Stanford’s Simple New Quantum Computer Design: Photonic Computation in a Synthetic Time Dimension

TOPICS:OpticsPhotonicsQuantum ComputingQuantum PhysicsStanford University

By STANFORD UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER 30, 2021

A relatively simple quantum computer design that uses a single atom to manipulate photons could be constructed with currently available components.

Now, Stanford University researchers have proposed a simpler design for photonic quantum computers using readily available components, according to a paper published on November 29, 2021, in Optica. Their proposed design uses a laser to manipulate a single atom that, in turn, can modify the state of the photons via a phenomenon called “quantum teleportation.” The atom can be reset and reused for many quantum gates, eliminating the need to build multiple distinct physical gates, vastly reducing the complexity of building a quantum computer.

 

Giving Tuesday SETI Live: Recent Signals of Interest for SETI

You've read it in many headlines, researchers detect mysterious signal from outer space, but what does that mean? And how do scientists determine if a signal is from ET or natural phenomenon? Join this Giving Tuesday SETI Live with Dr. Wael Farah, a researcher at the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array, to learn all about recent signals of interest and how the scientific community studies them. Beth Johnson will host.

 

Astronomers Discover Largest-Known Comet Was Active at Near-Record Distance

TOPICS:AstronomyAstrophysicsCometUniversity Of Maryland

By UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND NOVEMBER 30, 2021

The Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (BB), represented in this artist’s rendition as it might look in the outer Solar System, is estimated to be about 1000 times more massive than a typical comet. The largest comet discovered in modern times, it is among the most distant comets to be discovered with a coma, which means ice within the comet is vaporizing and forming an envelope of dust and vapor around the comet’s core. Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva

 

Xenobots: Scientists Build the First-Ever Living Robots That Can Reproduce

TOPICS:BiotechnologyReproductive BiologyRoboticsUniversity Of Vermont

By UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT NOVEMBER 30, 2021

An AI-designed “parent” organism (C shape; red) beside stem cells that have been compressed into a ball (“offspring”; green). Credit: Douglas Blackiston and Sam Kriegman

AI-designed Xenobots reveal entirely new form of biological self-replication—promising for regenerative medicine.

To persist, life must reproduce. Over billions of years, organisms have evolved many ways of replicating, from budding plants to sexual animals to invading viruses.

Now scientists have discovered an entirely new form of biological reproduction — and applied their discovery to create the first-ever, self-replicating living robots.

 

Extraordinary Roman Mosaic and Villa Complex Discovered Beneath Farmer’s Field in England

TOPICS:ArchaeologyHistoryUniversity Of Leicester

By UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER NOVEMBER 29, 2021

A member of the team from University of Leicester Archaeological Services during the excavations of a large mosaic in Rutland, UK. Credit: Historic England

Archaeologists have unearthed the first Roman mosaic of its kind in the UK.

A Roman villa complex containing a rare mosaic has been discovered beneath a farmer’s field in Rutland, and was today protected by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the advice of Historic England.

 

The Quantum Phases of Matter XXI - Subir Sachdev

Joint Course with TIFR, IAS and ICTS

The Quantum Phases of Matter XXI :

Speaker: Subir Sachdev

Date: November 29, 2021

 

The Hunt for COVID Variants: How the New Omicron Variant Was Found and What We Know So Far

TOPICS:COVID-19Infectious DiseasesThe ConversationVirology

By THE CONVERSATION NOVEMBER 29, 2021

Scientists find variants by sequencing samples from people that have tested positive for the virus.

Since early in the COVID pandemic, the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa has been monitoring changes in SARS-CoV-2. This was a valuable tool to understand better how the virus spread. In late 2020, the network detected a new virus lineage, 501Y.V2, which later became known as the beta variant. Now a new SARS-CoV-2 variant has been identified – B.1.1.529. The World Health Organisation has declared it a variant of concern, and assigned it the name Omicron. To help us understand more, The Conversation Africa’s Ozayr Patel asked scientists to share what they know.

