Debunked Google's quantum supremacy.

 

Researchers now claim to have replicated the performance of Google's Sycamore quantum computer using traditional hardware.

Google claimed in 2019 its Sycamore system achieved the coveted quantum supremacy level of computing with its Sycamore system. The problem used to solve the claim has just been solved by today’s power-based accelerator. According to the report by Science, researchers in China recently solved the same computational problem that led Google to claim the title, but still being equipped with 512 GPUs, which were enough to accelerate the original algorithm resuscitation. The quantum theory, however, refers to the moment when a quantum computer is able to solve a problem that cannot be solved by a classical computer.

At that time Google said it would take the most powerful supercomputer – the IBM-provided summit – an unholy 10,000 years to solve the same computation that its quantum computer crunched in 200 seconds. It took fifteen hours to do that same thing with 512 GPUs.

Google’s claim to the quantum supremacy claim reposed on discovery of a semblance of interference in the qubit’s values. The quantum computing is a biffy master, and all of the current approaches to it are prone to decoherence. This means that the environment and the qubits design and operation make mistakes in computation.

After adjusting this system’s operations and running the same algorithm over Sycamore for 200 seconds (and millions of iterations), Google then extrapolated a result with the result showing the pattern of the processor’s departures from the exact, correct values that it should be outputting. These deviations occurred because of the mistake that increased the likelihood of certain outputs compared to others; finally, this pattern was visualized using a spiky graph that hardly ever reproduced.

This graphical representation of the relationship between errors and outputs is what Google claims that gave it the quantum top priority. That same graph was achieved by Chinese scientists. To accomplish this, they represented the problem through an interfering 3D mathematics array – a matrix – which enabled their 512 GPU’s advanced tensor cores to solve it by simply multiplying the values in the array.

But the engineers, which emphasized, pointed out one point: technology is continuously evolving and quantum computing is now beginning to run through the leaps and bounds phase that is now a few and far between occurrence for classical systems. Google’s Sycamore would be able to provide the spiky outline more fidelity than it did, at 2 p.m. – today’s quantum computers would be able to do it better, due to the improvements in errors correction.

The low fidelity achieved by Sycamore was the perfect bit to give to the Chinese scientists some extra space to just improve their calculations’ fidelity to 0.37%. That’s enough to beat Sycamore, but still a far cry from what is theoretically possible.

And while that is, too, likely to be true, it might be quite possible.

3D printing to the next level.

 

On April 30, 2021, tenants of the first 3D printed concrete house in the Netherlands received their keys. The house in Eindhoven, fully complies with all the country's stringent construction requirements.

The single story building has 94 square meters of floor space, including a living room and two bedrooms. It replicates the shape of a large rock, which fits well with the natural site and demonstrates the freedom of form offered by 3D concrete printing. Thanks to extra thick insulation and a connection to the heating network, the house is highly comfortable and energy efficient, with an energy performance coefficient of 0.25.

The house consists of 24 printed concrete elements that were printed layer by layer at a factory in Eindhoven. The elements were then transported by truck to the construction site and placed on a foundation. The house was then equipped with a roof and window frames, with finishes applied afterward.

According to the team, it was especially challenging to print the building's inclined walls, but learning from the prototype helped them master the technique in the next 4 buildings planned. Concrete has been the most widely used building material in the world for decades and we are all by now familiar with it.

In principle, printed houses can be built much more quickly, with more flexibility and potential for custom designs. The ambition of the Milestone Project partners is for 3D concrete printing to become a sustainable construction method that contributes to solving the housing deficit.

Similarity of Brain's Neuron and Galaxy Networks.

 

Neuronal and galaxy networks are remarkably similar, according to an astrophysicist and neuroscientist team. Both structures are also more alike to each other than either one is to the interior of a neuronal body or the interior of a galaxy, respectively.

The observable universe contains 100 billion galaxies, while the human brain contains about the same number of neurons and non-neuronal cells.

Visually, a computer simulation of the cosmic web and a cross-section of brain tissue have a similar structure of filaments embedded with bodies (cells or galaxies). The cosmic web consists of all the stars, gas and dark matter in the universe.

The cosmic web and human brain have a similar complexity. This is estimated by measuring the size of the smallest computer program that could predict the behavior of a network. For cosmic networks, this is 1 to 10 petabytes  of data. The memory capacity of the human brain is around 2.5 petabytes. In other words, “the entire life experience of a person can also be encoded into the distribution of galaxies in our universe.”

In comparing these two structures, the researchers faced a number of challenges, such as differing sources of data: telescopes and simulations for galaxy networks; versus electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and functional magnetic resonance for neuronal networks.

