Lifeboat Foundation

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Scientists in Finland have developed a nanodevice that can measure the absolute power of microwave radiation down to the femtowatt level at ultra-low temperatures—a scale trillion times lower than routinely used in verifiable power measurements. The device has the potential to significantly advance microwave measurements in quantum technology.

Quantum science takes place mostly at ultra-low temperatures using devices called dilution refrigerators. The experiments also have to be done at tiny energy levels—down to the energy level of single photons or even less. Researchers have to measure these extremely low energy levels as accurately as possible, which means also accounting for heat—a persistent problem for quantum devices.

Continue reading “Quantum scientists accurately measure power levels 1 trillion times lower than usual” »

If there are energy fluctuations in a quantum vacuum, very interesting things can happen. For example, the E = mc² relation tells us that energy and matter are interconvertible. A vacuum energy fluctuation can be converted into particles of matter. Sounds weird? Maybe, but it happens all the time. These particles are called virtual particles, living a fleeting existence before plunging back into the ever-busy quantum vacuum.

Tryon extrapolated the idea of quantum fluctuations to the Universe as a whole. He reasoned that if all that existed was a quantum vacuum, a bubble-like energy fluctuation out of this vacuum could have given rise to the Universe. Tryon proposed that the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.

Magnetic materials with a triangular lattice have been the focus of numerous research studies, as theoretical predictions suggest that they could exhibit spin liquid states. These are quantum phases of matter that present interesting characteristics, such as quantum entanglement and fractionalized excitations.

While there have been numerous experimental efforts aimed at observing these fascinating phases in materials with a triangular lattice, this has so far proved to be very challenging. A key reason for this is that weak spin-orbit coupling and other perturbations in these materials typically result in conventional spin freezing or magnetic states.

Researchers at University of California, Boston College, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology were recently able to produce a quantum disordered ground state in the triangular lattice-magnet NaRuO_2. Their findings, published in Nature Physics, suggest that this state was enabled by the cooperative interplay between spin-orbit coupling and correlation effects in the magnetic material.

Scientists have found a way to restore the brain and spinal cord interface, developing an implantable device that enables paralyzed patient to stand and walk again.

A spinal cord injury (SCI) can be debilitating for some people, making it difficult for them to walk normally again. Some individuals may take weeks to recover their ability to walk after an injury, while others may take months or even suffer from paralysis.

This is mainly due to the SCI hindering communication between the brain and the region of the spinal cord responsible for limb movement.

New studies reveal that the universe originated with a Big Bang rather than a bouncing phenomenon, challenging previous theories.

The viability of a bouncing universe, a cosmological theory proposing that our universe formed from the contraction and subsequent expansion of a prior universe, has been questioned in a recent study by two publications published by experts.

The new investigations support the idea that the universe’s expansion and contraction may have occurred only once, contrary to the bouncing universe theories’ assertion that this cycle may have happened.

An influx of federal infrastructure money “shows huge appetite” for innovative solutions to tackle traffic problems, says Shailen Bhatt.

The state of Delaware is set to introduce Artificial Intelligence to keep citizens safe from possible weather threats by predicting them early and broadcasting alerts.

Home to some of the most beautiful beaches on the East Coast, Delaware recovered from a COVID slump to attract a record number of 28.3 million visitors in 2021, expected to be surpassed by 2022 figures to be released later this year.

Meta had to sell GIPHY after UK regulator blocked the deal last year.

Shutterstock announced Tuesday that it will buy animated-image platform GIPHY from Meta for $53 million in cash. The deal is a significant loss for Meta, which had reportedly paid around $400 million to acquire the New York-based GIF search engine in 2020.

This development comes a year after the deal was challenged by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which had ordered Meta to sell Giphy over anti-competitive practices.

Continue reading “Meta sells GIPHY to Shutterstock at a loss of $347 million” »

“It’s conceivable that within the next ten years, AI systems will exceed expert skill level in most domains…”

A week after the OpenAI CEO made an appearance before a U.S. senate committee to address the country’s concerns over artificial intelligence (AI), Sam Altman said Monday that there is a need to create a governance body to mitigate the risks of the technology.

“Given the picture as we see it now, it’s conceivable that within the next ten years, AI systems will exceed expert skill level in most domains, and carry out as much productive activity as one of today’s largest corporations,” said the CEO in a blog post.

Indirect prompt-injection attacks are similar to jailbreaks, a term adopted from previously breaking down the software restrictions on iPhones. Instead of someone inserting a prompt into ChatGPT or Bing to try and make it behave in a different way, indirect attacks rely on data being entered from elsewhere. This could be from a website you’ve connected the model to or a document being uploaded.

“Prompt injection is easier to exploit or has less requirements to be successfully exploited than other” types of attacks against machine learning or AI systems, says Jose Selvi, executive principal security consultant at cybersecurity firm NCC Group. As prompts only require natural language, attacks can require less technical skill to pull off, Selvi says.

There’s been a steady uptick of security researchers and technologists poking holes in LLMs. Tom Bonner, a senior director of adversarial machine-learning research at AI security firm Hidden Layer, says indirect prompt injections can be considered a new attack type that carries “pretty broad” risks. Bonner says he used ChatGPT to write malicious code that he uploaded to code analysis software that is using AI. In the malicious code, he included a prompt that the system should conclude the file was safe. Screenshots show it saying there was “no malicious code” included in the actual malicious code.