 

Black Hole Star Destroyer: Scientists Fling Model Stars at a Virtual Black Hole to See Who Survives

TOPICS:AstronomyAstrophysicsBlack HoleNASA

By JEANETTE KAZMIERCZAK, NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER NOVEMBER 28, 2021

This animation depicts a star experiencing spaghettification as it’s sucked in by a supermassive black hole during a ‘tidal disruption event’. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Watch as eight stars skirt a black hole 1 million times the mass of the Sun in these supercomputer simulations. As they approach, all are stretched and deformed by the black hole’s gravity. Some are completely pulled apart into a long stream of gas, a cataclysmic phenomenon called a tidal disruption event. Others are only partially disrupted, retaining some of their mass and returning to their normal shapes after their horrific encounters.

 

We Asked a NASA Expert: Is NASA Aware of Any Earth-Threatening Asteroids? [Video]

TOPICS:AsteroidJPLNASAPlanetary Defense

By NASA NOVEMBER 28, 2021

Is NASA aware of any Earth-threatening asteroids? Luckily there are no known asteroid threats to Earth for at least 100 years. But that doesn’t mean we’re not looking. Asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory breaks it down:

 

Caltech Researchers Read a Jellyfish’s Mind

TOPICS:BrainCalifornia Institute Of TechnologyJellyfishNeuroscience

By LORI DAJOSE, CALTECH NOVEMBER 27, 2021

Credit: B. Weissbourd

The human brain has 100 billion neurons, making 100 trillion connections. Understanding the precise circuits of brain cells that orchestrate all of our day-to-day behaviors—such as moving our limbs, responding to fear and other emotions, and so on—is an incredibly complex puzzle for neuroscientists. But now, fundamental questions about the neuroscience of behavior may be answered through a new and much simpler model organism: tiny jellyfish.

 

For the First Time Ever, Physicists Detect Signs of Neutrinos at Large Hadron Collider

TOPICS:CERNLarge Hadron ColliderNeutrinosParticle PhysicsUC Irvine

By UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - IRVINE NOVEMBER 27, 2021

Scientific first at CERN facility a preview of upcoming 3-year research campaign.

The international Forward Search Experiment team, led by physicists at the University of California, Irvine, has achieved the first-ever detection of neutrino candidates produced by the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN facility near Geneva, Switzerland.

 

New Russian Docking Module Arrives at International Space Station

TOPICS:International Space StationNASA

By NASA NOVEMBER 26, 2021

Russia’s new Prichal docking module arrives at the station providing additional docking ports and fuel transfer capabilities. Credit: NASA

 

NASA’s Mars Insight Lander Uses Wind-Induced Vibrations To Reveal the Red Planet’s Subsurface Layers

TOPICS:GeologyInSightMarsMeteoritesNASASeismologyUniversity Of Cologne

By UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE NOVEMBER 26, 2021

An artist illustration of the InSight lander on Mars. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough check up since it formed 4.5 billion years ago. The mission is looking for tectonic activity and meteorite impacts, studying how much heat is still flowing through the planet, and tracking Mars’ wobble as it orbits the sun. Credit: ​​NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

Time-Reversal Phenomenon: In the Quantum Realm, Not Even Time Flows As You Might Expect

TOPICS:Quantum PhysicsTimeUniversity Of Bristol

By UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL NOVEMBER 26, 2021

New study shows the boundary between time moving forward and backward may blur in quantum mechanics.

A team of physicists at the Universities of Bristol, Vienna, the Balearic Islands and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI-Vienna) has shown how quantum systems can simultaneously evolve along two opposite time arrows — both forward and backward in time.

 

New Ultrahard Diamond Glass Synthesized Using Carbon Buckyballs

TOPICS:BuckyballsCarnegie Institution For ScienceCrystalsDiamondFullerenesGeoscienceMaterials Science

By CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Researchers use multi-anvil press to turn fullerene C60 into diamond glass, similar to the process of converting graphite to diamond in high-pressure apparatus. Credit: Image by Yingwei Fei

It is the hardest known glass with the highest thermal conductivity among all glass materials.

 

Beyond Qubits: Cryogenic Chip Is Big Step To Scale Up Quantum Computing

TOPICS:Quantum ComputingUniversity Of Sydney

By UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY NOVEMBER 24, 2021

The Cryogenic CMOS chip platform. The chip itself is just below the shining component, which houses the qubits. Credit: University of Sydney

Cryogenic chip allows for control of thousands of qubits.

Through the Microsoft partnership with the University, Professor David Reilly and colleagues have invented a device that operates at 40 times colder than deep space to directly control thousands of qubits, the building blocks of quantum technology.