Vastly different scales: a neuronal network fits inside your head, but the cosmic web a structure made up of all of the universe’s galaxies stretches across tens of billions of light-years.

While computer simulations of the evolution of the cosmic web have been carried out, none have been performed for the human brain. In lieu of that, the researchers estimated the complexity of the brain based on its intelligence and cognition.

The researchers also found that the power spectra of the cosmic web and the human brain are not fractal. Fractal patterns show up in other complex systems, such as tree branches, clouds and water turbulence. The non-fractal nature of the cosmic web and brain suggests that they may be “scale-dependent, self-organized structures.”

Scientists also calculated other parameters that characterize both the neuronal network and the cosmic web: the average number of connections in each node and the tendency of clustering several links in relevant central nodes within the system.

Programs like the Human Brain Project, designed to simulate an entire human neuronal network, and the Square Kilometer Array, the biggest enterprise ever in radio astronomy, will help us fill in some of these details and understand whether the universe is even more surprising than we thought.

The eye immediately grasps some similarity between images of the cosmic web and the brain. In Figure 1 we show a simulated distribution of cosmic matter in a slice 1 billion light-years across, along with a real image of a 4 micrometers thick slice through the human cerebellum.

Within both systems, only 30% of their masses are composed of galaxies and neurons. Within both systems, galaxies and neurons arrange themselves in long filaments or nodes between the filaments.

Finally, within both systems, 70% of mass or energy distribution comprises components playing a passive role: water in the brain and dark energy in the observable Universe.

"Once again, structural parameters have identified unexpected agreement levels. Probably, the connectivity within the two networks evolves following similar physical principles, despite the striking and obvious difference between the physical powers regulating galaxies and neurons",these two complex networks show more similarities than those shared between the cosmic web and a galaxy or a neuronal network and the inside of a neuronal body".

The encouraging results of this pilot study are prompting the researchers to think that new and effective analysis techniques in both fields, cosmology, and neurosurgery, will allow for a better understanding of the routed dynamics underlying the temporal evolution of these two systems.

The World's largest digital camera.

 

Crews at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have taken the first 3,200-megapixel digital photos – the largest ever taken in a single shot – with an extraordinary array of imaging sensors that will become the heart and soul of the future camera of Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

The images are so large that it would take 378 4K ultra-high-definition TV screens to display one of them in full size, and their resolution is so high that you could see a golf ball from about 15 miles away. These and other properties will soon drive unprecedented astrophysical research.

The complete focal plane of the future LSST Camera is more than 2 feet wide, by capturing light and converting it into electrical signals that produce digital images.

Now that the team at the Observatory has confirmed the focal plane is working, it will be placed inside a cryostat—the plane needs to be kept at -150 °F to function. The cryostat, in turn, will be inserted into the main camera body.

Camera contains 189 individual sensors, or charge-coupled devices (CCDs), that each bring 16 megapixels to the table – about the same number as the imaging sensors of most modern digital cameras.

Individual imaging sensors and supporting electronics of the LSST Camera’s focal plane are packaged into units, called “rafts.” There are two different types of units: 21 square rafts (center), each containing nine sensors, will produce the images for Rubin Observatory’s science program. An additional four specialty rafts (left) with only three sensors each will be used for camera focusing and synchronizing the telescope with Earth’s rotation.

The focal plane has some truly extraordinary properties. Not only does it contain a whopping 3.2 billion pixels, but its pixels are also very small – about 10 microns wide – and the focal plane itself is extremely flat, varying by no more than a tenth of the width of a human hair. This allows the camera to produce sharp images in very high resolution. At more than 2 feet wide, the focal plane is enormous compared to the 1.4-inch-wide imaging sensor of a full-frame consumer camera and large enough to capture a portion of the sky about the size of 40 full moons.

Next, the sensor array will be integrated into the world’s largest digital camera, currently under construction at SLAC. Once installed at Rubin Observatory in Chile, the camera will produce panoramic images of the complete Southern sky – one panorama every few nights for 10 years.

 Using the LSST Camera, the observatory will create the largest astronomical movie of all time and shed light on some of the biggest mysteries of the universe, including dark matter and dark energy.

The completion of the LSST Camera focal plane and its successful tests is a huge victory by the camera team that will enable Rubin Observatory to deliver next-generation astronomical science.

The camera will explore cosmic mysteries  of Space and Time.

Every substance we know of is cuttable, until now.

