If we could not find room for it, time to digest it, or a reason to run it during the past week, we have collected it here. Not a recap for the week, but a cleanup of pieces we received and just could not get to.
Because Quantum is Coming. Qubit
Business & Industry
Are quantum computers good at picking stocks? This project tried to find out | Consultancy firm KPMG, together with a team of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and a yet-to-be-named European bank, has been piloting the use of quantum computing to determine which stocks to buy and sell for maximum return, an age-old banking operation known as portfolio optimization. Source: ZD Net. Daphe Leprince-Ringuet Are quantum computers good at picking stocks? This project tried to find out…
Is IonQ Stock a Buy After the SPAC Merger? | The battle for control over that 1,900% change comes down to only a handful of companies. IonQ is one of them. And IonQ stock is going public this year. Source: Money Morning. Mike Stenger Is IonQ Stock a Buy After the SPAC Merger?
Quantum computing takes important step with first public company | This week saw the first step towards a public quantum computing hardware company with IonQ’s SPAC merger. IonQ should be applauded for its technical achievements that underpin this agreement. This moment recognizes the massive potential of quantum technology, despite the substantial R&D challenges that remain. Source: VentureBeat. Ashley Montanaro Quantum computing takes important step with first public company…
01 Communique Provides Quarterly Update on Business Developments and First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results | 01 Communique Laboratory Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX-V:ONE)(OTCQB:OONEF) one of the first-to-market, enterprise level cybersecurity providers for the quantum computing era is pleased to report that the Company continued to make progress with an increase in revenue and reduction in the quarterly loss for the first quarter 2021, and the building of revenue from its remote access service business to help ensure the successful commercialization of its IronCAP™ technology. Source: yahoo!finance. yahoo!finance 01 Communique Provides Quarterly Update on Business Developments and First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results…
Quantum computing opening up new business horizons | When scouting for future innovations in the financial industry, quantum computing is moving to centre stage as one of the hottest technologies to watch out for. Slowly and steadily gaining momentum on its way from a theoretical concept to tomorrow’s next disruptive technology, quantum computing is already showing lots of potential in solving problems which are way out of reach for conventional computing. The race for “quantum supremacy” has started and more and more scientists are seeking to unlock business value that is just impossible to unlock with traditional IT equipment. Source: Deutsche Borse Group. Deutsche Borse Group Quantum computing opening up new business horizons…
Technology & Hardware
What Does Nature Think Of Human Technology? | The good news is that this is within our grasp. We’re finally building machines that actually use the quantum nature of the physical universe. We’re on the cusp of deploying quantum computers to tackle the very mechanism of capturing light and turning it into useful energy. Photosynthesizing plants do this with the help of a complex enzyme called RuBisCO. But RuBisCO evolved very early on in a carbon-rich atmosphere, and now that plants exist on an oxygen-rich earth — an environment that supports animals like us — the chemical pathway that RuBisCO kicks off is actually relatively wasteful. Source: Forbes. Peter Barrewtt What Does Nature Think Of Human Technology?…
IQuAn: Ion Quantum Processor for HPC | Trapped ions have a number of advantages over other physical realizations. In particular, the long coherence times of trapped ions provide the basis for a correspondingly long operation time for the execution of quantum algorithms. In the IQuAn network, a new, scalable approach with high qubit connectivity is pursued: Individual optical addressing in small registers is combined with the coupling and dynamic configuration of several registers by moving and regrouping the ions. Source: Toptica. IQuAn IQuAn: Ion Quantum Processor for HPC…
Cybersecurity & Cryptography
Quantum computing breaking into real-world biz, but not yet into cryptography | Quantum computing is ready for mainstream deployment, where it already is being tapped to resolve real-world business challenges. Use of the technology to crack cryptography and encryption codes, however, still has some ways to go. Source: ZD Net. Eileen Yu Quantum computing breaking into real-world biz, but not yet into cryptography…
THE FUTURE OF DATA PRIVACY: CONFIDENTIAL COMPUTING, QUANTUM SAFE CRYPTOGRAPHY TAKE CENTER STAGE | Confidential computing, quantum secure cryptography, and totally homomorphic encryption are set to vary the way forward for information privateness as they make their means from a speculation to viable industrial purposes. Source: Bestgamingpro. Dinu das THE FUTURE OF DATA PRIVACY: CONFIDENTIAL COMPUTING, QUANTUM SAFE CRYPTOGRAPHY TAKE CENTER STAGE…
