It was a busy weekend for SpaceX, with the private space company launching three of its Falcon 9 rockets into orbit over a period of three days. SpaceX’s final launch may even have been carrying a classified government payload in addition to launching a spare satellite for low-earth-orbit operator Globalstar.
Officers spent an hour waiting for a key to a door that was open the whole time.
The 2022 Bentley Continental GT Mulliner rolls into public view as what Bentley calls the most luxurious member of the Continental range.
Several major companies are working on quantum computing projects, including IBM and Google. Amazon is also in the mix. The company opened the AWS Center for Quantum Computing last year and has offered quantum computing via Amazon Web Services since 2019. It’s expanding that work to what it says is an essential aspect of helping quantum tech reach its full potential: quantum networking. As such, the company has announced the AWS Center for Quantum Networking (CQN).
As with quantum computing, it’s early days for quantum networking. It will likely take several more years before researchers start getting the most out of quantum tech. However, Amazon has more resources than most to invest in the field.
Amazon notes that quantum networks will be able to connect quantum devices using single photons rather than laser beams (which are utilized in modern optical communications). However, along with enabling certain capabilities of quantum networks, there are some hurdles to overcome when it comes to using a single photon. Quantum mechanics limits the amplification of a single photon, which restricts the range of a network. “Also, the weakness of single photons complicates interfacing them with today’s quantum computing devices,” CQN research scientists Denis Sukachev and Mihir Bhaskar wrote in a blog post.
Researchers at the center will work on new technologies, such as quantum repeaters and transducers, to allow for the creation of global quantum networks. They’ll develop hardware, software and apps for quantum networks.
Among the potential applications of quantum networking is “enabling global communications protected by quantum key distribution with privacy and security levels not achievable using conventional encryption techniques,” Sukachev and Bhaskar wrote. “Quantum networks will also provide powerful and secure cloud quantum servers by connecting together and amplifying the capabilities of individual quantum processors.”
Before you complain about there being nothing to watch on Netflix, check out Rodrigo Feliciano’s potent reminder of just how awful watching broadcast TV once was. Using a Raspberry Pi, this hacked black-and-white set simulates the classic TV experience using modern content.
Researchers at the gonzo Pentagon research agency responsible for introducing the world to stealth bombers, insect-sized surveillance drones, and the internet itself have some reservations about the blockchain technology underpinning Web3.
“White Supremacists Facing Consequences Fills Me With Joy” may be the first anti-seditionist song to make you want to slow dance.
We got a high speed lesson in why – even with some SUVs and sedans promising supercar-level horsepower – not all performance cars are created equal.
The AI system called DALL-E 2 seems to have developed its own language that researchers have not yet been able to parse, and that’s a problem.
South Korea just took an important step toward becoming a spacefaring nation. The New York Timesreports the country successfully launched a satellite payload into orbit using a domestically-made rocket for the first time. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s 200-ton Nuri vehicle (aka Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II) ferried both a working satellite (for performance verification) and a dummy into orbit at an altitude of 435 miles.
The accomplishment was a long time in coming. South Korea first launched a satellite into orbit in 2013, but it co-developed the mission’s Naro rocket with Russia. Nuri also didn’t have the smoothest path. An initial test launch in October 2021 lifted a dummy satellite into space, but an oxidizer tank failure led to a premature burnout that prevented the satellite from staying in orbit.
The successful flight is just the first step in a major expansion of South Korea’s spaceflight efforts. Officials plan four more Nuri test launches between 2023 and 2027, and the verification payload will help test components for more satellite missions, including surveillance satellites to monitor North Korea. Long-term plans include a more powerful rocket as well as an uncrewed Moon lander that would arrive by the early 2030s.
The flight helps South Korea join just a handful of countries with similar spaceflight capabilities, including the US, Russia, China, France, India and Japan. There’s also large degree of national pride involved. This helps South Korea reduce its dependence on American satellites and rockets, including SpaceX’s Falcon 9 — it won’t have to worry as much about differing priorities and launch schedules.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