Researchers at Durham University in England and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute have developed a material,  they claim is the first manufactured uncuttable material. The compound is made of porous aluminum and ceramic, so it is lighter than steel and yet will withstand any grinder.

Engineers claim that Proteus resists cutting by turning the cutting tools against themselves and dulling them. The material is made up of an aluminum matrix embedded with ceramic spheres. It is 15 percent less dense than steel making it ideal for applications like lightweight armor.

As the cutting tool bites into the aluminum, it suffers extreme vibrations when it hits the ceramic spheres. This resonance causes the tool to start bouncing, thus "dulling" its cutting edge. Furthermore, as the ceramic is hit, fine dust particles fill in the matrix. The interatomic forces between the grains increase proportionately to the amount of energy applied, making the material even harder the faster the tool spins.

The force and energy of the disc or the drill is turned back on itself, and it is weakened and destroyed by its own attack.Essentially cutting material is like cutting through a jelly filled with nuggets. If you get through the jelly, you hit the nuggets, and the material will vibrate in such a way that it destroys the cutting disc or drill bit.

"Proteus'' is effective against angle grinders, drills, and other conventional cutting tools. It is even effective against high-pressure water jet cutters. In this instance, the material works differently in that the spheres' rounded surfaces disperse the water weakening the jet.

The researchers see possible applications in the safety and security sectors. Armored vehicles could be stronger and lighter, or locks could prove invulnerable to cutting tools. Ironically, it could also be used to make protective equipment for those who use cutting tools.

PARTICLE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE FOUND.⚛

The European Center for Particle Physics (CERN) announced the discovery of a strange new particle made up of four quarks which,  will help understand how they interact to form the protons and neutrons found in the nuclei of atoms.

Usually, particles contain two or three quarks but the new particle is made up of four quarks, thus is called tetraquark and is nothing like the other subatomic particles that were discovered previously. Scientists claim that this is the first of its kind that is made up the same class of quarks. The discovery will be of immense help to scientists who want to have a better understanding of the complex ways in which quarks transform into a composite particle.

A quark is an elementary particle which is one of the building blocks of a matter. In general, subatomic particles such as protons and neutrons found inside atomic nuclei contain three quarks which bind themselves together through nuclear force to make up a matter like humans.

It was only in 2017 that the existence of tetraquarks was acknowledged. This type of configuration is rare while pentaquark (five quarks) was discovered only last year. The existence of a six-quark particle is also possible as per scientists.

"Particles made up of four quarks are already exotic, and the one we have just discovered is the first to be made up of four heavy quarks of the same type, specifically two charm quarks and two charm anti-quarks,''

What makes the new discovery more interesting is that up until now, tetraquarks with "two heavy quarks at most and none with more than two quarks of the same type". The research paper of the new discovery is, however, pending peer review but it further supports the existence of exotic particles.

The hunt for the exotic particles is a long process. Particularly, in this discovery, scientists combed through the collision data of the LHC's two runs from 2009-2013 and 2015-2018 which had significant upgrades.

In the new technique, excess collision events of "bumps" were considered. The scientists found the excess in the pair of J/ψ meson particle which contains two quarks — one charm quark and a charm antiquark.

All the mesons are hadronic subatomic particles that contain a quark and an anti-quark. They are unstable in nature and decay rather quickly  in less than one zeptosecond (10−21 second). Hence, it is difficult to detect. But scientists found a way to deal with that. Mesons decay into muon particles (another elementary particle with a negative electric charge) and researchers used those to discover the tetraquark.

The discovery opens up a new chapter in particle physics. Until now, scientists only observed two heavy quarks and none with more than two quarks of similar type. So, it will allow them to study matter particles in extreme case scenarios. It will also help them test models of quantum chromodynamics which is a theory of strong interaction between quarks and gluons  elementary particles that make up proton, neutron and pion.

These exotic heavy particles provide extreme and yet theoretically fairly simple cases with which to test models that can then be used to explain the nature of ordinary matter particles, like protons or neutrons. It is therefore very exciting to see them appear in collisions at the LHC for the first time. 

However, like previous other tetraquark discoveries, it is still not clear whether the new particle is a true tetraquark. In a proper tetraquark, four quarks tightly bound together or two quark particles weakly bound in a molecule-like structure. Further studies will be conducted on the subject.

Covid-19 has 'mutated' into TWO strains.☣

Researchers in China say preliminary research shows there are two strains of the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 3,200 people and infected more than 92,000 across the globe. 

The scientists warned that the data in the study was still very limited. 

Researchers named the aggressive strain “L type,” and the less aggressive version “S type.” The L type was seen more often in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, but the frequency of this type of virus has since decreased from early January.

