Lifeboat Foundation

A secure method for cloud-based quantum computing harnesses the power of quantum physics to keep data confidential.

Progress in quantum technology has been swift, but we still are far from the day when everyone will have a quantum computer in their house or at their business. The early stages of quantum computing will likely rely on a quantum version of the “cloud,” where users send data and computing tasks to a state-of-the-art quantum machine hosted by Google, IBM, or another company. But is that approach secure? It can be, thanks to the impenetrable secrecy of quantum-based protocols. A recent experiment demonstrates a version of “blind quantum computing” using trapped ions [1]. The protocol is scalable, meaning it offers potential to be incorporated into larger and larger quantum computing systems.

Quantum computers have the potential to be game changers in computationally intensive tasks such as drug discovery and material design. In these highly competitive sectors, there would be concerns about using a cloud-based quantum computer. “A company searching for a new wonder drug or for a high-performance battery material wouldn’t want to reveal confidential secrets,” explains Peter Drmota of the University of Oxford. However, it has been shown—in theory—that one can perform computations on a remote quantum computer while hiding the data and the operations done on such data. “Blind quantum computing could give a client confidence to use whoever’s quantum computer,” Drmota says.

In a new publication in Physical Review Letters, researchers in Amsterdam demonstrate a way to describe spin-boson systems and use this to efficiently configure quantum devices in a desired state.

Quantum devices use the quirky behavior of quantum particles to perform tasks that go beyond what “classical” machines can do, including quantum computing, simulation, sensing, communication and metrology. These devices can take many forms, such as a collection of superconducting circuits, or a lattice of atoms or ions held in place by lasers or electric fields.

Regardless of their physical realization, quantum devices are typically described in simplified terms as a collection of interacting two-level quantum bits or spins. However, these spins also interact with other things in their surroundings, such as light in superconducting circuits or oscillations in the lattice of atoms or ions. Particles of light (photons) and vibrational modes of a lattice (phonons) are examples of bosons.

Voyager 1, after overcoming a computer issue, has resumed sending scientific data from two of its instruments, with plans to recalibrate the remaining two soon. This marks significant progress in restoring the spacecraft, which is over 15 billion miles from Earth and requires over 22 hours for communications to travel one way.

NASA ’s Voyager 1 has resumed returning science data from two of its four instruments for the first time since November 2023, when a computer issue arose with the spacecraft. The mission’s science instrument teams are now determining steps to recalibrate the remaining two instruments, which will likely occur in the coming weeks. The achievement marks significant progress toward restoring the spacecraft to normal operations.

Progress in Troubleshooting.

In a study published in Nature Materials, scientists from the University of California, Irvine describe a new method to make very thin crystals of the element bismuth – a process that may aid in making the manufacturing of cheap flexible electronics an everyday reality.

“Bismuth has fascinated scientists for over a hundred years due to its low melting point and unique electronic properties,” said Javier Sanchez-Yamagishi, assistant professor of physics & astronomy at UC Irvine and a co-author of the study. “We developed a new method to make very thin crystals of materials such as bismuth, and in the process reveal hidden electronic behaviors of the metal’s surfaces.”

The bismuth sheets the team made are only a few nanometers thick. Sanchez-Yamagishi explained how theorists have predicted that bismuth contains special electronic states allowing it to become magnetic when electricity flows through it – something essential for quantum electronic devices based on the magnetic spin of electrons.

I found this on NewsBreak:

TSMC is the world’s largest chipmaker, and it produces a massive percentage of the world’s advanced computer chips—by some estimates over the past few years, even around 90%. What happens if something were to happen in that part of the world to disturb this chipmaking ability? It’d be catastrophic, of course, but TSMC and its main machine supplier, Dutch company ASML, say the machines wouldn’t fall into hostile hands.

Citing people close to the matter, Bloomberg reports both TSMC and ASML have ways to disable the lithographic machines located in Taiwan. This kill switch would be able to be remotely activated, should such a drastic action ever be required.

Continue reading “The world’s largest chipmaker could flip a kill switch and remotely disable its machines in the event of an invasion” »

Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of speculation about what would happen to TSMC’s semiconductor fabs in the event of an invasion by the Chinese military. TSMC makes the world’s most advanced chips at its Taiwan facilities, so the prospect of those fabs being taken over or controlled by a hostile force is not a pleasant scenario to consider. However, now it’s been revealed for the first time that the machines have remote kill switches, which would render them idle in the case of Chinese aggression.

This revelation about TSMC’s machines comes from Bloomberg reporters, who say they spoke with several people “familiar with the matter.” Dutch company ASML makes the machines TSMC uses and has built a kill switch directly into the hardware TSMC uses. The report says US officials approached ASML with concerns about Chinese aggression against TSMC, and ASML has assured them it can disable the machines remotely if necessary. The Dutch company has also been running simulated shutdowns on its machines to understand better how such a scenario would play out in the real world and what risks it included.

The price of computer storage since the 1950s.

From:

This chart shows the dramatic fall in the price of computer storage between 1956 and 2023. It relies on the data carefully collected by the computer scientist John C. McCallum.

Continue reading “The price of computer storage has fallen exponentially since the 1950s” »

Light measurement devices called optical frequency combs have revolutionized metrology, spectroscopy, atomic clocks, and other applications. Yet challenges with developing frequency comb generators at a microchip scale have limited their use in everyday technologies such as handheld electronics.

Quantum computers, computing devices that leverage the principles of quantum mechanics, could outperform classical computing on some complex optimization and processing tasks. In quantum computers, classical units of information (bits), which can either have a value of 1 or 0, are substituted by quantum bits or qubits, which can be in a mixture of both 0 and 1 simultaneously.