A team of researchers at UCLA has set a new record for preparing and measuring the quantum bits, or qubits, inside of a quantum computer without error. The techniques they have developed make it easier to build quantum computers that outperform classical computers for important tasks, including the design of new materials and pharmaceuticals. The research is published in the peer-reviewed, online open-access journal, npj Quantum Information, published by Nature and including the exceptional research on quantum information and quantum computing.

Currently, the most powerful quantum computers are “noisy intermediate-scale quantum” (NISQ) devices and are very sensitive to errors...

Astronomers have caught a black hole hurling hot material into space at close to the speed of light. This flare-up was captured in a new movie from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

The black hole and its companion star make up a system called MAXI J1820+070, located in our galaxy about 10,000 light years from Earth. The black hole in MAXI J1820+070 has a mass about eight times that of the sun, identifying it as a so-called stellar-mass black hole, formed by the destruction of a massive star. (This is in contrast to supermassive black holes that contain millions or billions of times the sun’s mass.)

The companion star orbiting the black hole has about half the mass of the sun...

A new type of test that uses complex sugars to detect prostate cancer earlier and with greater accuracy is being developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham. The test works by identifying sugars, known as glycans, in blood. These sugars are attached to protein molecules called PSA and are known to undergo distinct but subtle changes when cancer is present in the body.

Particular types of glycans are associated with different cancers – but until now, there has been no technology available to detect the glycans in an accurate, timely and sufficiently specific way.

Research led by a team in the University of Birmingham’s School of Chemical Engineering, has now developed a technique that can identify glycans associated with cancer with unprecedented accuracy...

Fitness tracker bracelets and watches provide useful information, such as step count and heart rate, but they usually can’t provide more detailed data about the wearer’s health. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed smart electronic glasses (e-glasses) that not only monitor a person’s brain waves and body movements, but also can function as sunglasses and allow users to control a video game with eye motions.

Devices that measure electrical signals from the brain (electroencephalogram; EEG) or eyes (e...