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The method is still at its basic stage but multiple such microscopes could be pooled up to build a larger quantum computer.

Researchers at the IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS) in Seoul, South Korea, have successfully demonstrated using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to perform quantum computation using electrons as qubits, a press release said.

Quantum computing is usually associated with terms such as atom traps or superconductors that aid in isolating quantum states or qubits that serve as a basic unit of information. In many ways, everything in nature is quantum and can be used to perform quantum computations as long as we can isolate its quantum states.

Missions to the Moon, missions to Mars, robotic explorers to the outer Solar System, a mission to the nearest star, and maybe even a spacecraft to catch up to interstellar objects passing through our system. If you think this sounds like a description of the coming age of space exploration, then you’d be correct! At this moment, there are multiple plans and proposals for missions that will send astronauts and/or probes to all of these destinations to conduct some of the most lucrative scientific research ever performed. Naturally, these mission profiles raise all kinds of challenges, not the least of which is propulsion.

Simply put, humanity is reaching the limits of what conventional (chemical) propulsion can do. To send missions to Mars and other deep space destinations, advanced propulsion technologies are required that offer high acceleration (delta-v), specific impulse (I_sp), and fuel efficiency. In a recent paper, Leiden Professor Florian Neukart proposes how future missions could rely on a novel propulsion concept known as the Magnetic Fusion Plasma Drive (MFPD). This device combines aspects of different propulsion methods to create a system that offers high energy density and fuel efficiency significantly greater than conventional methods.

Florian Neukart is an Assistant Professor with the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) at Leiden University and a Board Member of the Swiss quantum technology developer Terra Quantum AG. The preprint of his paper recently appeared online and is being reviewed for publication in Elsevier. According to Neukart, technologies that can surmount conventional chemical propulsion (CCP) are paramount in the present era of space exploration. In particular, these technologies must offer greater energy efficiency, thrust, and capability for long-duration missions.

In a new Physical Review Letters study, scientists have successfully presented a proof of concept to demonstrate a randomness-free test for quantum correlations and non-projective measurements, offering a groundbreaking alternative to traditional quantum tests that rely on random inputs.

“Quantum correlation” is a fundamental phenomenon in quantum mechanics and one that is central to quantum applications like communication, cryptography, computing, and information processing.

Bell’s inequality, or Bell’s theory, named after physicist John Stewart Bell, is the standard test used to determine the nature of correlation. However, one of the challenges with using Bell’s theorem is the requirement of seed randomness for selecting measurement settings.

The famous Copenhagen Interpretation favored by the founders of quantum mechanics is most definitely psi-epistemic. Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and others saw the state vector as being related to our interactions with the Universe. As Bohr said, “Physics is not about how the world is; it is about what we can say about the world.”

QBism is also definitively psi-epistemic, but it is not the Copenhagen Interpretation. Its epistemic focus grew organically from its founders’ work in quantum information science, which is arguably the most important development in quantum studies over the last 30 years. As physicists began thinking about quantum computers, they recognized that seeing the quantum in terms of information — an idea with strong epistemic grounding — provided new and powerful insights. By taking the information perspective seriously and asking, “Whose information?” the founders of QBism began a fundamentally new line of inquiry that, in the end, doesn’t require science fiction ideas like infinite parallel universes. That to me is one of its great strengths.

But, like all quantum interpretations, there is a price to be paid by QBism for its psi-epistemic perspective. The perfectly accessible, perfectly knowable Universe of classical physics is gone forever, no matter what interpretation you choose. We’ll dive into the price of QBism next time.

Quantum physicists have simulated super diffusion in quantum particles on a quantum computer, paving the way for deeper insights into condensed matter physics and materials science. This achievement, realized on a 27-qubit system programmed remotely from Dublin, emphasizes the potential of quantum computing in both commercial and fundamental physics inquiries.

Quantum physicists at Trinity, working alongside IBM Dublin, have successfully simulated super diffusion in a system of interacting quantum particles on a quantum computer.

This is the first step in doing highly challenging quantum transport calculations on quantum hardware and, as the hardware improves over time, such work promises to shed new light in condensed matter physics and materials science.

Physicists have performed the first quantum calculations to be carried out using individual atoms sitting on a surface.

