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(Facebook) The above passage, written in a combination of letters and numbers, has been circulating social media for years and purports that only certain “strong minds” can read it.

That’s not exactly true — just about everybody can read the message with ease. But according to one scientist, our ability to read such messages reveals something pretty incredible about the brain.

Interpreting passages like this hardly activates the section of the brain associated with numbers, Jon Andoni Duñabeitia, part of a team of Spanish cognitive scientists who wrote five papers on the subject, told Business Insider. Instead, our brain knows to treat them like letters based on their similar appearance.

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As I said this morning; there is something definitely going with Quantum today. Maybe it’s the planet alignment (I saw there was something going on with the alignment with Aquaris today) — this is awesome news.


Rigetti Computing is working on designs for quantum-powered chips to perform previously impossible feats that advance chemistry and machine learning.

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Wham! Another headline; 2 new companies (Rigetti and Q Branch) trying to capture the Quantum Platform crown from D-Wave. Now, we can say a real industry race is on.


Based on a recent analysis of our most popular articles, investors seem to have a strong interest in quantum computing. The problem for investors is that there aren’t any pure play opportunities to invest in quantum computing at the moment. The main reason for this is that there aren’t many companies working on quantum computing. In fact, there’s just one company right now that’s actually selling a quantum computer; Canadian based startup D-Wave.

D-Wave has actually released a controversial “quantum computer”, and is working with big names like Google, NASA, and Lockheed. D-Wave received some major credibility recently when Google announced that they solved an optimization problem in seconds that would normally take 10,000 years with a conventional computer. There is one way to get exposure to D-Wave, but it’s hardly a pure-play and doesn’t seem overly promising. While there are very few companies other than D-Wave directly involved in quantum computing, we did find two companies that quantum computing investors should keep an eye on.

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Count of St. Germain; a mystery to still be solved. Ever since I was 7 yrs old, I have found this man as a great mystery. He was a true Renaissance man like Di Vinci; however, know one knew his real age, where he truly came from, and his real story. I hope to pick up my own research again on this man; I have always loved solving puzzles and mysteries.


IS IT POSSIBLE that a man can achieve immortality – to live forever? That is the startling claim of a historical figure known as Count de Saint-Germain. Records date his birth to the late 1600s, although some believe that his longevity reaches back to the time of Christ. He has appeared many times throughout history – even as recently as the 1970s – always appearing to be about 45 years old. He was known by many of the most famous figures of European history, including Casanova, Madame de Pampadour, Voltaire, King Louis XV, Catherine the Great, Anton Mesmer and others. Who was this mysterious man? Are the stories of his immortality mere legend and folklore? Or is it possible that he really did discover the secret of defeating death?

ORIGINS
When the man who first became known as Saint-Germain was born is unknown, although most accounts say he was born in the 1690s. A genealogy compiled by Annie Besant for her co-authored book, The Comte De St. Germain: The Secret of Kings, asserts that he was born the son of Francis Racoczi II, Prince of Transylvania in 1690. Other accounts, taken less seriously by most, say he was alive in the time of Jesus and attended the wedding at Cana, where the young Jesus turned water into wine. He was also said to be present at the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. What is almost unanimously agreed on, however, is that Saint-Germain became accomplished in the art of alchemy, the mystical “science” that strives to control the elements. The foremost goal of this practice was the creation of “projection powder” or the elusive “philosopher’s stone,” which, it was claimed, when added to the molten form of such base metals as lead could turn them into pure silver or gold. Furthermore, this magical power could be used in an elixir that would impart immortality on those who drank it. Count de Saint-Germain, it is believed, discovered this secret of alchemy.

COURTING EUROPEAN SOCIETY
Saint-Germain first came into prominence in the high society of Europe in 1742. He had just spent five years in the shah of Persia’s court where he had learned the jeweler’s craft. He beguiled the royals and the rich with his vast knowledge of science and history, his musical ability, his easy charm and quick wit. He spoke many languages fluently, including French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and English, and was further familiar with Chinese, Latin, Arabic – even ancient Greek and Sanskrit. It might have been his extraordinary learnedness that led acquaintances to see that he was a remarkable man, but an anecdote from 1760 most likely gave rise to the notion that Saint-Germain could be immortal. In Paris that year, Countess von Georgy heard that a Count de Saint-Germain had arrived for a soiree at the home of Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France. The elderly countess was curious because she had known a Count de Saint-Germain while in Venice in 1710. Upon meeting the count again, she was astonished to see that he hadn’t appeared to age, and asked him if it was his father she knew in Venice. “No, Madame,” he replied, “but I myself was living in Venice at the end of the last and the beginning of this century; I had the honor to pay you court then.” “Forgive me, but that it impossible!” the perplexed countess said. “The Count de Saint-Germain I knew in those days was at least forty-five years old. And you, at the outside, are that age at present.” “Madame, I am very old,” he said with a knowing smile. “But then you must be nearly 100 years old,” said the astonished countess. “That is not impossible,” the count told her matter-of-factly, then continued to convince the countess that he was indeed the same man she knew with the details of their previous meetings and of life in Venice 50 years earlier.

EVER PRESENT, NEVER AGING
Saint-Germain traveled extensively throughout Europe over the next 40 years – and in all that time never seemed to age. Those who met him were impressed by his many abilities and peculiarities:

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Another discussion on Quantum Entanglement. I am seeing a huge gap for scientists and technologists in explaining Quantum to every day folks especially in business. If order for business, etc. to adopt Quantum we will need to start explaining Quantum in examples that the average person can understand.


When physicist Ronald Hanson revealed shocking evidence for quantum entanglement, the world took note — the universe really is stranger than fiction, as he reveals in this hangout with cryptographer Renato Renner.

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Welcome to Quantum Hell.


Martin Bojowald, a professor of phycics at Penn State University, presents his fascinating ideas about “Loop Quantum Cosmology” in Once Before Time: A Whole Story of the Universe. “Will we ever,” Bojowald asks, “with a precision that meets scientific standards, see the shape of the universe before the big bang? The answer to such questions remains open. We have a multitude of indications and mathematical models for what might have happened. A diverse set of results within quantum gravity has revealed different phenomena important for revealing what happened at the big bang. But for a reliable extrapolation, parameters would be required with a precision far out of reach of current measurement accuracy.

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Glad that Stanford is working on their own version because the US Government has their own and it has been online in Los Alamos for a while now; have more than one version to learn from only enriches the final version.


Researchers are a step closer to building a quantum technology that could help improve internet security.

Researchers from Stanford University in U.S. have created a novel quantum light source to help improve internet security. In other words, the scientists have designed a technology that might someday serve as the basis for quantum communication.

The physics of quantum communication is definitely complex. Standard lasers are in reality not useful for secure communication in the physics of quantum communication, as they release what is called ‘classical’ light.