Genetic analysis of a man in the US who tested positive on January 21, also showed it is possible to be infected with both types.

New mutations were also discovered in the case of a 61-year-old man from Brazil, although Dr David Heyman of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said a vaccine should still work on the emerging strain. 

Scientists said the results show the development of new variations of the spike in COVID-19 cases was likely due to “mutations and natural selection besides recombination.”

These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

A Bio-Weapon stolen from Canada.🧪

A Level 4 virology facility is a lab equipped to work with the most serious and deadly human and animal diseases. That makes the Arlington Street lab one of only a handful in North America capable of handling pathogens requiring the highest level of containment, such as Ebola.

This Winnipeg based Canadian lab was targeted by Chinese agents.

 

On 5 July 2018, officials at the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg, Canada, escorted Xiangguo Qiu, biologist Keding Cheng, and an unknown number of her students from the lab and revoked their access rights. The Public Health Agency of Canada, which operates the lab, confirmed it had referred an “administrative matter”. 

The deadly animal virus epidemic spreading globally may have originated in a Wuhan laboratory linked to China’s covert biological weapons program.

from 2015 showing China’s most advanced virus research laboratory known the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The laboratory is the only declared site in China capable of working with deadly viruses,the institute is linked to Beijing’s covert biological weapons program.

Certain laboratories in the institute have probably been engaged, in terms of research and development, in Chinese biological weapons.

AI that improves when you smile.😀

a team of researchers from Microsoft proposes to imbue reinforcement learning, an AI training technique that employs rewards to stimulate systems towards positively positive goals, which claim that it could boost useful exploration to gather critical experiences to The learning.

As the researchers explain, reinforcement learning is commonly implemented through specific policy rewards designed for a predefined goal. Problematically, these extrinsic Rewards are limited in scope and can be difficult to define, unlike intrinsic Rewards that are independent of the task and quickly indicate success or failure.

In the search for an intrinsic policy, the researchers developed a framework that includes mechanisms motivated by human affection, one that motivates agents through impulses such as delight. Using a computer vision system that models the reward and another system that uses data to solve multiple tasks, measures human smiles as a positive effect.

The framework encourages agents to explore virtual or real-world environments without entering dangerous situations, and has the advantage of being independent of any specific application of artificial intelligence. A positive intrinsic reward mechanism predicts human smile responses as exploration evolves, while a sequential decision-making framework learns a generalizable policy. As for the positive intrinsic affect model, it changes the selection of actions so that it biases the actions that provide better intrinsic rewards, and a final component uses the data collected during the agent's exploration to create representations for visual recognition and understanding of Tasks.

To test the framework, the researchers collected data from five subjects responsible for exploring a three-dimensional digital maze with a vehicle, as well as synchronized images of each of their faces. (Each person drove for 11 minutes each, providing a total of 64,000 pictures). Participants were told to explore the environment, but were not given additional instructions on other objectives, and their smile responses were calculated and recorded using an open source algorithm.

The intrinsic motivation model based on affection was trained using the data of the subjects, with image frames of the vehicle dashboard that serves as input and the probability of smile as output. The results of other experiments show that the framework improved safe exploration and at the same time allowed efficient learning; Compared to the baselines, the researchers' intrinsic reward policy covered 46% more space in the maze and collided with obstacles 29% less time.

That accumulated experiences can help us learn general representations to solve tasks, including depth estimation, scene segmentation and translation of sketch to image .

Traveling in a quantum superposition.⏳

The twin paradox known from Einstein's special theory of relativity. This thought experiment revolves around a pair of twins: While one brother travels into space, the other remains on Earth. Consequently, for a certain period of time, the twins are moving in different orbits in space. The result when the pair meets again is quite astounding: The twin who has been travelling through space has aged much less than his brother who stayed at home. This phenomenon is explained by Einstein's description of time dilation: Depending on the speed and where in the gravitational field two clocks move relative to each other, they tick at different speeds.
It’s also been verified by real world experiments, and is even taken into consideration in order for everyday GPS technology to work.”

In the quantum version, rather than twins there will be only one particle traveling in a quantum superposition.

A quantum superposition means the particle is in two locations at the same time, in each of them with some probability, and yet this is different to placing the particle in one or the other location randomly.

It’s another way for an object to exist, only allowed by the laws of quantum physics.
This would leave an unmistakable signature in the results of the experiment, and that’s what we hope will be found when the experiment is realized in the future.

It could lead to advanced technologies that will allow physicists to build more precise sensors and clocks – potentially, a key part of future navigation systems, autonomous vehicles and earthquake early-warning networks.