When memory qubits and photons get entangled | Encrypting data in a way that ensures secure communication is an ever-growing challenge because crucial components of today’s encryption systems cannot withstand future quantum computers. Researchers around the world are therefore working on technologies for novel encryption methods that are also based on quantum effects. The phenomenon of so-called quantum entanglement plays a particularly important role here. This means that in a quantum network, the stationary qubits of the network are entangled with the communication channel, which usually consists of photons (light particles). For the first time, physicists at the University of Bonn have now been able to demonstrate quantum entanglement between a stationary qubit, i.e. a two-state quantum system, and a photon with direct coupling to an optical fiber. The study has been published in the journal npj Quantum Information. Source: University of Bonn (Science Bulletin). University of Bonn When memory qubits and photons get entangled…
Science & Research
Teen Scientists Win $1.8 Million at Virtual Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021 for Remarkable Research on Infinite Matching Algorithms, Machine Learning to Evaluate New Medicines and Water Filtration | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and Society for Science (the Society) announced that Yunseo Choi, 18, of Exeter, New Hampshire, won the $250,000 top award in the 2021 Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. Historically held in person in Washington, D.C., this is the second year in its 80-year history that the competition took place virtually to keep the finalists and their families safe during the ongoing pandemic. Forty finalists, including Yunseo, were honored tonight during a virtual winners’ award ceremony. More than $1.8 million was awarded to the finalists, who were evaluated based on their projects’ scientific rigor, their exceptional problem-solving abilities and their potential to become scientific leaders. Source: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (PR Newswire). Ella Campbell Teen Scientists Win $1.8 Million at Virtual Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021 for Remarkable Research on Infinite Matching Algorithms, Machine Learning to Evaluate New Medicines and Water Filtration…
Is high-dimensional photonic entanglement robust to noise? | Entanglement is considered one of the most important features of quantum information science and plays a central role in many quantum communication protocols. The strong, non-classical correlations inherent to entanglement allow one to share information between two parties that is secure against the most sophisticated eavesdropping attacks, with information security even provided independent of the devices used. Entangled photons produced via parametric non-linear processes are a workhorse for many branches of quantum information science, ranging from fundamental tests of quantum mechanics to entanglement-based quantum communication. However, photonic entanglement is extremely susceptible to common sources of noise such as channel loss, background counts, multi-photon effects, and imperfect measurement devices, which can make its detection challenging. Source: . F. Zhou etal Is high-dimensional photonic entanglement robust to noise?
HyperLight Demonstrates an Integrated Optical Engine Capable of Pushing Data at Terabits per Second with Reduced Power Consumption | Engineers from HyperLight, a leader in the commercialization of thin-film lithium niobate (LN) photonic integrated circuits (PICs), have achieved breakthrough voltage-bandwidth performances in integrated electro-optic modulators. The broadband electro-optic PIC could lead to orders of magnitude energy consumption reduction for next generation optical networking. Source: HyperLight (businesswire). Mian Zhang HyperLight Demonstrates an Integrated Optical Engine Capable of Pushing Data at Terabits per Second with Reduced Power Consumption…
Algorithms & Software
IBM updates quantum programming tools | IBM has revamped its quantum computing programming tools so developers can use a more streamlined approach to run experiments and access quantum circuits. Source: ZD Net. Larry Dignan IBM updates quantum programming tools…
BAIDU: TOP ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INNOVATIONS FROM THE CHINESE ‘GOOGLE’ | Baidu’s PaddlePaddle offers software developers of all skill levels the tools, services, and resources they need to rapidly adopt and implement deep learning at scale. It also hosts toolkits for cutting-edge research purposes, like Paddle Quantum for quantum-computing models and Paddle Graph Learning for graph-learning models. Companies like LinkingMed have used PaddlePaddle to develop an AI-powered pneumonia screening and the lesion-detection system being used in the hospital affiliated with Xiangnan University in Hunan Province. By using Paddle Detection, a PaddlePaddle toolkit for image processing, Jinlu Technology trains an instance-segmentation model for sorting waste plastic bottles. Source: Analytics Insight. Preetipadma BAIDU : TOP ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INNOVATIONS FROM THE CHINESE ‘GOOGLE’…
Government & Policy
QUEST Act of 2021 | To establish and support the Quantum User Expansion for Science and Technology Program at the Department of Energy and for other purposes. Source: U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. House of Representatives QUEST Act of 2021…
Focus on 6G, quantum computing as India and Finland launch digital partnership | The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research at Pune and Finland’s Aalto University are already working on jointly developing a quantum computer with the use of artificial intelligence and 5G technology is an important area of collaboration, said Neeta Bhushan, joint secretary (Central Europe), external affairs ministry. Source: Hindustan Times. Rezaul H. Laskar Focus on 6G, quantum computing as India and Finland launch digital partnership…
