Category Physics

Apple Flash: Our Smart Devices will Soon be Smarter

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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Our smart devices take voice commands from us, check our heartbeats, track our sleep, translate text, send us reminders, capture photos and movies, and let us talk to family and friends continents away.

Now imagine turbocharging those capabilities. Holding in-depth, natural language exchanges on academic or personal queries; running our vital signs through a global database to check on imminent health issues; packing massive databases to provide comprehensive real-time translation among two or more parties speaking different languages; and conversing with GPS software providing details on the best burgers, movies, hotels or people-watching spots trending along your route.

Tapping into the seductive power of large language models and natural langu...

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A Logical Magic State with Fidelity beyond Distillation Threshold realized on Superconducting Quantum Processor

Experimental results of the prepared different logical states. (a) Logical state fidelity with post-selection in Bloch sphere. The fidelity of the preparation of different logical states is represented as a circle, which is divided into multiple annular sectors, each representing a point on the Bloch sphere, with the radial direction representing the polar angle θ and the tangential direction representing the azimuthal angle φ. The obtained average logical fidelity is 0.8983. (b) Logical measurement results of X ̂_L, Y ̂_L, Z ̂_L as a function of polar angle θ or azimuthal angle φ. The colored dashed curves are the result of fitting with trigonometric function.

Quantum computers have the potential to outperform conventional computers on some tasks, including complex optimization...

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NASA Flies Drones Autonomously for Air Taxi research

An Alta-8 small Unmanned Aircraft System testbed vehicle flies above NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Flying beyond visual line of sight from observers on the ground required special approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA. Credit: NASA / Bowman

Researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia recently flew multiple drones beyond visual line of sight with no visual observer. The drones successfully flew around obstacles and each other during takeoff, along a planned route, and upon landing, all autonomously without a pilot controlling the flight. This test marks an important step towards advancing self-flying capabilities for air taxis.

“Flying the vehicles beyond visual line of sight, where neither the vehicle nor the airsp...

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Researchers develop ‘Electronic Soil’ that Enhances Crop Growth

Electronic
Eleni Stavrinidou, associate professor, and supervisor of the study and Alexandra Sandéhn, Ph.D. student, one of the lead authors, connect the eSoil to a low power source for stimulating plant growth. Credit: Thor Balkhed

Barley seedlings grow on average 50% more when their root system is stimulated electrically through a new cultivation substrate. In a study published in the journal PNAS, researchers from Linköping University have developed an electrically conductive “soil” for soilless cultivation, known as hydroponics.

“The world population is increasing, and we also have climate change. So it’s clear that we won’t be able to cover the food demands of the planet with only the already existing agricultural methods...

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