The experiment itself will also answer some open questions in modern physics.

1.2 TRILLION TRANSISTORS💠

Intel’s first 4004 processor in 1971 had 2,300 transistors, and a recent Advanced Micro Devices processor has 32 billion transistors. New artificial intelligence company Cerebras Systems is unveiling the largest semiconductor chip ever built.The Cerebras Wafer Scale Engine has 1.2 trillion transistors.

The Cerebras Systems chip is a single chip interconnected on a single wafer. The interconnections are designed to keep it all functioning at high speeds so the trillion transistors all work together as one.

In this way, the Cerebras Wafer Scale Engine is the largest processor ever built, and it has been specifically designed to process artificial intelligence applications. 

Samsung has actually built a flash memory chip, the eUFS, with 2 trillion transistors. But the Cerebras chip is built for processing, and it boasts 400,000 cores on 42,225 square millimeters. It is 56.7 times larger than the largest Nvidia graphics processing unit, which measures 815 square millimeters and 21.1 billion transistors.

The WSE also contains 3,000 times more high-speed, on-chip memory and has 10,000 times more memory bandwidth.

Chip size is profoundly important in AI, as big chips process information more quickly, producing answers in less time. Reducing the time to insight, or “training time,” allows researchers to test more ideas, use more data, and solve new problems. Google, Facebook, OpenAI, Tencent, Baidu, and many others argue that the fundamental limitation of today’s AI is that it takes too long to train models. Reducing training time thus removes a major bottleneck to industrywide progress.

These performance gains are accomplished by accelerating all the elements of neural network training. A neural network is a multistage computational feedback loop. The faster inputs move through the loop, the faster the loop learns, or “trains.” The way to move inputs through the loop faster is to accelerate the calculation and communication within the loop.

The 46,225 square millimeters of silicon in the Cerebras WSE house 400,000 AI-optimized, no-cache, no-overhead, compute cores and 18 gigabytes of local, distributed, superfast SRAM memory as the one and only level of the memory hierarchy. Memory bandwidth is 9 petabytes per second. The cores are linked together with a fine-grained, all-hardware, on-chip mesh-connected communication network that delivers an aggregate bandwidth of 100 petabits per second. More cores, more local memory, and a low-latency high-bandwidth fabric together create the optimal architecture for accelerating AI work.

The WSE contains 400,000 AI-optimized compute cores. Called SLAC for Sparse Linear Algebra Cores, the compute cores are flexible, programmable, and optimized for the sparse linear algebra that underpins all neural network computation. SLAC’s programmability ensures cores can run all neural network algorithms in the constantly changing machine learning field.

Because the Sparse Linear Algebra Cores are optimized for neural network compute primitives, they achieve industry-best utilization — often triple or quadruple that of a graphics processing unit. In addition, the WSE cores include Cerebras-invented sparsity harvesting technology to accelerate computational performance on sparse workloads like deep learning.

Zeros are prevalent in deep learning calculations. Often, the majority of the elements in the vectors and matrices that are to be multiplied together are zero. And yet multiplying by zero is a waste of silicon, power, and time as no new information is made.

Because graphics processing units and tensor processing units are dense execution engines — engines designed to never encounter a zero — they multiply every element even when it is zero. When 50-98% of the data is zeros, as is often the case in deep learning, most of the multiplications are wasted. Imagine trying to run forward quickly when most of your steps don’t move you toward the finish line. As the Cerebras Sparse Linear Algebra Cores never multiply by zero, all zero data is filtered out and can be skipped in the hardware, allowing useful work to be done in its place.

The Cerebras Wafer Scale Engine includes more cores, with more local memory, than any chip to date and has 18 Gigabytes of on-chip memory accessible by its core in one clock cycle. The collection of core-local memory aboard the WSE delivers an aggregate of 9 petabytes per second of memory bandwidth 3,000 times more on-chip memory and 10,000 times more memory bandwidth than the leading graphics processing unit.

Swarm communication fabric, the interprocessor communication fabric used on the WSE, achieves breakthrough bandwidth and low latency at a fraction of the power draw of the traditional communication techniques. Swarm provides a low-latency, high-bandwidth, 2D mesh that links all 400,000 cores on the WSE with an aggregate 100 petabits per second of bandwidth. Swarm supports single-word active messages that can be handled by receiving cores without any software overhead.

Routing, reliable message delivery, and synchronization are handled in hardware. Messages automatically activate application handlers for every arriving message. Swarm provides a unique, optimized communication path for each neural network. Software configures the optimal communication path through the 400,000 cores to connect processors according to the structure of the particular user-defined neural network being run.

