Jan 14
It might look understated, but you’re looking at the most functionally complex integrated quantum circuit ever made from a single material—and it can both generate photons and entangle them, all at the same time.
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Nov 17
With Minute Physics videos we pretty much expect to have the universe explained to us in . . . a minute. Or maybe a few minutes. But this rundown of temperature and how to achieve "negative temperature" only takes 10 seconds. Impressive.
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Oct 30
Every so often, the thing you’ve been looking for all along is right under your nose. Like the latest material to offer itself up as the future of quantum computing—which has been sitting on banknotes for decades.
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Oct 25
What’s Wrong With Quantum Computing
Posted in: Today's Chili
You’ve heard plenty of people by now—including us—banging on about quantum computers, and how they’re the future of high-performance computing. Quantum computing, we’re meant to understand, is set to change the world. But despite its promise, it’s neither widely available nor particularly useful yet. Here’s why not.
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Sep 07
Toshiba’s quantum access networking promises spy-proof encryption for groups
Posted in: Today's Chili
Quantum cryptography is crack-proof by its nature — you can’t inspect data without changing it — but the available technology is currently limited to one-on-one connections. Toshiba has developed a quantum access networking system that could bring this airtight security to groups as large as 64 people. The approach gives each client a (relatively) basic quantum transmitter, and routes encrypted data through a central, high-speed photon detector that returns decryption keys. Such a network would not only secure entire workgroups, but lower the cost of encrypting each user. Quantum access networks won’t be useful across internet-scale distances until researchers improve the signal integrity, but there may be a time when surveillance agencies will run out of potential targets.
Filed under: Networking, Alt
Via: Quartz
Source: Nature
Aug 29
It’s no secret that our phones are often vulnerable to the occasional malicious hack, no matter how much we believe our passwords to be secure. But what if the encryption methods we used were based on the laws of physics instead of just mathematical formulas? The answer might just lie in quantum cryptology or quantum key distribution, which uses photon modification to encode and transmit data. However, the technology has typically required gear only found in top laboratories. Both sender and recipient need to have a source of those photons, the equipment has to be perfectly aligned and the encryption tends to be highly susceptible to noise.
Yet, Jeremy O’Brien and his physicist cohorts from the University of Bristol might have come upon a mobile-friendly solution. Their proposed method only requires the transmitting party to have the appropriate photon-sending equipment while the recipient needs just a simple device — say, a phone — to change them and send the information back. Called “reference frame independent quantum key distribution” or rfiQKD, the technique is robust enough to not rely on proper alignment and is apparently able to withstand a high level of noise as well. In a recent paper submitted to arXiv.org, O’Brien and his co-authors state that “the results significantly broaden the operating potential for QKD outside the laboratory and pave the way for quantum enhanced security for the general public with handheld mobile devices.” While we’re not sure if the method will solve all our security woes, it’s certainly a start. If you feel you’re able to grok the science, head on over to the source for more details on the team’s findings.
Source: arXiv
Aug 17
Alt-week 8.17.13: Fukushima’s permafrost plan, the rodent afterlife and quantum teleportation
Posted in: Today's ChiliAlt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.
Two years on, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown is still causing problems, and the Japanese government is looking at a particularly cool way (literally) to address them. Similarly chilling is the prospect that ‘dead’ rats aren’t quite as lifeless as you might think. Do rodents go to heaven? That, we can’t answer, but what we can tell you is that new research shows we’re edging ever closer to a quantum-computing future. This is alt-week.
Jun 18
You’ve probably heard people—including us—banging on about quantum computers for a long ol’ time. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you know exactly how they work. Fortunately this video is here to help.
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May 06
Los Alamos National Lab has had quantum-encrypted internet for over two years
Posted in: Today's Chili
Nothing locks down data better than a laser-based quantum-encrypted network, where the mere act of looking at your data causes it to irrevocably change. Although such systems already exist, they’re limited to point-to-point data transfers since a router would kill the message it’s trying to pass along just by reading it. However, Los Alamos National Labs has been testing an in-house quantum network, complete with a hub and spoke system that gets around the problem thanks to a type of quantum router at each node. Messages are converted at those junctures to conventional bits, then reconverted into a new encrypted message, which can be securely sent to the next node, and so on.
The researchers say it’s been running in the lab for the last two and a half years with few issues, though there’s still a security hole — it lacks quantum integrity at the central hub where the data’s reconverted, unlike a pure quantum network. However, the hardware would be relatively simple to integrate into any fiber-connected device, like a TV set-top box, and is still more secure than any current system — and infinitely better than the 8-character WiFi code you’re using now.
Filed under: Science, Internet, Alt
Source: Cornell University Library
Mar 31
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: TORQ Roadster, quantum-dot solar cells and an invisibility cloak
Posted in: Today's ChiliEach week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.
This week, Team Inhabitat traveled to Mountain View, Calif., to get a look at the 100 percent sun-powered Solar Impulse airplane before it embarks on its first flight across the United States. Inhabitat editors also braved the crowds at the 2013 New York International Auto Show to report on the hottest new hybrids and electric cars. Some of the green cars unveiled at this year’s show were the compact Mercedes-Benz 2014 B-Class Electric Drive and BMW’s sexy new Active Tourer plug-in hybrid. The Tesla Model S was named the 2013 World Green Car of the Year, beating out the Renault Zoe and the Volvo V60. And speaking of new auto unveils, Epic EV unveiled its new all-electric TORQ Roadster, which looks like a roofless Batmobile and can go from 0-60 MPH in just four seconds.
Filed under: Misc, Transportation, Science
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