RandomlyRandom67 Member Jul 7, 2023 2,535 Was the rumoured Switch Pro actually Switch 2 all along? The Switch 2's main processor has been analysed - and its design is older than you might imagine. www.eurogamer.net Remember the discourse surrounding a proposed Switch Pro? Rumours of an upgraded Switch model began as early as 2018, but it wasn't until 2020 that the Pro's attributes including "more computing power and 4K high definition graphics" were reported on by Bloomberg. Simultaneously, it was understood that the Pro would also feature a seven-inch OLED panel. Of course, the OLED upgrade happened for the original Switch but the Pro did not. However, recent coverage of the Switch 2's main processor may provide a partial explanation. Forensic analysis of a final Switch 2 chip by Geekerwan and Kurnal suggests that the hardware was finalised way back in 2021. With the benefit of hindsight, it now seems plausible that the Switch Pro was an amalgamation of rumours: a combination of the Switch OLED model and formative work on the console that'll finally hit stores on June 5th this year. Click to expand... Click to shrink... .... Even more telling is that both analyses reveal that the chip was "taped out" - basically meaning the design was complete - in 2021. Geekerwan compares this to Nvidia's GA107 processor - another 8nm product, taped out in 2020 and released in the form of various GPUs (RTX 3050, for example) in 2021. The implication is that Nintendo had the new Switch 2 processor ready up to four years ago and could conceivably have released a Switch successor in 2022. Bearing in mind that processors take some time to create, it's very likely that leaks from Nintendo in Japan, or via its partners, could have started in 2020 when the Switch Pro reports began - at the same time as the platform holder was planning its OLED upgrade. However, it wasn't until June 2021 that noted leaker kopite7kimi named the new processor as T239 and stated that it would sit at the heart of the next Nintendo console. It seems as though the leaker got wind of the project just as T239 completed development at the taping out stage. So, the question is why it has taken so long for Switch 2 to arrive, bearing in mind that Nintendo would have had final silicon in 2021. Being familiar with console design having spoken to console system architects in the past, final silicon does typically arrive a year before a console releases. Bearing in mind that T239 was ready in 2021, it would have taken years to get to that point. Maybe an earlier Switch 2 was considered - but of course, plans can change. At the beginning of the project, one might imagine that Nintendo would still not understand just how long-lived the original Switch would be and the extent to which the Covid pandemic would elevate its sales. In turn, game development for the older system would continue. In the meantime, one might imagine that the production cost for the new T239 processor would have decreased - the 8nm process is old technology now, but thanks to Nintendo and Nvidia, the production lines can still continue with a brand new console to sustain them. The firm didn't release Switch 2 any earlier because there was no business case for doing so: the original model was still wildly popular. Then there's the fact that development resources were still invested in the existing Switch - the transition period to Switch 2 and the need to build up enough software for a new console would obviously delay the release of the machine. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Ultimately, the controversy surrounding the make-up of the Switch 2 processor comes from a good place - the desire for the new Nintendo hardware to be the best it can be - but perhaps this idea misses the point. Developers work with what they're given, often delivering remarkable results. We were concerned about the Tegra X1 powering the original Switch based on its showing in the Nvidia Shield Android TV micro-console - and yet developers delivered miracles from its relatively meagre capabilities. Click to expand... Click to shrink...   SharpX68K Member Nov 10, 2017 11,781 Chicagoland Oh boy. This is gonna be one for the ages...  DC5remy Member Jan 20, 2018 9,751 Texas lol. First reply nails it   ConflictResolver Member Jan 1, 2024 4,726 Midgar No they cancelled Pro because of Covid.   Ant_17 Member Oct 28, 2017 2,889 Greece Yes.   tucah Member Oct 25, 2017 1,488 maybe!   BabyDontHurtMe Member Dec 9, 2018 30,627 New Jersey Wouldn't be surprised   YuriLowell Member Oct 26, 2017 4,477 Yes.   Jswanko Member Oct 26, 2017 43 ConflictResolver said: No they cancelled Pro because of Covid. