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Physics-inspired computer architecture solves complex optimization problems

A line of engineering research seeks to develop computers that can tackle a class of challenges called combinatorial optimization problems. These are common in real-world applications such as arranging telecommunications, scheduling, and travel routing to maximize efficiency.

Unfortunately, today’s technologies run into limits for how much processing power can be packed into a computer chip, while training artificial-intelligence models demands tremendous amounts of energy.

Researchers at UCLA and UC Riverside have demonstrated a new approach that overcomes these hurdles to solve some of the most difficult optimization problems. The team designed a system that processes information using a network of oscillators, components that move back and forth at certain frequencies, rather than representing all data digitally. This type of computer architecture, called an Ising machine, has special power for parallel computing, which makes numerous, complex calculations simultaneously. When the oscillators are in sync, the optimization problem is solved.

New measurement station in Brazil: Quantum technology expands global network in search for dark matter

A highly sensitive quantum sensor from Jena has traveled nearly 9,000 kilometers: by truck to Hamburg, by ship across the Atlantic, and finally overland to Vassouras, Brazil.

At the campus of the Observatório Nacional, researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT) in Jena, together with Brazilian partners, have installed a new measurement station. It is part of the worldwide GNOME project and is designed to help address one of the great unsolved questions in modern physics: the nature of .

Dark matter cannot be directly detected with conventional measurement methods. However, it demonstrably influences the motion of galaxies and the structure of the cosmos. Understanding its nature remains one of the central open problems in physics.

Trapped calcium ions entangled with photons form scalable nodes for quantum networks

Researchers at the University of Innsbruck have created a system in which individual qubits—stored in trapped calcium ions—are each entangled with separate photons. Demonstrating this method for a register of up to 10 qubits, the team has shown an easily scalable approach that opens new possibilities for linking quantum computers and quantum sensors.

Hidden turbulence discovered in polymer fluids

Turbulence, the chaotic, irregular motion that causes the bumpiness we sometimes experience on an airplane, has intrigued scientists for centuries. At the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), researchers are exploring this phenomenon in a special class of materials known as complex fluids.

Stanford Breakthrough: Stem Cell Transplants Without Toxic Chemo or Radiation

A Phase 1 clinical trial has shown that an antibody developed at Stanford Medicine can prepare patients for stem cell transplantation while avoiding toxic side effects. A phase 1 clinical trial has demonstrated that an antibody treatment created at Stanford Medicine can safely prepare patients fo

GeoServer Exploits, PolarEdge, and Gayfemboy Push Cybercrime Beyond Traditional Botnets

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to multiple campaigns that leverage known security vulnerabilities and expose Redis servers to various malicious activities, including leveraging the compromised devices as IoT botnets, residential proxies, or cryptocurrency mining infrastructure.

The first set of attacks entails the exploitation of CVE-2024–36401 (CVSS score: 9.8), a critical remote code execution vulnerability impacting OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools that has been weaponized in cyber attacks since late last year.

“Criminals have used the vulnerability to deploy legitimate software development kits (SDKs) or modified apps to gain passive income via network sharing or residential proxies,” Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers Zhibin Zhang, Yiheng An, Chao Lei, and Haozhe Zhang said in a technical report.

Linux Malware Delivered via Malicious RAR Filenames Evades Antivirus Detection

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a novel attack chain that employs phishing emails to deliver an open-source backdoor called VShell.

The “Linux-specific malware infection chain that starts with a spam email with a malicious RAR archive file,” Trellix researcher Sagar Bade said in a technical write-up.

“The payload isn’t hidden inside the file content or a macro, it’s encoded directly in the filename itself. Through clever use of shell command injection and Base64-encoded Bash payloads, the attacker turns a simple file listing operation into an automatic malware execution trigger.”

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