The technique, described on 5 October in Science¹, controls titanium atoms by beaming microwave signals from the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). It is unlikely to compete any time soon with the leading approaches to quantum computing, including those adopted by Google and IBM, as well as by many start-up companies. But the tactic could be used to study quantum properties in a variety of other chemical elements or even molecules, say the researchers who developed it.

At some level, everything in nature is quantum and can, in principle, perform quantum computations. The hard part is to isolate quantum states called qubits — the quantum equivalent of the memory bits in a classical computer — from environmental disturbances, and to control them finely enough for such calculations to be achieved.

A team of astrophysicists says they may have found evidence for “cosmic strings”, long-hypothesized defects in the universe left over from its early in its expansion.

Cosmic strings were first suggested in the 1970s by theoretical physicist Tom W. B. Kibble, and later revived in the context of string theory. The one-dimensional strings, far narrower even than a proton, are thought to have sprung into existence in the very first second of the universe and could potentially stretch right across it.

The strings, sometimes referred to as cracks in the universe, had not been detected since they were conceived, though there were a few ideas on how we might. When strings cross, for instance, it could provide us an opportunity to find them.

Tina Woods, serving as Healthy Longevity Champion for the National Innovation Center for Aging, sets forth her vision for a blueprint for healthy longevity for all. Her emphasis is on reaping the “longevity dividend” and achieving five additional years of healthy life expectancy while reducing health and wellbeing inequality. Woods elaborates on the role of emerging technologies like AI, machine learning, and advanced data analysis in comprehending and influencing biological systems related to aging. She also underscores the crucial role of lifestyle changes and the consideration of socio-economic factors in increasing lifespan. The talk also explores the burgeoning field of emotion AI and its application in developing environments for better health outcomes, with a mention of “Longevity Cities,” starting with a trial in Newcastle. In closing, Woods mentions the development of a framework for incentivizing businesses through measurement of their contribution to health in three areas: workforce health, consumer health through products and services, and community health. Woods envisions a future where businesses impacting health negatively are disincentivized, and concludes with the hope that the UK’s healthy longevity innovation mission can harness longevity science and data innovation to improve life expectancy.

00:00:00 — Introduction, National Innovation Center for Aging.
00:00:56 — Discussion on stagnating life expectancy and UK’s life sciences vision.
00:03:50 — Technological breakthroughs (including AI) in analyzing biological systems.
00:06:22 — Understanding what maintains health & wellbeing.
00:08:30 — Hype, hope, important of purpose.
00:10:00 — Psychological aging and “brain capital.“
00:13:15 — Ageism — a barrier to progress in the field of aging.
00:15:46 — Health data, AI and wearables.
00:18:44 — Prevention is key, Health is an asset to invest in.
00:19:13 — Longevity Cities.
00:21:19 — Business for Health and industry incentives.
00:23:13 — Closing.

Continue reading “Harnessing AI & Longevity Science — A Blueprint for Lifespan Extension (Tina Woods)” »

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists who discovered and developed quantum dots, which are very small particles that can change color depending on their size. Quantum dots are tiny particles of a special kind of material called a semiconductor. They are so small that they behave differently from normal materials. They can absorb and emit light of different colors depending on their size and shape.

You can think of quantum dots as artificial atoms that can be made in a lab! They have some of the same properties as atoms, such as having discrete energy levels (meaning they can only exist in certain distinct energy states, and they cannot have energy values between these specific levels) and being able to form molecules with other quantum dots. But they also have some unique features that make them useful for many applications, such as displays, solar cells, sensors, and medicine, which I shall discuss later in this story!

To grasp the workings of quantum dots, a bit of quantum mechanics knowledge comes in handy. Quantum mechanics teaches us that these tiny entities can possess only specific amounts of energy, and they transition between these energy levels by absorbing or emitting light. The energy of this light is determined by the difference in energy levels. In typical materials like metals or plastics, energy levels are closely packed, forming continuous bands where electrons can move freely, resulting in less specific light absorption or emission. However, in semiconductors like silicon or cadmium selenide, there’s a gap between these bands known as the “band gap.” Electrons can only jump from one band to another by interacting with light having an energy level that precisely matches the band gap, making semiconductors valuable for creating devices like transistors and LEDs.