Lifeboat Foundation

She may be one of the most famous women in science history, but what is it that Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace achieve to gain such eminence?

Researchers at QuTech in Delft have succeeded in generating quantum entanglement between two quantum chips faster than the entanglement is lost. Via a novel smart entanglement protocol and careful protection of the entanglement, the scientists led by Prof. Ronald Hanson are the first in the world to deliver such a quantum link on demand. This opens the door to connect multiple quantum nodes and create the very first quantum network in the world. Their results are published in Nature.

By exploiting the power of quantum entanglement, it is theoretically possible to build a quantum internet invulnerable to eavesdropping. However, the realization of such a quantum network is a real challenge—it is necessary to create entanglement reliably on demand, and maintain it long enough to pass the entangled information to the next node. So far, this has been beyond the capabilities of quantum experiments.

Scientists at QuTech in Delft have are now the first to experimentally generate entanglement over a distance of two metres in a fraction of a second, on demand, and theoretically maintain this entanglement long enough to enable entanglement to a third node. “The challenge is now to be the first to create a network of multiple entangled nodes—the first version of a quantum internet,” professor Hanson says.

Engineers have discovered how to make glass an information storage powerhouse.

Computer simulations have become so accurate that cosmologists can now use them to study dark matter, supermassive black holes and other mysteries of the real evolving cosmos.

Last year, Intel was able to take a few steps forward towards the commercialization of quantum computing. A 17-qubit superconducting chip was built followed by CEO Brian Krzanich showing off a test chip at CES 2018 with 49 qubits.

Unlike previous quantum efforts at Intel, this latest batch of wafers are focusing on spin qubits instead of superconducting qubits. This secondary technology is still a few years behind superconducting quantum efforts but could turn out to be more easily scalable.

Moving forward, Intel now has the capability to produce up to five silicon wafers every week containing up to 26-qubit quantum chips. This achievement means that Intel has greatly increased the number of quantum devices in existence and could be looking to increase the number of qubits steadily in the coming years.

Continue reading “Intel is now capable of producing full silicon wafers of quantum computing chips” »

Scientists from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have designed a new control system for wind turbines in offshore wind farms that allows power transmission to the coast in a more flexible and cheaper way than current solutions.

This innovation allows the use of a diode rectifier station in the offshore platform of a high voltage direct current (HVDC) link. In this way, the wind turbine’s alternating current (AC) can be easily converted into direct current (DC) for HVDC transmission.

Continue reading “A new system optimises electric transmission from offshore wind farms” »

Business Impact

Another “missing” component could revolutionize electronics.

A new theory predicts the existence of an electronic device that works like an inverse transistor. It could make circuits, smaller, faster, and less power hungry.

Continue reading “Another ‘missing’ component could revolutionize electronics” »

Intel’s director of quantum hardware, Jim Clarke, explains the company’s two quantum computing technologies.

Neurotechnology startup CTRL-Labs hopes to create the first mass-market brain-computer interface using an electrode-studded wristband. We got an early taste of how it works.