What China’s five-year plan could mean for venture capital’s tech sectors | China recently unveiled its strategic economic vision for the next five years in a lengthy plan that could help shape the direction of high-tech industries laden with venture capital-backed startups. The country’s 14th five-year plan calls for increased investment in a number of emerging sectors, from cryptocurrencies to quantum computing. It also makes clear that the Chinese government wants to continue attracting foreign capital by loosening restrictions in certain industries and reforming its domestic stock exchanges. Source: yahoo!finance. yahoo!finance What China’s five-year plan could mean for venture capital’s tech sectors…
Celia Merzbacher Appointed Executive Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), Managed by SRI International | The Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) today announced the appointment of its new executive director, Celia Merzbacher, effective immediately. Merzbacher has served as deputy director since 2019 and is taking over from Joseph Broz, who led the consortium from its inception and built the organization’s initial framework. Managed by SRI International and founded with support from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), QED-C aims to enable and grow the emerging quantum industry and the associated supply chain. “We are delighted that Celia Merzbacher will be taking over the leadership of QED-C. She excels in bringing together all of the stakeholders—from industry, academia and government—who will be critical to the formation of a quantum ecosystem,” stated SRI CEO Bill Jeffrey. Source: SRI International (yahoo!finance). SRI International (yahoo!finance) Celia Merzbacher Appointed Executive Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), Managed by SRI International…
Why Artificial Intelligence Might Not Win a War | Machine learning will also accelerate the practical applications of new emerging technologies including quantum computing. In the next five years, machine learning-enabled technologies that can deliver reliable, scalable, cost-effective capabilities are going to tsunami the marketplace in many fields in the private and government sectors. Source: The National Interest. James Jay Carafano Why Artificial Intelligence Might Not Win a War…
China Is Making Big Plans to Compete Against the United States | China on Thursday finished what’s known as the “Two Sessions,” a series of annual political meetings where Chinese officials discussed their plans to compete and perhaps surpass the United States. The event was held to mark the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Source: The National Interest. Stephen Silver China Is Making Big Plans to Compete Against the United States…
Fed Officials Discuss Obstacles of Implementing Emerging Technologies | “It’s really important to think about the change management, which is so huge,” said Isom. “We can come about with this wonderful solution and it can be fabulous. And if we dropped the ball when it comes to the execution which means, you know, do the customers know that this is coming? Are they prepared for the change? So, that’s that customer excellence. If that customer experience and excellence is missing, then it’s going to have an adverse impact on the idea itself.”e future for emerging technologies for DoE may lay in applied data science and quantum computing, Isom adds, and that more ideas will evolve from embracing innovation. Source: MeriTalk. Jordan Smith Fed Officials Discuss Obstacles of Implementing Emerging Technologies…
UK’s recovery plan contains ambition and opportunity for Irish business | We are creating a new £375m ‘Breakthrough’ fund in life sciences, quantum computing and clean tech for innovators aiming to raise at least £20m of funding. Source: Independent.ie. Paul Johnston UK’s recovery plan contains ambition and opportunity for Irish business…
New scientists to be recruited for quantum technologies | The second quantum revolution has been proclaimed, research plans have been drawn up and the targeted milestones have been defined. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is a prominent force in this process thanks to its measurement skills – cutting-edge research in all fields of optical, atomic and electrical quantum technologies which are developing a far-reaching impact on industry and society and are now on the brink of commercialization. With this in mind, PTB has purposefully expanded its fundamental research and its highly specialized services to include an application-oriented Quantum Technology Competence Center (QTZ). Together with partners from industry, PTB is specifically supporting the transfer of different quantum technologies into applications with economic potential through the QTZ. To strengthen these activities, PTB is going to recruit six additional scientists and engineers for the fields of “ion trap development and manufacturing”, “superconducting quantum computers”, “optical quantum technology” and “superconducting sensors”. The deadline for applications is 12th April 2021. Source: PTB (idw). Imke Frischmuth New scientists to be recruited for quantum technologies…
Fully Homomorphic Encryption is considered the “holy grail” of encryption. But right now it takes too much compute power to be used widely. | The Defense Advanced Research Agency awarded four research teams multimillion-dollar contracts to figure out how to build hardware and software stacks capable of cutting down the amount of time and power required to perform computations on encrypted data. Source: Nextgov. Mila Jasper Fully Homomorphic Encryption is considered the “holy grail” of encryption. But right now it takes too much compute power to be used widely…