Typical messages traverse one hardware link with nanosecond latency. The aggregate bandwidth across a Cerebras WSE is 100 petabits per second. Communication software such as TCP/IP and MPI is not needed, so their performance penalties are avoided. The energy cost of communication in this architecture is well under 1 picojoule per bit, which is nearly two orders of magnitude lower than in graphics processing units. With a combination of massive bandwidth and exceptionally low latency, the Swarm communication fabric enables the Cerebras WSE to learn faster than any currently available solutions.

Cerebras has started shipping the hardware to a small number of customers.It has not yet revealed how much the chips cost.

How close are we really to building a quantum internet.⚛

From insecure communication links to inadequately guarded data in the cloud, vulnerabilities are everywhere.

They want to build quantum networks sporting full-blown quantumness, where information is created, stored and moved around in ways that mirror the bizarre behavior of the quantum world think of the metaphorical cats that can be both dead and alive or particles that can exert “spooky action at a distance.” Freed from many limitations of “classical” networks, these systems could provide a level of privacy, security and computational clout that is impossible to achieve with today’s internet.

Although a fully realized quantum network is still a far-off vision, recent breakthroughs in transmitting, storing and manipulating quantum information have convinced some physicists that a simple proof-of-principle is imminent.

From defects in diamonds and crystals that help photons change color, to drones that serve as spooky network nodes, researchers are using a smorgasbord of exotic materials and techniques in this quantum quest. The first stage, many say, would be a quantum network using standard optical fiber to connect at least three small quantum devices about 50 to 100 kilometers apart.

Such a network may be built in the next five years, according to Ben Lanyon of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information in Innsbruck, Austria. Lanyon’s team is part of Europe’s Quantum Internet Alliance, coordinated by Stephanie Wehner at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, which is tasked with creating a quantum network. Europe is competing with similar national efforts in China—which in 2016 launched Micius, a quantum communications satellite—as well as in the United States. Last December, the U.S. government enacted the National Quantum Initiative Act, which will lavishly fund a number of research hubs dedicated to quantum technologies, including quantum computers and networks. “The main feature of a quantum network is that you are sending quantum information instead of classical information,” says Delft University’s Ronald Hanson. Classical information deals in bits that have values of either 0 or 1. Quantum information, however, uses quantum bits, or qubits, which can be in a superposition of both 0 and 1 at the same time. Qubits can be encoded, for example, in the polarization states of a photon or in the spin states of electrons and atomic nuclei.

In what Hanson calls the “low hanging fruit of quantum networks,” qubits are already being used for creating secret keys—random strings of 0s and 1s—that can then be used to encode classical information, an application called quantum key distribution (QKD).

QKD involves one party, say Alice, sending qubits to Bob, who measures the qubits (Alice and Bob first appeared in a 1978 paper on public key cryptography, and have now become placeholders for nodes in a quantum network). Only for certain types of measurements will Bob get the same value that Alice encoded in the qubits. Alice and Bob can compare notes over a public channel to figure out what those measurements are, without actually sharing the qubit values. They can then use those private values to create a secret shared key to encrypt classical messages. Crucially, if an intruder were to intercept the qubits, Alice and Bob could detect the intrusion, discard the qubits and start over—theoretically continuing until no one is eavesdropping on the quantum channel.

In July last year, Alberto Boaron of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and colleagues reported distributing secret keys using QKD over a record distance of more than 400 kilometers of optical fiber, at 6.5 kilobits per second. In contrast, commercially available systems, such as the one sold by the Geneva-based company ID Quantique, provide QKD over 50 kilometers of fiber.

Ideally, quantum networks will do more than QKD. The next step would be to transfer quantum states directly between nodes. Whereas qubits encoded using a photon’s polarization can be sent over optical fibers (as is done with QKD), using such qubits to transfer large amounts of quantum information is problematic. Photons can get scattered or absorbed along the way, or may simply fail to register in a detector, making for an unreliable transmission channel. Fortunately, there is a more robust way to exchange quantum information—via the use of another property of quantum systems, called entanglement.

When two particles or quantum systems interact, they can get entangled. Once entangled, both systems are described by a single quantum state, so measuring the state of one system instantly influences the state of the other, even if they are kilometers apart. Einstein called entanglement “spooky action at a distance,” and it is an invaluable resource for quantum networks. 

But to do this across long distances, one first needs to distribute the entanglement—usually via standard fiber optic networks. In January, Lanyon’s team in Innsbruck reported setting the record for creating entanglement between matter and light over 50 kilometers of optical fiber.

