new quantum phenomenal, it would be front-page news everywhere. I highly doubt it’s true.
Replies (2)
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@mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-15 18:34
Confidently incorrect about how fragile some circuits can be. Simple functionality is a convenient illusion we’ve beaten into various squiggles of metal. Electricity is secretly also a radio and a magnet, and even in wires it can’t know there’s nothing at the end until it gets there. Sometimes things just happen.
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@Scubus@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-15 21:54
Nah, it wasnt anything truly revolutionary. It was just some weird impedence effect we didnt fully understand how it was utilizing. AI doesnt really produce NEW stuff, but its really good at taking advantage of physics weve already worked out. Its not going to design a NEW chip, but it can pretty easily optimize existing chips or design a “new” layout that might be more efficient.