Lifeboat Foundation

Neuralink’s first human patient has become so adept at using the company’s brain implant that he can now beat other players at video games.

On Wednesday, Elon Musk’s company provided a progress update on Noland Arbaugh, who received a brain implant in January that lets him remotely control the cursor on a laptop.

In March, Neuralink revealed that Arbaugh was using the implant to play games including Chess, Civilization VI, and Mario Kart. In Wednesday’s update, the company reported that Arbaugh’s use of the implant has only improved over time.

The rapid advancement in photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which combine multiple optical devices and functionalities on a single chip, has revolutionized optical communications and computing systems.

A quantum bit inspired by Schrödinger’s cat can resist making errors for an unprecedentedly long time, which makes it a candidate for building less error-prone quantum computers.

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

A powerful new idea about how the laws of physics work could bring breakthroughs on everything from quantum gravity to consciousness, says researcher Chiara Marletto

By Chiara Marletto

Researchers have made a significant advancement in quantum computing by adapting a microwave circulator to precisely control the nonreciprocity between a qubit and a resonant cavity. This innovation not only enhances the control within quantum computers but also simplifies the theoretical models for future research.

Scientists led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst have adapted a device called a microwave circulator for use in quantum computers, allowing them for the first time to precisely tune the exact degree of nonreciprocity between a qubit, the fundamental unit of quantum computing, and a microwave-resonant cavity. The ability to precisely tune the degree of nonreciprocity is an important tool to have in quantum information processing.

In doing so, the team, including collaborators from the University of Chicago, derived a general and widely applicable theory that simplifies and expands upon older understandings of nonreciprocity so that future work on similar topics can take advantage of the team’s model, even when using different components and platforms. The research was published recently in Science Advances.

The paper is published in the journal Physical Review X.

In the world of quantum computing and quantum simulation technology, there is a fundamental challenge when using neutral atoms: The lifetime of Rydberg atoms, which are the building blocks for quantum computing, is limited. But there is a promising solution: circular Rydberg states.

For the first time, the research team has succeeded in generating and capturing circular Rydberg atoms of an alkaline-earth metal in an array of optical tweezers.

How can studying an exoplanet’s ozone help astronomers better understand its habitability potential? This is what a recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated how an ozone on the nearest exoplanet to Earth, Proxima Centauri b, could influence its own climate over time. This study holds the potential to help astronomers better understand how an exoplanet’s ozone could influence its formation, evolution, and potential habitability, and could have implications on how astronomers study Earth-like exoplanets throughout the cosmos.

“Imagine a world where ozone affects temperature and wind speed and holds the key to a planet’s very habitability,” said Dr. Assaf Hochman, who is a senior lecturer in the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a co-author on the study. “Our study unveils this intricate connection and underscores the importance of considering interactive ozone and other photochemical species in our quest to understand Earth-like exoplanets.”

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer simulations to ascertain how an active ozone on Proxima Centauri b could influence the exoplanet’s climate and potential habitability. In the end, the researchers discovered that an ozone layer on Proxima Centauri b could greatly influence the temperature and wind circulation patterns throughout its atmosphere. Additionally, they also found altitude also played a high role in the atmospheric temperature and temperature variances, as well. The researchers emphasized how these findings could help future researchers better understand the potential habitability of an exoplanet, noting how a potential ozone layer on Proxima Centauri b could greatly influence its climate.

“They just have to stay underneath the tip until the light field changes its direction to be able to return.” By looking at an atomically thin insulator—a material that resists electrons spreading—the physicists got a first glimpse of these ultrafast matter currents and can now look into previously hidden atomic-scale dynamics in insulating layers ubiquitous in electronics and photovoltaics.

These new results present a groundbreaking advance in optical microscopy, bringing it to the ultimate length and time scales simultaneously. Direct observation of ultrafast tunneling currents could enable unprecedented understanding of electronic dynamics in quantum materials and quantum platforms for computing and data storage.

NOTE furthermore opens the door to atomic-scale strong-field dynamics such as lightwave electronics. The discovery of this communication channel with the quantum world could, just like Hertz’s findings over 100 years ago, spark a revolution in information transfer. Moreover, it could be key to understanding the microscopic dynamics shaping the devices of tomorrow.

The find, simulated with computer modeling, might explain what happens to liquid water across the universe.

“Water is really important for life,” said Eryn Cangi, co-author and a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, in a press release. “We need to understand the conditions that support liquid water in the universe, and that may have produced the very dry state of Venus today.”

At one point, Venus might have hosted seas like Earth. So, what happened? The study’s scientists suspect that Venus underwent a powerful greenhouse event that raised temperatures to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. After this happened, all the planet’s water evaporated, leaving some droplets behind. Even the few drops that were left over might have vanished because of an ion, HCO+, in the planet’s atmosphere.