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Archive for the ‘computing’ category: Page 686

Nov 30, 2016

The World of Quantum Computing May Be Closer Than We Thought

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Glad others have caught the QC Light. I told so many we’re not 10+ or even 10 years away.


Quantum computing got a big push forward this month as researchers managed to create quantum dot light-emitting diodes (LED’s) that have the ability to produce entangled photons that could be used to encode information. Previously, the highest number of photons known to be entangled at one time was 8, but as of June, that number has now risen to 10.

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Nov 29, 2016

Microsoft update left Azure Linux virtual machines open to hacking — By Rene Millman | SC Magazine UK

Posted by in category: computing

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“Microsoft patches configuration hole that allowed hackers to upload software packages to its Azure update infrastructure.”

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Nov 28, 2016

4 no-bull takeaways from Microsoft quantum computing

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Microsoft plans to create its own quantum computing systems; here’s how the company is doing so differently and how it can do it better.

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Nov 26, 2016

The ‘Computational Universe’ –“Contains Everything from an Apple Operating System to a Program for a Faster-Than-Light Starship”

Posted by in categories: computing, space travel

We have slim chance, suggests the British physicist Stephen Wolfram, of distinguishing an extraterrestrial artifact from a natural celestial object.

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Nov 25, 2016

For the First Time, Living Cells Have Formed Carbon-Silicon Bonds

Posted by in categories: biological, computing

Scientists have managed to coax living cells into making carbon-silicon bonds, demonstrating for the first time that nature can incorporate silicon — one of the most abundant elements on Earth — into the building blocks of life.

While chemists have achieved carbon-silicon bonds before — they’re found in everything from paints and semiconductors to computer and TV screens — they’ve so far never been found in nature, and these new cells could help us understand more about the possibility of silicon-based life elsewhere in the Universe.

After oxygen, silicon is the second most abundant element in Earth’s crust, and yet it has nothing to do with biological life.

Continue reading “For the First Time, Living Cells Have Formed Carbon-Silicon Bonds” »

Nov 24, 2016

New quantum states for better quantum memories

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics

How can quantum information be stored as long as possible? An important step forward in the development of quantum memories has been achieved by a research team of TU Wien.

Conventional memories used in today’s computers only differentiate between the bit values 0 and 1. In quantum physics, however, arbitrary superpositions of these two states are possible. Most of the ideas for new quantum technology devices rely on this “Superposition Principle.” One of the main challenges in using such states is that they are usually short-lived. Only for a short period of time can information be read out of quantum memories reliably, after that it is irrecoverable.

A research team at TU Wien has now taken an important step forward in the development of new quantum storage concepts. In cooperation with the Japanese telecommunication giant NTT, the Viennese researchers lead by Johannes Majer are working on quantum memories based on nitrogen atoms and microwaves. The nitrogen atoms have slightly different properties, which quickly leads to the loss of the quantum state. By specifically changing a small portion of the atoms, one can bring the remaining atoms into a new quantum state, with a lifetime enhancement of more than a factor of ten. These results have now been published in the journal “Nature Photonics.”

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Nov 24, 2016

More reliable way to produce single photons

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics

Physicists at the University of Bath have developed a technique to more reliably produce single photons that can be imprinted with quantum information.

The invention will benefit a variety of processes which rely on photons to carry quantum information, such as quantum computing, secure quantum communication and precision measurements at low light levels.

Photons, particles of light, can be imprinted with information to be used for things like carrying out calculations and transmitting messages. To do this you need to create individual photons, which is a complicated and difficult process.

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Nov 23, 2016

The Dangers of Quantum Computing

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, computing, quantum physics

Any technology with the word “quantum” in the name is by nature impossible for lay people to understand and even difficult for scientists to get their arms fully around. However, though its workings are mysterious, quantum science offers very useful everyday tools.

There has been a race for quantum computing for years. Part of the reason is that these devices will leave today’s computers in the dust. The other element is that planners see that current computing technology is reaching its growth limits. Quantum computing is the key to the future to them, not science fiction.

Microsoft, which Computerworld says has been researching quantum computing for more than a decade, is expanding its quantum computing efforts. It has put Todd Holmdahl, one of the people involved in the development of Kinect, HoloLens and Xbox, in charge of developing quantum hardware and software. It’s also hired professors from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands; the University of Copenhagen; ETH Zurich and University of Sydney in Australia.

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Nov 23, 2016

Qubits in brain can make it a quantum computer?

Posted by in categories: biological, computing, neuroscience, particle physics, quantum physics

The mere mention of “quantum consciousness” makes most physicists cringe, as the phrase seems to evoke the vague, insipid musings of a New Age guru. But if a new hypothesis proves to be correct, quantum effects might indeed play some role in human cognition. Matthew Fisher, a physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, raised eyebrows late last year when he published a paper in Annals of Physics proposing that the nuclear spins of phosphorus atoms could serve as rudimentary “qubits” in the brain — which would essentially enable the brain to function like a quantum computer.

Isher’s hypothesis faces the same daunting obstacle that has plagued microtubules: a phenomenon called quantum decoherence. To build an operating quantum computer, you need to connect qubits — quantum bits of information — in a process called entanglement. But entangled qubits exist in a fragile state. They must be carefully shielded from any noise in the surrounding environment. Just one photon bumping into your qubit would be enough to make the entire system “decohere,” destroying the entanglement and wiping out the quantum properties of the system. It’s challenging enough to do quantum processing in a carefully controlled laboratory environment, never mind the warm, wet, complicated mess that is human biology, where maintaining coherence for sufficiently long periods of time is well nigh impossible.

Continue reading “Qubits in brain can make it a quantum computer?” »

Nov 23, 2016

From Bitcoin to puke-tracking: Walmart uses blockchains to monitor food — By Beth Mole | Ars Technica UK

Posted by in categories: business, computing

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In October, the commercial giant teamed up with IBM and Tsinghua University in Beijing to track pork in China as it moves from the farm to the shelves.”

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