Category Physics

Silicon quantum processor detects single-qubit errors while preserving entanglement

Demonstration of quantum error detection in a silicon quantum processor
The device used by the researchers. Credit: Zhang et al.

Quantum computers are alternative computing devices that process information, leveraging quantum mechanical effects, such as entanglement between different particles. Entanglement establishes a link between particles that allows them to share states in such a way that measuring one particle instantly affects the others, irrespective of the distance between them.

Quantum computers could, in principle, outperform classical computers in some optimization and computational tasks. However, they are also known to be highly sensitive to environmental disturbances (i.e., noise), which can cause quantum errors and adversely affect computations.

Researchers at the International Quantum Academy, Southern University of Science and Tech...

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AI threatens to eat business software—and it could change the way we work

AI threatens to eat business software—and it could change the way we work

In recent weeks, a range of large “software-as-a-service” companies, including Salesforce, ServiceNow and Oracle, have seen their share prices tumble.

Even if you’ve never used these companies’ software tools, there’s a good chance your employer has. These tools manage key data about customers, employees, suppliers and products, supporting everything from payroll and purchasing to customer service.

Now new “agentic” artificial intelligence (AI) tools for business are expected to reduce reliance on traditional software for everyday work. These include Anthropic’s Cowork, OpenAI’s Frontier and open-source agent platforms such as OpenClaw.

But just how important are these software-as-a-service companies now? How fast could AI replace them—and are the jobs of people who use the s...

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New sound-based 3D-printing method enables finer, faster microdevices

New sound-based 3D-printing method enables finer, faster microdevices
PSP concept and 3D printed objects. Credit: Microsystems & Nanoengineering (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41378-025-01035-w

Concordia researchers have developed a new 3D-printing technique that uses sound waves to directly print tiny structures onto soft polymers like silicone with far greater precision than before. The approach, called proximal sound printing, opens new possibilities for manufacturing microscale devices used in health care, environmental monitoring and advanced sensors. It is described in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering.

The technique relies on focused ultrasound to trigger chemical reactions that solidify liquid polymers exactly where printing is needed...

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Bio-inspired chip helps robots and self-driving cars react faster to movement

Bio-inspired chip helps robots and self-driving cars react faster to movement
Neuromorphic motion extraction hardware and its application. Credit: Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-68659-y

Robots and self-driving cars could soon benefit from a new kind of brain-inspired hardware that can allegedly detect movement and react faster than a human. A new study published in the journal Nature Communications details how an international team built their neuromorphic temporal-attention hardware system to speed up automated driving decisions.

The problem with current robotic vision and self-driving vehicles is a significant delay in processing what they see. While today’s top AI programs can recognize objects accurately, the calculations are so complex that they can take up to half a second to complete...

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