Lifeboat Foundation

Inspired by the insulation on a humble electrical cable, researchers have found that tiny ceramic particles can make plastic-backed cladding fire-safe.

How do you make a light-weight cladding material that doesn’t catch fire? It’s a question the building industry globally is wrestling with in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell Tower blaze in London that cost the lives of 72 people.

But according to new research, the answer is under your desk in the plastic insulation around the electrical cable powering your computer.

Australian scientists have investigated new directions to scale up qubits—utilising the spin-orbit coupling of atom qubits—adding a new suite of tools to the armory.

Spin-orbit coupling, the coupling of the qubits’ orbital and spin degree of freedom, allows the manipulation of the qubit via electric, rather than magnetic-fields. Using the electric dipole coupling between qubits means they can be placed further apart, thereby providing flexibility in the chip fabrication process.

In one of these approaches, published in Science Advances, a team of scientists led by UNSW Professor Sven Rogge investigated the spin-orbit coupling of a boron atom in silicon.

Continue reading “Harnessing the power of ‘spin orbit’ coupling in silicon: Scaling up quantum computation” »

Your name on Mars?

These two tiny chips contain the names of more than 2.4 million people who signed up to fly with me. We’re ON MARS, you guys.

You’re all honorary Martians!

Continue reading “Raise your hand if you’re in this new photo from Mars” »

In the world of quantum computing, interaction is everything.

In a groundbreaking study, researchers have successfully developed a method that could lead to unprecedented advances in computer speed and efficiency.

The longer-term answer is to develop and scale up the quantum communication network and, subsequently, the quantum internet. This will take major investments from governments. However, countries will benefit from the greater security offered13. For example, Canada keeps its census data secret for 92 years, a term that only quantum cryptography can assure. Government agencies could use quantum-secured blockchain platforms to protect citizens’ personal financial and health data. Countries leading major research efforts in quantum technologies, such as China, the United States and members of the European Union, will be among the early adopters. They should invest immediately in research. Blockchains should be a case study for Europe’s Quantum Key Distribution Testbed programme, for example.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will founder unless they integrate quantum technologies, warn Aleksey K. Fedorov, Evgeniy O. Kiktenko and Alexander I. Lvovsky. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will founder unless they integrate quantum technologies, warn Aleksey K. Fedorov, Evgeniy O. Kiktenko and Alexander I. Lvovsky.

A new report says it could take more than a decade to develop new cryptography schemes to keep data secure when quantum computers hit prime time.

Researchers used the chip to test a simple neural net and identify numerals with 100 percent accuracy.

The low price doesn’t come without some compromises. It’s not as fast or power efficient as previous Samsung SSDs, but then you’re paying a lot less for this new value drive that uses 4-bit QLC NAND.