Google Buys Quantum Computer for Artificial Intelligence Lab at NASA

To some of us, wicked fast quantum computers seem like the stuff of theory and some far off future. Not so if you work at Google or NASA. In a sign the technology is creeping closer to practical use, Google, NASA, and the non-profit Universities Space Research Association (USRA) recently announced formation of the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab and seeded it with a brand new 512-qubit D-Wave Two quantum computer.

Quantum computers promise to be orders of magnitude faster than classical computers and far better at the “optimization problems” associated with machine learning—improving not only Google search but perhaps ushering in the kind of “creative problem solving” humans associate with intelligence.

Each D-Wave quantum computer is housed in a 10’ featureless black cabinet. Inside the box, an apparatus hangs from the ceiling like a high-tech stalactite. A niobium chip resides in the tip and is cooled to a tiny fraction of a degree above absolute zero, at which point it becomes a superconductor. But apart from being colder than deep space, the way the computer itself functions differs from the classical model.

Thu, Nov 13, 2014  Permanent link

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"Blind" quantum computing

Researchers have succeeded in combining the power of quantum computing with the security of quantum cryptography and have shown that perfectly secure cloud computing can be achieved using the principles of quantum mechanics. They have performed an experimental demonstration of quantum computation in which the input, the data processing, and the output remain unknown to the quantum computer. The international team of scientists will publish the results of the experiment, carried out at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ) at the University of Vienna and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), in the forthcoming issue of Science.


http://medienportal.univie.ac.at/presse/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/detailansicht/artikel/quantenphysik-macht-sicheres-cloud-computing-moeglich/

Sun, Jan 22, 2012  Permanent link

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fresh look at 'faster-than-light' experiment

"The new test began two or three days ago," said Stavros Kasavenas, deputy head of France's National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics, also called the IN2P3.

"The criticism is that the results we had were a statistical quirk. The test should help (us) address this," he told AFP.

On September 23, the team stunned particle physicists by saying they had measured neutrinos that travelled around six kilometres (3.75 miles) per second faster than the velocity of light, determined by Einstein to be the highest speed possible.

The neutrinos had been measured along a 732-kilometre (454-mile) trajectory between the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland and a laboratory in Italy.

Through a complex transformation, a few of the protons arrive at their destination as neutrinos, travelling through Earth's crust.

The scientists at CERN and the Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy scrutinised the results of the so-called Opera experiment for nearly six months before making the announcement.

They admitted they were flummoxed and put out the begging bowl for an explanation. The results have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Since then, an open-access online physics review, Arxiv, has had scores of papers submitted to it.

Some point to perceived technical glitches, noting that only a minute flaw in measurement would have had the neutrinos busting the speed of light.

Kasavenas said CERN was making available a special form of proton beam until November 6.

The idea is to assess a modified measurement technique.

If this works, the technique will be used in a bigger, "highly important" experiment that will be carried out in April, he said.

"The idea with the new beam is to have protons that are generated in packets lasting one or two nanoseconds with a gap between each packet of 500 nanoseconds," he said.

"We will be able to measure the neutrinos one by one, but to do this we need a beam that is a hundred times less intense than the previous one."

Sun, Oct 30, 2011  Permanent link

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How to unbalance nothingness

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-10-unbalance-nothingness.html

Sat, Oct 29, 2011  Permanent link

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US atom smasher may have found new force of nature

Special seminar in auditorium today: new CDF result
The CDF collaboration will present a new result at 4 p.m. today in the Auditorium. Viviana Cavaliere, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will give the special seminar, titled "Invariant Mass Distribution of Jet Pairs Produced in Association with a W boson in proton-antiproton Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV." Streaming video of the talk will be available through Visual Media Services live video stream.

Invariant Mass Distribution of Jet Pairs Produced in Association with a W boson in proton-antiproton Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

Live from the auditorium at Fermilab - there will be an archive at a different URL

This live stream is scheduled from ...
16:00:00 to 17:30:00 (CDT)
21:00:00 to 22:30:00 (GMT)
on 04/06/2011

Note: This is a Flash Video Presentation

Note: This is a Flash Video Presentation

http://www.fnal.gov/

 http://vms-db-srv.fnal.gov/fmi/xsl/VMS_Site_2/000Return/video/r_livelogicindex.xsl?&-recid=573&-find=  src="userdata/rFug9d2N/1302113403/thehiggsboso.jpg" border="0" width="512" height="341" class="padTopBot">

Wed, Apr 6, 2011  Permanent link

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Physicists describe method to observe timelike entanglement

In "ordinary" quantum entanglement, two particles possess properties that are inherently linked with each other, even though the particles may be spatially separated by a large distance. Now, physicists S. Jay Olson and Timothy C. Ralph from the University of Queensland have shown that it's possible to create entanglement between regions of spacetime that are separated in time but not in space, and then to convert the timelike entanglement into normal spacelike entanglement. They also discuss the possibility of using this timelike entanglement from the quantum vacuum for a process they call "teleportation in time."

Sun, Jan 30, 2011  Permanent link

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Laser Propulsion Could Beam Rockets into Space

Sat, Jan 22, 2011  Permanent link

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Alchemy as the Art and Science of Transformation

Kevin Townley, a long time practitioner and scholar of Alchemy and other esoteric disciplines, returns to discuss Alchemy as the art and science of transformation. Joe and Kevin discuss the life (spirit), sensitivity (awareness) and chemical (material) properties of phenomenon which have become separated since the 18th century, when the emerging field of modern chemistry became exclusively focused on matter. http://www.shiftingdimensions.com 

Tue, Aug 31, 2010  Permanent link

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ndm-1

ND Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1)[1] is a gene that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics of the carbapenem family. It encodes a type of beta-lactamase enzyme called a carbapenemase. Bacteria that carry this gene are often referred to by news reporters as "superbugs."[2] There are currently no new drugs in the research pipelines that aim to stop NDM-1.[3] To date, some strains of E.coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are known carriers of the gene, but the gene can be transmitted from one strain of bacteria to another through horizontal gene transfer.




Function

The gene produces a metallo-beta-lactamase, an enzyme that hydrolyzes and inactivates antibiotics in the beta-lactam family. Those antibiotics were, until recently, capable of killing most bacteria by inhibiting the synthesis of one of their cell wall layers. The resistance conferred by this gene therefore aids the expansion of bacteria that carry it throughout a human host, since they will face less opposition/competition from populations of antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, which will be diminished by the original antibacterial treatment.

Origin and spread

The gene was named after New Delhi, the capital city of India, and was discovered by Yong et al. in 2009.[4] It has reportedly been found in Pakistan, India and most other Asian countries and has been brought from that region to Europe by people undergoing hospitalization in those countries. In several cases people went there to undergo cosmetic surgery at a lower cost, getting infected during the procedure and bringing the resistant bacteria back to their country of origin. The Indian health ministry has disputed this conclusion, describing the statement that the gene originated in India as "unfair" and stating that Indian hospitals are perfectly safe for treatment.[5]

As of June 2010, there were three reported cases of Enterobacteriaceae isolates bearing this newly described resistance mechanism in the US.[6] However, US experts have stated that it is unclear if this strain is any more dangerous than existing antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which are already common in the USA.[7]

Thu, Aug 12, 2010  Permanent link

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5 trillion digits of Pi

Announcing 5 trillion digits of Pi. New World Record for both Desktop and Supercomputer:

Fri, Aug 6, 2010  Permanent link

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