For matter, Lanyon’s team used a so-called trapped ion—a single calcium ion confined to an optical cavity using electromagnetic fields. When manipulated with lasers, the ion ends up encoding a qubit as a superposition of two energy states, while also emitting a photon, with a qubit encoded in its polarization states. The qubits in the ion and the photon are entangled. The task: to send this photon through an optical fiber while preserving the entanglement.

Unfortunately, the trapped ion emits a photon at a wavelength of 854 nanometers (nm), which does not last long inside an optical fiber. So, Lanyon’s team sent the emitted photon into something called a nonlinear crystal being pumped with a powerful laser. The entire interaction converts the incoming photon into another of “telecom” wavelength, one well-suited for optical fibers.

The Innsbruck team then injected this photon into a 50-kilometer-long section of optical fiber. Once it reached the other end, they tested the ion and the photon to see if they were still entangled. They were.

Lanyon’s team now wants to entangle two trapped ion nodes that are 100 kilometers apart. Each node would transmit an entangled photon through 50 kilometers of optical fiber to a station in the middle. There, the photons would be measured in such a way that they lose entanglement with their respective ions, causing the ions themselves to get entangled with each other. As a consequence, the two nodes, 100 kilometers apart, will each form a quantum link via a pair of entangled qubits. The entire process is called entanglement swapping. Although relatively inefficient for now, Lanyon calls the setup “a good start” for developing better, faster swapping systems.

Meanwhile, Hanson’s team at Delft has demonstrated how to entangle a different type of matter node with a telecom-wavelength photon. They used a defect in diamond called a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center. The defect arises when a nitrogen atom replaces a carbon atom in the gem’s crystalline structure, leaving a vacancy in the crystal lattice adjacent to the nitrogen atom. The team used lasers to manipulate the spin of one “free” electron in the diamond NV center, placing the electron in a superposition of spin states, thus encoding one qubit. The process also results in the emission of a photon. The photon is in a superposition of being emitted in one of two consecutive time slots. “The photon is always there, but in a superposition of being emitted early or late,” says Hanson. The qubit stored in the electron’s spin and the qubit stored in the photon’s presence or absence in the time slots are now entangled.

In 2015, the Delft team placed two spatially separated matter nodes made of diamond NV centers about 1.3 kilometers apart, linked by optical fiber. The team then transmitted an entangled photon from each node to a point roughly midway on the path between these two nodes. There, the team swapped the entanglement, causing the two NV centers to become entangled. But, just as with Lanyon’s experiment, the photons emitted by the Delft team’s apparatus have a wavelength of 637 nm. Such photons are terrible travelers when injected into optical fibers, diminishing in intensity by an order of magnitude for every kilometer they travel. 

The Innsbruck and Delft teams each worked with only one type of matter for storing and entangling qubits. But real-life quantum networks may use different types of materials in each node, depending on the exact task at hand—for example quantum computation or quantum sensing. And quantum nodes, besides manipulating qubits, may also have to store them for brief periods, in so-called quantum memories.

“It’s still not clear what’s going to be the right platform and the right protocol,” says Marcelli Grimau Puigibert, of the University of Basel in Switzerland. “It’s always good to be able to connect different hybrid systems.”

To this end, Puigibert, working with Wolfgang Tittel’s team at the University of Calgary, recently showed how to entangle qubits stored in two different types of materials. They started with a source that emits a pair of entangled photons, one at a wavelength of 794 nm and the other at 1,535 nm. The 794 nm photon interacts with a lithium-niobate crystal doped with thulium, so that the photon’s state becomes stored in the crystal. The 1,535 nm photon goes into an erbium-doped fiber, which also stores the quantum state.

Both memories were designed to reemit photons at a particular time. The team analyzed those reemitted photons and showed that they remained entangled. This, in turn, implies that the quantum memories were also entangled just prior to emitting those photons, thus preserving entanglement over time.

The photon wavelengths were also designed to cross-connect different transmission systems: optical fibers on one end (1,535 nm) and satellite communications on the other (794 nm). The latter is important because if quantum networks are to go intercontinental, entanglement will need to be distributed via satellites. In 2017, a team led by Jian-Wei Pan of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei used Micius, China’s quantum satellite, to distribute entanglement between ground stations on the Tibetan Plateau and southwest China.

