Quantum Physics – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Mar 4
2021

Insights into plant consciousness from neuroscience, physics and mathematics: A role for quasicrystals?

There is considerable debate over whether plants are conscious and this, indeed, is an important question. Here I look at developments in neuroscience, physics and mathematics that may impact on this question. Two major concomitants of consciousness in animals are microtubule function and electrical gamma wave synchrony. Both these factors may also play a role in plant consciousness. I show that plants possess aperiodic quasicrystal structures composed of ribosomes that may enable quantum computing, which has been suggested to lie at the core of animal consciousness. Finally I look at whether a microtubule fractal suggests that electric current plays a part in conventional neurocomputing processes in plants.

Mar 4
2021

This is the fastest random-number generator ever built

Laser generates quantum randomness at a rate of 250 trillion bits per second, and could lead to devices small enough to fit on a single chip.

Mar 3
2021

Quantum Computing Makes Inroads Towards Pharma

Pharma giants and computing titans increasingly partnering on quantum computing.

Theoretically, quantum computers can prove more powerful than any supercomputer. And recent moves from computer giants such as Google and pharmaceutical titans such as Roche now suggest drug discovery might prove to be quantum computing’s first killer app.

Mar 3
2021

Cambridge Quantum Announces Largest Ever Natural Language Processing Implementation on a Quantum Computer

Separate experiments, each of over 100 sentences, provide a strong proof of concept that Quantum Natural Language Processing is within reach.

Mar 3
2021

Researchers realize quantum communications milestone using light

Few terms are more ubiquitous in the scientific arena these days than “quantum.”

Mar 3
2021

CrownBio and JSR Life Sciences Partner with Cambridge Quantum Computing to Leverage Quantum Machine Learning for Novel Cancer Treatment Biomarker Discovery

Crown Bioscience (CrownBio), JSR Life Sciences and Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) today announced a partnership agreement to explore the application of quantum technology to drive the identification of multi-gene biomarker discovery for oncology drug discovery.

Mar 2
2021

Here’s how quantum computing could transform the future

Experts predict that quantum computers will help “address humanity’s greatest challenges,” whether through drug discovery or climate tech.

Mar 2
2021

Atomic nuclei in the quantum swing

The coherent excitation of atomic nuclei enables applications in atomic clocks, nuclear batteries and in the verification of natural constants. A team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics succeeded in the experiment by controlling laser pulses extremely precisely.

Mar 2
2021

Interesting pattern in cross-sections observed in F + HD → HF + D reaction

A team of researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Southern University of Science and Technology, has discovered a thought-provoking pattern in cross-sections observed in an F + HD → HF + D reaction. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their double-pronged approach to learning more about the role of relativistic spin-orbit interactions in chemical reactions. T. Peter Rakitzis, with the University of Crete, and IESL-FORTH, has published a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue outlining the difficulty of studying chemical reactions at the quantum level and the work done by the team in China.

Mar 1
2021

Quantum Building Blocks to Produce Exotic Electronic and Magnetic Properties

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists demonstrated that an electron microscope can be used to selectively remove carbon atoms from graphene ’s atomically thin lattice and stitch transition-metal dopant atoms in their place.

This method could open the door to making quantum building blocks that can interact to produce exotic electronic, magnetic and topological properties.

This is the first precision positioning of transition-metal dopants in graphene. The produced graphene-dopant complexes can exhibit atomic-like behavior, inducing desired properties in the graphene.