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Ant_17 said: tucah said: There you have it!  yap Avenger Oct 25, 2017 10,779 why not   OP OP RandomlyRandom67 Member Jul 7, 2023 2,535 ConflictResolver said: No they cancelled Pro because of Covid. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I think the implication being made here is the Switch OLED and Switch 2 rumors collided to form an amalgamation rumor of a "Switch Pro." Switch Pro might have never existed, it was just the fact that a Switch OLED revision was coming while T239 was deep into design phase and presumably taped out in 2021   Homura ▲ Legend ▲ Member Aug 20, 2019 6,940 Of course. Leakers assumed around 2020-2021 all the T239 information was about a Pro version, not realizing Nintendo was just planning the successor all the way back then.  Kouriozan Member Oct 25, 2017 24,678 Oh I so wished Switch Pro was real, years and years of bad performances and I had enough, can't really fucking wait to get a Switch 2 lmao. iirc Switch Pro rumors did start to appear around 2020, so it could line up and people mistakenly thinking Switch 2 preps was a Pro model.  Glio Member Oct 27, 2017 27,708 Spain Sometimes you get a rumor wrong and that's it.   natestellar Member Sep 16, 2018 853 It seems to be the case.   RivalGT Member Dec 13, 2017 7,449 Probably not related to a switch pro, but DF is likely right. Why release the switch 2 when switch 1 was selling amazingly well.  

Nature, Published online: 13 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01342-2The interstellar origins of space’s dirty snowballs, and debunking a myth about maternal crustaceans, in our weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

By Passant Rabie Published May 13, 2025 | Comments (1) | An illustration of a decaying neutron star. Daniëlle Futselaar/artsource.nl Around 13.8 billion years ago, a tiny but dense fireball gave birth to the vast cosmos that holds trillions of galaxies, including the Milky Way. But our universe is dying, and it’s happening at a much faster rate than scientists previously estimated, according to new research. The last stellar remnants of the universe will cease to exist in 10 to the power of 78 years (that’s a one with 78 zeros), according to a new estimate from a group of scientists at Radboud University in the Netherlands. That’s still a long way off from when the universe powers down for good—but it’s a far earlier fade-to-black moment than the previous 10 to the power of 1,100 years estimate. The new paper, published Monday in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, is a follow-up to a previous study by the same group of researchers. In their 2023 study, black hole expert Heino Falcke, quantum physicist Michael Wondrak, and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom suggested that other objects, like neutron stars, could evaporate in much the same way as black holes. The original theory, developed by Stephen Hawking in 1974, proposed that radiation escaping near a black hole’s event horizon would gradually erode its mass over time. The phenomenon, known as Hawking radiation, remains one of the most surprising ideas about black holes to this day. Building on the theory of Hawking radiation, the researchers behind the new paper suggest that the process of erosion depends on the density of the object. They found that neutron stars and stellar black holes take roughly the same amount of time to decay, an estimated 10 to the power of 67 years. Although black holes have a stronger gravitational field that should cause them to evaporate faster, they also have no surface so they end up reabsorbing some of their own radiation, “which inhibits the process,” Wondrak said in a statement. The researchers then calculated how long various celestial bodies would take to evaporate via Hawking-like radiation, leading them to the abbreviated cosmic expiration date. “So the ultimate end of the universe comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time,” Falcke said. The study also estimates that it would take the Moon around 10 to the power of 90 years to evaporate based on Hawking radiation. “By asking these kinds of questions and looking at extreme cases, we want to better understand the theory, and perhaps one day, we unravel the mystery of Hawking radiation,” van Suijlekom said. Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Isaac Schultz Published May 11, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published March 20, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published February 10, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 2, 2025 By Margherita Bassi Published February 1, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published January 28, 2025