Lifeboat Foundation

Why the recent surge in jaw-dropping announcements? Why are neutral atoms seeming to leapfrog other qubit modalities? Keep reading to find out.

The table below highlights the companies working to make Quantum Computers using neutral atoms as qubits:

And as an added feature I am writing this post to be “entangled” with the posts of Brian Siegelwax, a respected colleague and quantum algorithm designer. My focus will be on the hardware and corporate details about the companies involved, while Brian’s focus will be on actual implementation of the platforms and what it is like to program on their devices. Unfortunately, most of the systems created by the companies noted in this post are not yet available (other than QuEra’s), so I will update this post along with the applicable hot links to Brian’s companion articles, as they become available.

A recent model suggests that passing interstellar objects should get pulled into our Sun’s orbit fairly often.

Summary: Combining neuroimaging and EEG data, researchers recorded the neural activity of people while listening to a piece of music. Using machine learning technology, the data was translated to reconstruct and identify the specific piece of music the test subjects were listening to.

Source: University of Essex.

A new technique for monitoring brain waves can identify the music someone is listening to.

Summary: A newly developed machine learning model can predict the words a person is about to speak based on their neural activity recorded by a minimally invasive neuroprosthetic device.

Source: HSE

Researchers from HSE University and the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry have developed a machine learning model that can predict the word about to be uttered by a subject based on their neural activity recorded with a small set of minimally invasive electrodes.

Researchers say a new CRISPR gene editing therapy may help treat heart disease. The scientists also found evidence the therapy can help repair damaged tissue immediately after a heart attack.

Get your eyepatch out: Cyber attacks on the high seas are trending.

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas—the world’s most advanced humanoid robot—is learning some new tricks. The company has finally given Atlas some proper hands, and in Boston Dynamics’ latest YouTube video, Atlas is attempting to do some actual work. It also released another behind-the-scenes video showing some of the work that goes into Atlas. And when things don’t go right, we see some spectacular slams the robot takes in its efforts to advance humanoid robotics.

As a humanoid robot, Atlas has mostly been focused on locomotion, starting with walking in a lab, then walking on every kind of unstable terrain imaginable, then doing some sick parkour tricks. Locomotion is all about the legs, though, and the upper half seemed mostly like an afterthought, with the arms only used to swing around for balance. Atlas previously didn’t even have hands— the last time we saw it, there were only two incomplete-looking ball grippers at the end of its arms.

This newest iteration of the robot has actual grippers. They’re simple clamp-style hands with a wrist and a single moving finger, but that’s good enough for picking things up. The goal of this video is moving “inertially significant” objects—not just picking up light boxes, but objects that are so heavy they can throw Atlas off-balance. This includes things like a big plank, a bag full of tools, and a barbell with two 10-pound weights. Atlas is learning all about those “equal and opposite forces” in the world.

There are around 42,900 new bowel cancer cases in the UK every year Experts have hailed “remarkable” new research which shows that giving chemotherapy before surgery for early-stage bowel cancer cuts the chance of the disease coming back by 28%. The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, suggests at least 5,000 patients in the UK every year could benefit from a tweak to how they receive chemotherapy.

A SpaceX Dragon capsule is being modified on orbit to carry an extra astronaut home to Earth if need be.

On Wednesday (Jan. 18), NASA plans to start moving agency astronaut Frank Rubio’s seat liner from a Russian Soyuz spacecraft over to Endurance, the Dragon spacecraft that’s flying SpaceX’s ongoing Crew-5 mission for NASA.