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IonQ earns spot in the prestigious list of 119 innovative companies for innovation in quantum computing

COLLEGE PARK, Md., November 28, 2023 —(BUSINESS WIRE)— IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), an industry leader in quantum computing, today announced that it has been named to Fast Company’s third annual Next Big Things in Tech list, honoring technology breakthroughs that promise to shape the future of industries—from healthcare and security to artificial intelligence and data. This is IonQ’s first time appearing on the list.

“This recognition is not only a tremendous honor but a testament to the transformative impact and potential of our technology,” said Peter Chapman, President and CEO of IonQ. “IonQ is committed to advancing quantum computing capabilities to drive technological breakthroughs and solve complex business problems across industries. This award fuels our drive to continue pushing boundaries and breaking barriers.”

Author: Sharika Dhakappa The Big Bang is the most widely accepted theory of how the universe originated. Most physicists believe that the tremendously large universe we observe today began as a tiny, dense point. If the evolution of the universe till today were to be depicted as a movie, the Big Bang would be the beginning of it. We do not yet know what came before the Big Bang or whether that is even a meaningful question to ask. The cosmic movie would run for 13.8 billion years which is the current age of the universe as estimated by the WMAP satellite.

Indicine cattle make up half of all cattle populations worldwide. Using a large genomic dataset, this study finds historic migrations and extensive introgression with domestic and wild bovine species has facilitated this species physiological adaptation to extreme environments.

Few studies have investigated the structural properties of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors in relation to the transient device characteristics. Here, Kim et al. show that backbone-dependent molecular orientation affects ion injection directionality, which determines ion mobility and transient response.

Should you start exploring quantum computing? Yes, said a panel of analysts convened at Tabor Communications HPC and AI on Wall Street conference earlier this year.

Without doubt, the quantum computing landscape remains murky. Yet in the past ~5 years virtually every aspect of quantum computing has raced forward. At least one 1000-plus-qubit system is edging towards user access now and another is expected by year-end. There’s been a proliferation of software offerings up and down the “quantum stack” though it’s hardly complete. Most promising, what were a few POC use-case explorations has mushroomed into very many efforts across many sectors.

What are we waiting for? Against the backdrop of astonishing progress are also very hard technical problems. Error correction/mitigation tops the list. Effective quantum networking is another. Polished applications. Too many qubit types to choose from (at least for now.) Scale matters – it’s expected that millions of qubits may be needed for practical quantum computing These aren’t trivial challenges. Why bother?

A team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Mainz University of Applied Sciences has unveiled an AI system capable of deciphering ancient cuneiform texts. This novel technology, leveraging 3D models, represents a significant advancement in understanding one of humanity’s earliest forms of writing.

Published in The Eurographics Association journal, the researchers’ study focused on a set of cuneiform tablets from the Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection. These tablets primarily originate from ancient Mesopotamia, a historical region in present-day Iraq. Often referred to as the cradle of civilization, this area is where some of the earliest human societies developed. These tablets, in particular, are inscribed with a series of symbols, signs, and wedges that form the languages of the region, such as Sumerian, Assyrian, and Akkadian.

Many are over 5,000 years old and offer a glimpse into ancient civilizations, covering a wide range of topics from everyday life to legal matters.

Target validation is a crucial step in pre-clinical drug discovery workflows that builds confidence on the identification of a genetic target as relevant to a disease. With recent advancements, CRISPR serves as a particularly powerful tool for this process, as it enables researchers to accurately modify genes and determine their function in a variety of experimental systems.

One scientist leveraging CRISPR gene editing in this way is Dr. Panos Zalmas, Head of the Open Targets Validation Lab based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, whose work focuses on discovering and validating new putative disease targets for the development of safe and effective medicines.

In this SelectScience^® interview, we speak with Zalmas to learn how he is working to improve the rate of target adoption into drug discovery pipelines across therapy areas such as oncology, neurodegeneration, and immunology and inflammation. Here, Zalmas explains the importance of gene editing in his target validation workflows and highlights how CRISPR technologies in particular are key to the success of drug discovery.

Recent advances in the development of devices made of 2D materials are paving the way for new technological capabilities, especially in the field of quantum technology. So far, however, little research has been carried out into energy losses in strongly interacting systems.

With this in mind, the team led by Professor Ernst Meyer from the Department of Physics at the University of Basel used an atomic force microscope in pendulum mode to investigate a graphene device in greater detail. For this, the researchers utilized a two-layer graphene, fabricated by colleagues at LMU Munich, in which the two layers were twisted by 1.08°

When stacked and twisted relative to one another, the two layers of graphene produce “moiré” superstructures, and the material acquires new properties. For example, when the two layers are twisted by the so-called magic angle of 1.08°, graphene becomes a superconductor at very low temperatures, conducting electricity with almost no energy dissipation.

Altman seemed to understand his responsibility to run a viable, enduring organization and keep its employees happy. He was on his way to pulling off a tender offer–a secondary round of investment in AI that would give the company much-needed cash and provide employees with the opportunity to cash out their shares. He also seemed very comfortable engaging in industry-wide issues like regulation and standards. Finding a balance between those activities is part of the work of corporate leaders and perhaps the board felt that Altman failed to find such a balance in the months leading up to his firing.

Microsoft seems to be the most clear-eyed about the interests it must protect: Microsoft’s! By hiring Sam Altman and Greg Brockman (a co-founder and president of OpenAI who resigned from OpenAI in solidarity with Altman), offering to hire more OpenAI staff, and still planning to collaborate with OpenAI, Satya Nadella hedged his bets. He seems to understand that by harnessing both the technological promise of AI, as articulated by OpenAI, and the talent to fulfill that promise, he is protecting Microsoft’s interest, a perspective reinforced by the financial markets’ positive response to his decision to offer Altman a job and further reinforced by his own willingness to support Altman’s return to OpenAI. Nadella acted with the interests of his company and its future at the forefront of his decision-making and he appears to have covered all the bases amidst a rapidly unfolding set of circumstances.

OpenAI employees may not like the board’s dramatic retort that allowing the company to be destroyed would be consistent with the mission–but those board members saw it that way.