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Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a quantum communication chip that is 1,000 times smaller than current quantum setups, but offers the same superior security quantum technology is known for.

Most leading security standards used in secure communication methods—from withdrawing cash from the ATM to purchasing goods online on the smartphone—does not leverage quantum technology. The electronic transmission of the personal identification number (PIN) or password can be intercepted, posing a security risk.

Roughly three millimeters in size, the tiny chip uses quantum communication algorithms to provide enhanced security compared to existing standards. It does this by integrating passwords within the information that is being delivered, forming a secure quantum key. After the information is received, it is destroyed along with the key, making it an extremely secure form of communication.

Planting trees to save the planet just got a whole lot easier – no gardening gloves required.

Researchers say planting trees helps capture and store carbon – and a new app makes it easy for anyone to get involved.

Continue reading “Here’s how you can use your phone to plant trees” »

Compared to regular blue OLED these converted white OLED last 30 times longer.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have come a long way since the first working device was reported three decades ago. Prized for their dark blacks, crisp image reproduction, and power efficiency, today’s OLEDs dominate the screens of Android phones and LG televisions. They may take over iPhones as early as next year.

And because OLEDs are cheap and easy to make, we ought to also use them to make white light for general illumination, says Konstantinos Daskalakis, a post-doctoral researcher at Aalto University in Finland.

Continue reading “A Simple Filter Turns Blue OLED Light Into White” »

Hundreds of millions of people in India depend on farming for their livelihoods, but many of them struggle with losing crops to disease, getting them to market or achieving the right price when they do. Several startups are trying to change that.

Piggybacking on India’s mobile boom, these companies are using smartphones and the internet to help farmers grow, harvest and sell their crops more efficiently. India is self-sufficient in food staples, but faces a constant challenge to feed its population of 1.3 billion and rising. The country accounts for a quarter of the world’s hungry people and is home to over 190 million undernourished people, according to the latest estimates by the United Nations.

“There is a lot of financing and talent which is coming in this space,” says Rikin Gandhi, co-founder and executive director of Digital Green, a social enterprise that began as a research project backed by Microsoft ( MSFT ).

Continue reading “How India’s farmers are using technology to feed more than a billion people” »

Neuralink seeks to build a brain-machine interface that would connect human brains with computers. No tests have been performed in humans, but the company hopes to obtain FDA approval and begin human trials in 2020. Musk said the technology essentially provides humans the option of “merging with AI.”

A directed-energy weapon (DEW) emits highly focused energy, transferring that energy to a target to damage it.

Potential applications of this technology include anti-personnel weapon systems, potential missile defense system, and the disabling of lightly armored vehicles such as cars, drones, watercraft, and electronic devices such as mobile phones.

Continue reading “Directed-energy weapon (DEW) full documentary” »

A team of scientists from the universities of Alberta and Toronto have laid out the blueprints for a “quantum battery” that never loses its charge.

To be clear, this battery doesn’t exist yet — but if they figure out how to build it, it could be a revolutionary breakthrough in energy storage.

“The batteries that we are more familiar with — like the lithium-ion battery that powers your smartphone — rely on classical electrochemical principles, whereas quantum batteries rely solely on quantum mechanics,” University of Alberta chemist Gabriel Hanna said in a statement.

Quantum computers use the fundamentals of quantum mechanics to potentially speed up the process of solving complex computations. Suppose you need to perform the task of searching for a specific number in a phone book. A classical computer will search each line of the phone book until it finds a match. A quantum computer could search the entire phone book at the same time by assessing each line simultaneously and return a result much faster.

A smartphone case made from artificial human-like skin responds to being pinched, tickled and stroked to add an extra layer of interactivity to the device.