Lifeboat Foundation

A ten-qubit system based on spins in impure diamond achieves coherence times of over a minute.

In the global race to build a quantum computer, it’s still unclear what material will make the best qubit. Companies have bet on a variety of architectures based on trapped ions, neutral atoms, superconducting circuits, and more. Now, Tim Taminiau of Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, and colleagues have demonstrated that they can manipulate magnetic spins inside diamond into the robust quantum states necessary for quantum computing. In their experiment, they entangle all possible pairs of a ten-qubit system and produce states in which seven different qubits are entangled simultaneously. They also show that individual qubits can retain quantum coherence for up to 75 s—a record for solid-state systems.

Splitting the Universe

Hugh Everett blew up quantum mechanics with his Many-Worlds theory in the 1950s. Physics is only just catching up.

Sean Carroll

The fact that ISRO managed to place it there is an enormously laudable feat, and act of technical wizardry so immediately rewarding that it almost doesn’t matter that Vikram toppled over and went silent. It is, of course, hugely disappointing that Vikram looks to be unrecoverable. The science it and its Pragyan rover could have carried out in one of the geologically strangest and increasingly strategic parts of the Moon would have been a thrill to see. But, you know, space is hard.

India’s lunar lander and rover may not be recoverable, but the mission managed to successfully deploy an eye in the Moon’s airless skies, one that will conduct up to seven years of groundbreaking interplanetary science.

Tai chi for older adults and exercise for pregnant women are recommended in new official guidance.

Biopsies are currently the best way to detect cancer, but they’re invasive, uncomfortable, and can take a while to come back. Researchers have long been trying to find ways to eliminate the need for biopsies, and a team from the University of Michigan may have found one. Their new device, which is currently being tested, may be able to detect cancer cells that are circulating in a patient’s blood.

The University of Michigan team calls their new device “the epitome of precision medicine.” Dr. Daniel Hayes, Professor of Breast Cancer Research at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer center, believes that getting cancer cells from a patient’s blood could help researchers to learn more about the makeup of the tumor. He and his team created a wearable device that looks through the blood to filter out cancerous cells. If the device is found to be successful, it may eventually replace liquid biopsies (blood or urine samples) that pick up cancer markers.

Continue reading “New Wearable Device Could Accurately Detect Cancer” »

A dietary supplement, sarcosine, may help with schizophrenia as part of a holistic approach complementing antipsychotic medication, according to a UCL researcher.

In an editorial published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, Professor David Curtis (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment and QMUL Centre for Psychiatry) suggests the readily available product could easily be incorporated into treatment plans, while calling for clinical trials to clarify the benefit and inform guidelines.

“Sarcosine represents a very logical treatment and the small number of clinical trials so far do seem to show that it can be helpful. It certainly seems to be safe and some patients report feeling better on it,” he said.

Battlefield payload delivery, including for lifesaving medical supply, is likely going to be an option commanders regularly seek from drones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c4cv7rVlE8

Nick Bostrom is a Swedish philosopher at the University of Oxford known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, superintelligence risks, and the reversal test.

Concept car or Mars lunar rover? You decide.