Computing – Lifeboat News: The Blog

May 22
2026

Quantum supremacy just ran into an unexpected rival: An ordinary laptop armed with new math

Using a conventional computer and cutting-edge mathematical tools and code, physicists at the Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute and collaborators at Boston University have cracked a daunting quantum physics problem previously claimed to be solvable only by quantum computers.

The technique is so groundbreaking in its efficiency that the researchers were even able to use a personal laptop to solve the problem.

By enabling scientists to squeeze extra problem-solving power from classical computers, the breakthrough methodology is opening new avenues for research on quantum dynamics and may be useful as a protocol for solving problems about finding the optimal solution amid an abundance of feasible ones.

May 22
2026

Molecule-in-a-crystal system could boost quantum computing via chemically engineered qubits

Within a crystal’s atomic structure, tiny atomic-scale flaws will naturally occur where electrons can become trapped. These defects have emerged as one of the leading platforms for quantum information processing. Through a new study, posted to the preprint server arXiv, Ilai Schwartz and colleagues at NVision Imaging Technologies in Germany have shown that a specialized molecule embedded inside a crystal could take this approach a step further, offering a more controllable and versatile route to building quantum systems.

Unlike the classical computers we use every day, quantum computers encode information in the quantum states of qubits, which can exist in combinations of 0 and 1 simultaneously. This quantum information can’t simply be copied or transmitted in the same way as classical bits: when a qubit is measured, its quantum state is disturbed, making it impossible to transmit its information directly.

To tackle this problem, qubits must be connected to photons, which can transmit their quantum information between distant parts of a network. This connection relies on what physicists call a “spin-photon interface”: a structure in which the quantum state of an electron or nucleus can be reliably written, read, and communicated via light.

May 22
2026

Embodied Mini-Brains Learn To Navigate A Virtual World By Smell

Quantum sensors use atoms, electrons and light as ultra‑steady rulers

Quantum computers get a lot of attention, even though they are not ready for prime time, but quantum sensors are already doing useful work. These sensors measure fields, forces and motion so small that ordinary background noise can drown them out. Some sensors are already in daily use, while others are moving from research labs into flight tests, hospitals and field instruments.

For example, a human brain produces magnetic signals in the femtotesla-to-picotesla range—billions of times weaker than a refrigerator magnet—far weaker than the magnetic noise in an ordinary room. That is why brain scanners that measure these signals need ultrasensitive detectors and strong magnetic shielding. In some hospitals, these detectors use quantum technology to help map brain activity before epilepsy surgery, without touching the brain.

Quantum sensors are showing up in other fields as well, including in navigation when GPS signals are jammed or spoofed, mapping gravity to reveal what’s underground, and boosting astronomers’ ability to measure gravitational waves. I am a photonics and quantum technologies researcher. My lab applies physics to develop a range of devices, including quantum sensors.

May 21
2026

Exploit released for new PinTheft Arch Linux root escalation flaw

A recently patched Linux privilege escalation vulnerability now has a publicly available proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit that allows local attackers to gain root privileges on Arch Linux systems.

The vulnerability, named PinTheft by the V12 security team and still waiting to be assigned a CVE ID for easier tracking, exists in the Linux kernel’s RDS (Reliable Datagram Sockets) and was patched earlier this month.

“PinTheft is a Linux local privilege escalation exploit for an RDS zerocopy double-free that can be turned into a page-cache overwrite through io_uring fixed buffers,” V12 said in a Tuesday advisory.

May 20
2026

Researchers measure giant light-conversion effect in chiral carbon nanotubes

A sheet of twisted carbon nanotubes has revealed a hidden talent scientists suspected for decades but had never managed to measure.

Researchers at Rice University have created large, highly ordered films of chiral carbon nanotubes (CNTs), hollow cylinders of carbon atoms with either a left-or a right-handed twist. Measurements showed the crystalline films can convert the color of light at a rate two to three orders of magnitude greater than conventional materials.

The findings, reported in a study published in ACS Nano, confirm a long-standing theoretical prediction and point toward a future in which ultrathin carbon nanotube films could help power faster optical communications, flexible photonic chips and light-based computing systems that today exist mostly as prototypes.

May 20
2026

New Quantum Processing Technology Points to Life After the Transistor, Maybe

Research finds that encoding 1s and 0s with electrons’ quantum spin is fast and power-efficient.

May 20
2026

Visualizing sound: Scientists reveal hidden behaviors of sound waves

An international team of scientists has developed a new analysis of how sound waves behave, revealing surprising effects that have largely been overlooked for decades. In the new paper in Scientific Reports, which was led by researchers from City St George’s, University of London, the team explored how sound waves move through air and how those movements might be perceived visually.

Sound travels as a longitudinal wave, meaning air molecules vibrate back and forth rather than moving up and down like waves in a violin string. These vibrations are usually assumed to be smooth and regular, and as a physical phenomenon they form the basis of acoustics and some forms of seismic transmission. However, the new theoretical analysis of physical longitudinal wave motion reveals that the behavior of sound waves changes dramatically when they become stronger (i.e. above 160 dB at 10 kHz, which is similar to the noise level inside a high-pitched jet engine), and the prior assumptions are only true for moderate sounds.

Using computer simulations, the researchers—namely Professor Christopher Tyler and Professor Joshua Solomon at City St George’s and Professor Stuart M. Anstis from the University of California, San Diego—created animations where each dot represents an air molecule. Each dot moves back and forth in place, slightly out of step with its neighbors. This tiny delay between dots creates the appearance of a wave traveling through space as the dots move back and forth in place, just as sound does in real life.

May 20
2026

New chip offers way to make use of quantum system ‘imperfections’

Quantum technologies promise powerful new kinds of computers, giving scientists new tools to mimic and explore nature at its tiniest scales. At those levels, everything in nature—from atoms and electrons to light itself—follows the strange rules of quantum mechanics. But the real world is never perfectly clean: Signals fade, energy leaks away and systems pick up noise from their surroundings.

“Understanding how quantum systems behave under this messiness is crucial if we want our experiments to say something about nature as it really is, not just idealized setups,” says Govind Krishna, Ph.D. student at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

May 20
2026

Beyond 0 and 1: Ferrotoroidic material can store four magnetic states

Today’s computers store information using only two values: 0 and 1. But as electronic devices become smaller and reach their limits, scientists are searching for new ways to pack more information into the same space. One idea is to use magnetism. In some materials, atoms behave like tiny magnets that can arrange themselves in different patterns. If each pattern represents a different value, one memory element could store more than just two possibilities.

In a study recently published in Nature Communications, researchers have found a material in which these atomic magnets can form four different magnetic states. They showed that these states can be controlled using electric and magnetic fields and remain stable once created.

Using neutron experiments at the Institut Laue-Langevin, the scientists were able to observe each of the four magnetic states that were created by applying electric and magnetic fields. This discovery hints at a future where computers might store significantly more information than today’s binary technologies.