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Categories: Computer Science: Quantum Computers, Offbeat: Earth and Climate

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     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated a quantum speedup over the most efficient classical computer algorithm possible for what is believed to be the first time.  The accomplishment was performed on an IBM Montreal Quantum Falcon r4 27-qubit device.

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Researchers have discovered they can detect atomic 'breathing,' or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. The sound of this atomic 'breath' could help researchers encode and transmit quantum information.

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Researchers working to improve the performance of superconducting qubits, the foundation of quantum computers, have been experimenting using different base materials in an effort to increase the coherent lifetimes of qubits. The coherence time is a measure of how long a qubit retains quantum information, and thus a primary measure of performance. Recently, scientists discovered that using tantalum in superconducting qubits makes them perform better, but no one has been able to determine why -- until now.

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Researchers report that in the absence of visible landmarks, desert ants increase the likelihood that foraging nest mates will find their way home quickly and safely by elevating their nest entrance. Ant colonies whose nests are found deep in the Tunisian saltpan are particularly reliant on the self-made landmarks. If the mound at the nest entrance was removed, they immediately began building a new hill, unless the researchers provided artificial landmarks. This phenomenon adds yet another fascinating facet to the amazing navigation skills of these tiny desert animals.

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Geneticists have unearthed a major event in the ancient history of sturgeons and paddlefish that has significant implications for the way we understand evolution. They have pinpointed a previously hidden 'whole genome duplication' (WGD) in the common ancestor of these species, which seemingly opened the door to genetic variations that may have conferred an advantage around the time of a major mass extinction some 200 million years ago.

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Researchers show how their multilegged walking robot can be steered by inducing a dynamic instability. By making the couplings between segments more flexible, the robot changes from walking straight to moving in a curved path. This work can lead to more energy-efficient and reliable robotic navigation of terrain.

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Scientists have developed a nanodevice that can measure the absolute power of microwave radiation down to the femtowatt level at ultra-low temperatures -- a scale trillion times lower than routinely used in verifiable power measurements. The device has the potential to significantly advance microwave measurements in quantum technology.

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Some of nature's most diverse pollinators often go unnoticed, even by scientists: long-snouted beetles called weevils. A new study provides a deep dive into the more than 600 species of weevils, including ones whose entire life cycles are interwoven with a specific plant that they help pollinate.

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A new study suggests iron-rich ancient sediments may have helped cause some of the largest volcanic events in the planet's history.

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Scientists have made a significant advancement with quantum technologies that could transform complex systems modelling with an accurate and effective approach that requires significantly re-duced memory.

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A team of engineers has recently shown that nearly any material can be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air. Researchers describe the 'generic Air-gen effect'-- nearly any material can be engineered with nanopores to harvest, cost effective, scalable, interruption-free electricity. The secret lies in being able to pepper the material with nanopores less than 100 nanometers in diameter.

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Scientists have found a new way to create a crystalline structure called a 'density wave' in an atomic gas. The findings can help us better understand the behavior of quantum matter, one of the most complex problems in physics.

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Armadillos have long been considered to be the only living mammals that produce protective bony plates. But a new study unexpectedly shows that African spiny mice produce the same structures beneath the skin of their tails, which until now had gone largely undetected.

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A quarter of a century ago, theoretical physicists proposed a way to transmit quantum information via quantum repeaters over long distances which would open the door to the construction of a worldwide quantum information network. Now, a new generation of researchers has built a quantum repeater node for the standard wavelength of telecommunication networks and transmitted quantum information over tens of kilometers.

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The number of qubits in superconducting quantum computers has risen rapidly during the last years, but further growth is limited by the need for ultra-cold operating temperatures. Connecting several smaller processors could create larger, more computationally powerful quantum computers -- however doing so poses new challenges. Researchers have now demonstrated quantum entanglement between optical and microwave photons that could lay the foundation for such a future quantum network.

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Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, a sea-dwelling lizard from the age of the dinosaurs, with strange, ridged teeth unlike those of any known reptile. Along with other recent finds from Africa, it suggests that mosasaurs and other marine reptiles were evolving rapidly up until 66 million years ago, when they were wiped out by an asteroid along with the dinosaurs and around 90% of all species on Earth.

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The connection between quantum physics and the theory of relativity is extremely hard to study. But now, scientists have set up a model system, which can help: Quantum particles can be tuned in such a way that the results can be translated into information about other systems, which are much harder to observe. This kind of 'quantum simulator' works very well and can lead to new insights about the nature of relativity and quantum physics.

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A species of tiny, colorful jumping spider employs two lines of defense to avoid being eaten: camouflaging with plants and walking like an ant. Researchers report that this combination of camouflage and movement mimicry helps the spiders evade spider-eating spiders but does not deter hungry praying mantises.

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Researchers have identified novel van der Waals (vdW) magnets using cutting-edge tools in artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, the team identified transition metal halide vdW materials with large magnetic moments that are predicted to be chemically stable using semi-supervised learning. These two-dimensional (2D) vdW magnets have potential applications in data storage, spintronics, and even quantum computing.

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Surveying the body sizes of Earth's living organisms, researchers found that the planet's biomass -- the material that makes up all living organisms -- is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.