Satellites, however, seem destined to remain an expensive, niche option of last resort for quantum networks. The next best choice may be relatively inexpensive drones. In May, Shi-Ning Zhu of Nanjing University and colleagues reported that they had used a 35-kilogram drone to send entangled photons to two quantum nodes 200 meters apart on the ground. The experiment used a classical communication link between the nodes to confirm that the photons they received were indeed entangled. The experiment succeeded in significantly varying conditions, working in sunlight and in darkness, and even on rainy nights. If such drones can be scaled up and installed on high-altitude UAVs, the distance between the nodes on the ground can extend to about 300 kilometers, the authors write.

Challenges remain in the march towards a fully functioning quantum network. Reliable quantum memories are one. Another important missing piece is the ability to extend the reach of a quantum link to arbitrarily long distances, using so-called quantum repeaters. Quantum states cannot be simply copied and regurgitated, as is done with classical information. Quantum nodes will need sophisticated quantum logic gates to ensure that entanglement is preserved in face of losses due to interaction with the environment. “It’s definitely one of the next big challenges,” says Lanyon.

Nonetheless, the basic elements are falling into place for building a quantum network that connects at least three citiesand, perhaps, eventually the world. 

Pentagon's top secret 'ninja bomb'🗡

The Pentagon has built a new missile known as a 'ninja bomb'.
Knowing United States policy on avoiding civilian casualties, terrorists increasingly used women, children, and other civilians as human shields.

Development on the “ninja bomb” started in 2011.The secret R9X missile is designed to destroy individual targets without harming surrounding civilians and could potentially kill a car's front seat passenger without harming the driver.

Just before impact, the missile deploys six blades halfway along its length, which help shred any obstructions such as walls or car roofs, and increase the area of damage.

 A special adaptation of the Hellfire missile that deploys six metal blades at the last second and relies on sheer speed and mass to destroy the target.

With no explosion the weapon functions more like a giant missile-powered bullet, designed to punch through barriers and relying on the destructive force of 100 pounds of metal.

The weapon has only been used in several high-profile strikes since being developed.Hellfire missiles are launched from aircraft including helicopters, drones, and fighter jets at ground targets.

SUPPLY CHAIN HACKERS.👾

Online games, such as Fortnite, have exploded in popularity over the last year, with the title recently reporting 125 million downloads.

This popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed in the darker corners of the web and there have been rising concerns around the presence of hackers, with many players reporting that their accounts have been compromised.

One of the biggest reasons online gaming has become a target for cybercriminals is the fact that many online games rely on in-game purchases. The growing use of in-game currency and micro-transactions has attracted hackers seeking to hijack these payments. 
Routes to exploit players also include creating fake promotions and items to trick users into buying and downloading malware.

Additionally, hackers would be looking to steal payment details from players who make these in-game purchases.

The proliferation of in-game purchases and micro-currencies has also provided a platform that criminals can manipulate to launder the spoils of previous criminal activities.

Earlier this year, nearly 50,000 Minecraft accounts were found to be infected with malware distributed by modified character ‘skins’ which players downloaded from the official site. The malware was uploaded to the game’s official website without detection.

It is also crucial to recognise that these malware strains may be the beginning of more harmful projects. The infamous Mirai botnet that brought down the internet in 2016 originated on Minecraft.

Programmers or hackers also play a lot of online poker. The one thing about Poker is that you have to develop a skill to be able to “read” the other player.This is the same set of skills that are going to help a hacker in the field.

These are only two games in a long line of video games that influence hackers in their everyday activities. Just like movies or TV can be an inspiration, video games can be as well. Depending on the person, there is a whole host of things that can help the person achieve their goals. But no matter how much you play these games, you are still going to have to work at the basics.

“Many popular gaming server owners also collect money from players by selling various user privileges, such as protection against banning, access to all weapons and game accessories, etc”, according to a report from specialists in network security and ethical hacking. “Some server owners are advertised independently, while others purchase server promotion services from contractors”, the experts added.

During a routine inspection, a malicious server was discovered, managed by a user nicknamed “Belonard”, who employs illegitimate advertising and piercing methods to infect players’ computers with a Trojan that exploited a zero-day vulnerability In Counter Strike, aiming to take control of their access credentials and create their own botnet, experts said.

This Trojan, according to the network security specialists, exploits a remote code execution vulnerability to load one of the malicious libraries into the victim’s device. In the last stage of the attack, the investigators were able to neutralize the Trojan and stop the growth of the botnet. 

The malware was initially intended to simply create an advantage for the hackers within the game, but it went on to cause damage across the web. This should be taken as a clear warning to clamp down on malware in online gaming, no matter how simplistic it may appear, and to prevent online games from being used as training grounds for future hackers that may later try their hand at attacks against enterprises and government organizations.