Lifeboat Foundation

A major breakthrough in quantum computing has been achieved with the development of ultra-pure silicon, setting the stage for the creation of powerful, scalable quantum computers.

More than 100 years ago, scientists at The University of Manchester changed the world when they discovered the nucleus in atoms, marking the birth of nuclear physics.

Fast forward to today, and history repeats itself, this time in quantum computing.

The first anomaly concerns the speed at which the Universe is expanding. Astronomers determine this in two ways and herein lies the problem: the two methods yield different values.

The obvious method is to observe galaxies (the basic building blocks of the Universe) in the nearby Universe and measure how fast they’re moving away from us. They’re scattering like pieces of cosmic shrapnel in the aftermath of the Big Bang, the titanic explosion in which the Universe was born 13.82 billion years ago.

A simple and robust strategy developed by KAUST scientists could help to improve the safety and accuracy of CRISPR gene editing, a tool that is already approved for clinical use for the treatment of inherited blood disorders.

Strongly interacting systems play an important role in quantum physics and quantum chemistry. Stochastic methods such as Monte Carlo simulations are a proven method for investigating such systems. However, these methods reach their limits when so-called sign oscillations occur. This problem has now been solved by an international team of researchers from Germany, Turkey, the USA, China, South Korea and France using the new method of wavefunction matching. As an example, the masses and radii of all nuclei up to mass number 50 were calculated using this method. The results agree with the measurements, the researchers now report in the journal “Nature.”

All matter on Earth consists of tiny particles known as atoms. Each atom contains even smaller particles: protons, neutrons and electrons. Each of these particles follows the rules of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics forms the basis of quantum many-body theory, which describes systems with many particles, such as atomic nuclei.

One class of methods used by nuclear physicists to study atomic nuclei is the ab initio approach. It describes complex systems by starting from a description of their elementary components and their interactions. In the case of nuclear physics, the elementary components are protons and neutrons. Some key questions that ab initio calculations can help answer are the binding energies and properties of atomic nuclei and the link between nuclear structure and the underlying interactions between protons and neutrons.

Micius is considered quantum’s “Sputnik” moment, prompting American policymakers to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into quantum information science via the National Quantum Initiative. Bills such as the Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 have provided $1.5 billion for communications research, including quantum technology. The Biden Administration’s proposed 2024 budget includes $25 billion for “emerging technologies” including AI and quantum. Ultimately, quantum’s awesome computing power will soon render all existing cryptography obsolete, presenting a security migraine for governments and corporations everywhere.

Quantum’s potential to turbocharge AI also applies to the simmering technology competition between the world’s superpowers. In 2021, the U.S. Commerce Department added eight Chinese quantum computing organizations to its Entity List, claiming they “support the military modernization of the People’s Liberation Army” and adopt American technologies to develop “counter-stealth and counter-submarine applications, and the ability to break encryption.”

These restrictions dovetail with a raft of measures targeting China’s AI ambitions, including last year blocking Nvida from selling AI chips to Chinese firms. The question is whether competition between the world’s top two economies stymies overall progress on AI and quantum—or pushes each nation to accelerate these technologies. The answer could have far-reaching consequences.

Immunotherapy can boost the survival of early-stage lung cancer patients eligible for surgery when it’s combined with chemotherapy, a new clinical trial reports.

Those who got immunotherapy before and after surgery — along with pre-surgical chemo — had a 42% lower risk of cancer progression, recurrence or death than those who only received chemo, according to findings published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Further, about 25% of those who got immunotherapy and chemo had no cancer at all remaining after their surgery, compared with about 5% of those who got chemo alone.

SPECULOOS-3 b is practically the same size as our planet,” said Dr. Michaël Gillon. “A year, i.e. an orbit around the star, lasts around 17 hours. Days and nights, on the other hand, should never end.

What types of exoplanets can dwarf stars possess? This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to address as a team of international researchers announced the discovery of SPECULOOS 3 b, which is an Earth-sized exoplanet located approximately 55 light-years from Earth orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star. What makes this study unique is astronomers know very little about dwarf stars and the exoplanets that could potentially orbit them, despite the number of dwarf stars outnumbering Sun-like stars throughout the cosmos. This study holds the potential to help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of exoplanets around smaller stars and what the implications for finding life beyond Earth.

“SPECULOOS-3 b is practically the same size as our planet,” said Dr. Michaël Gillon, who is a professor at the University of Liège and first author of the study. “A year, i.e. an orbit around the star, lasts around 17 hours. Days and nights, on the other hand, should never end. We believe that the planet rotates synchronously, so that the same side, called the day side, always faces the star, just like the Moon does for the Earth. On the other hand, the night side hand, would be locked in endless darkness.”

Continue reading “SPECULOOS Project Discovers Earth-Sized Planet Around Ultra-Cool Star” »

Carl H. Johnson, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences, along with a team of Vanderbilt scientists, have succeeded in adjusting the daily biological clock of cyanobacteria, making the blue-green algae a more prolific producer of renewable fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals like insulin.

Quest users searching the Store will now be able to more easily find games published through its early access distribution channel, App Lab, which previously weren’t visible, effectively giving smaller studios a more level playing field.

Meta is making its operating system and app store available on third-party VR headsets sometime soon, and one of the bigger changes coming to the platform is the blurring of the barrier between the Main Store and App Lab.

Besides offering a way for studios to publish their titles in early access, App Lab also lets any developer who meets basic technical and content requirements ship software on the platform, effectively making it open to studios of any size.