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The quantum key to seeing through chaos

Researchers from the Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, the Kastler Brossel Laboratory and the University of Glasgow have developed an innovative method that renders a scattering medium transparent solely for information carried by entangled photon pairs, while the same medium remains completely opaque to classical light.

Their works are published in the journals Optica (optimization) and Nature Physics (selective image transmission).

Faithfully transmitting spatial information, such as the image of an object, is a major challenge in modern optics. However, this task becomes complex as soon as light travels through disordered media, such as biological tissues, atmospheric turbulence, or multimode optical fibers. In these environments, scattering scrambles the information, making the final image completely unreadable.

Quantum sensors use atoms, electrons and light as ultra‑steady rulers

Quantum computers get a lot of attention, even though they are not ready for prime time, but quantum sensors are already doing useful work. These sensors measure fields, forces and motion so small that ordinary background noise can drown them out. Some sensors are already in daily use, while others are moving from research labs into flight tests, hospitals and field instruments.

For example, a human brain produces magnetic signals in the femtotesla-to-picotesla range—billions of times weaker than a refrigerator magnet—far weaker than the magnetic noise in an ordinary room. That is why brain scanners that measure these signals need ultrasensitive detectors and strong magnetic shielding. In some hospitals, these detectors use quantum technology to help map brain activity before epilepsy surgery, without touching the brain.

Quantum sensors are showing up in other fields as well, including in navigation when GPS signals are jammed or spoofed, mapping gravity to reveal what’s underground, and boosting astronomers’ ability to measure gravitational waves. I am a photonics and quantum technologies researcher. My lab applies physics to develop a range of devices, including quantum sensors.

Better helium reporting to improve fission and fusion materials modeling

Standardizing calculations of the helium byproducts generated in advanced fission and fusion energy system materials can increase reactor safety and longevity, according to a study led by University of Michigan Engineering with collaborators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its management contractor UT-Battelle.

Through a series of simulations, the researchers found that modeling assumptions and key alloy elements—like carbon, nitrogen and nickel—significantly influence helium generation predictions. If left unaddressed, excess helium in real-world reactors could lead to faster component failure as materials swell and become brittle.

“If used, our reporting methods will improve the experimental and modeling fidelity of the nuclear materials databases being generated both domestically and internationally, driving the rapid deployment of advanced nuclear,” said Kevin Field, a professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences at U-M and corresponding author of the study published in the Journal of Physics: Energy.

Microsoft shares mitigation for YellowKey Windows zero-day

Microsoft has shared mitigations for YellowKey, a recently disclosed Windows BitLocker zero-day vulnerability that grants access to protected drives.

The security flaw was disclosed last week by an anonymous security researcher known as ‘Nightmare Eclipse,’ who described it as a backdoor and published a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit.

Nightmare Eclipse said that exploiting this zero-day involves placing specially crafted ‘FsTx’ files on a USB drive or EFI partition, rebooting into WinRE, and then triggering a shell with unrestricted access to the BitLocker-protected storage volume by holding down the CTRL key.

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