Category Physics

The sun produces more power than 100 trillion times humanity’s entire electricity generation. In orbit, solar panels can be eight times more productive than their Earth-bound counterparts, generating energy almost continuously without the need for heavy battery storage. These facts have led a team of Google researchers to ask what if the best place to scale artificial intelligence isn’t on Earth at all, but in space?

Project Suncatcher, Google’s latest space mission, envisions constellations of solar-powered satellites equipped with processors and connected by laser-based optical links...

A research team at the Jülich Supercomputing Center, together with experts from NVIDIA, has set a new record in quantum simulation: for the first time, a universal quantum computer with 50 qubits has been fully simulated—a feat achieved on Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, JUPITER, inaugurated at Forschungszentrum Jülich in September.

The result surpasses the previous world record of 48 qubits, established by Jülich researchers in 2022 on Japan’s K computer. It showcases the immense computational power of JUPITER and opens new horizons for developing and testing quantum algorithms. The research is published on the arXiv preprint server.

Quantum computer simulations are vital for develo...

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) are engineered structures comprised of several elements known as ‘meta-atoms,’ which can reshape and control electromagnetic waves in real-time. These surfaces could contribute to the further advancement of wireless communications and localization systems, as they could be used to reliably redirect, strengthen and suppress signals.

In conventional applications of RIS for wireless communication, each meta-atom is controlled by a system known as the ‘base-station,’ which is connected to the surface via electrical cables...

In a major step toward practical quantum computers, Princeton engineers have built a superconducting qubit that lasts three times longer than today’s best versions.

“The real challenge, the thing that stops us from having useful quantum computers today, is that you build a qubit and the information just doesn’t last very long,” said Andrew Houck, Princeton’s dean of engineering and co-principal investigator. “This is the next big jump forward.”

In an article in the journal Nature,...