2021 will be remembered for a lot of things, but when its all said and done we think itll eventually get called the year quantum computing finally came into focus.

Thats not to say useful quantum computers have actually arrived yet. Theyre still somewhere between a couple years and a couple centuries away. Sorry for being so vague, but when youre dealing with quantum physics there arent yet many guarantees.

This is because physics is an incredibly complex and challenging field of study. And the difficulty gets cranked up exponentially when you start adding theoretical and quantum to the research.

Were talking about physics at the very edge of reason. Like, for example, imagining a quantum-powered artificial intelligence capable of taking on the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.

That might sound pretty wacky, but this story explains why its not quite as out there as you might think.

But lets go even further. Lets go past the edge of reason and into the realm of the speculative science. Earlier this year we wondered what would happen if physicists could actually prove that reality as we know it isnt real.

Per that article:

Theoretically, if we could zoom in past the muons and leptons and keep going deeper and deeper, we could reach a point where all objects in the universe are indistinguishable from each other because, at the quantum level, everything that exists is just a sea of nearly-identical subparticulate entities.

This version of reality would render the concepts of space and time pointless. Time would only exist as a construct by which we give meaning to our own observations. And those observations would merely be the classical side-effects of existing in a quantum universe.

So, in the grand scheme of things, its possible that our reality is little more than a fleeting, purposeless arrangement of molecules. Everything that encompasses our entire universe may be nothing more than a brief hallucination caused by a quantum vibration.

Nothing makes you feel special like trying to conceive of yourself as a few seasoning particles in an infinite soup of gooey submolecules.

If having an existential quantum identity-crisis isnt your thing, we also covered a lot of cool stuff that doesnt require you to stop seeing yourself as an individual stack of materials.

Does anyone remember the time China said it had built a quantum computer a million times more powerful than Googles? We dont believe it. But thats the claim the researchersmade. You can read more about that here.

Oh, and that Google quantum system the Chinese researchers referenced? Yeah, it turns out it wasnt exactly the massive upgrade over classical supercomputers it was chalked up to be either.

But, of course, we forgive Google for its marketing faux pas. And thats because, hands down, the biggest story of the year for quantum computers was the time crystal breakthrough.

As we wrote at the time:

If Googles actually created time-crystals, it could accelerate the timeline for quantum computing breakthroughs from maybe never to maybe within a few decades.

At the far-fetched, super-optimistic end of things we could see the creation of a working warp drive in our lifetimes. Imagine taking a trip to Mars or the edge of our solar system, and being back home on Earth in time to catch the evening news.

And, even on the conservative end with more realistic expectations, its not hard to imagine quantum computing-based chemical and drug discovery leading to universally-effective cancer treatments.

Talk about a eureka moment!

But there were even bigger things in the world of quantum physics than just advancing computer technology.

Scientists from the University of Sussex determined that black holes emanate a specific kind of quantum pressure that could lend some credence to multiple universe theories.

Basically, we cant explain where the pressure comes from. Could this be blow back from white holes swallowing up energy and matter in a dark, doppelganger universe that exists parallel to our own? Nobody knows! You can read more here though.

Still there were even bigger philosophical questions in play over the course of 2021 when it came to interpreting physics research.

Are we incapable of finding evidence for God because were actually gods in our rights? That might sound like philosophy, but there are some pretty radical physics interpretations behind that assertion.

And, if we are gods, can we stop time? Turns out, whether were just squishy mortal meatbags or actual deities, we actually can!

Alright. If none of those stories impress you, weve saved this one for last. If being a god, inventing time crystals, or even stopping time doesnt float your boat, how about immortality? And not just regular boring immortality, butquantum immortality.

Its probably not probable, and adding the word quantum to something doesnt necessarily make it cooler, but anythings possible in an infinite universe. Plus, the underlying theories involving massive-scale entanglement are incredible read more here.

Seldom a day goes by where something incredible isnt happening in the world of physics research. But thats nothing compared to the magic weve yet to uncover out there in this fabulous universe we live in.

Luckily for you, Neural will be back in 2022 to help make sense of it all. Stick with us for the most compelling, wild, and deep reporting on the quantum world this side of the non-fiction realm.

Follow this link:
Neural's best quantum computing and physics stories from 2021 - The Next Web

As we head into 2022, forecasts for Israels bubbling tech sector are big, optimistic, and showing no signs of slowing down. Industry experts and tech investors are looking ahead with eyes wide open and faith in the countrys entrepreneurs that the year to come will be strong with stable growth.

We continue to be really excited about Israel as a focus area, Nicole Priel, partner at Ibex Investors, tells NoCamels. Weve been really active in Israel and we dont see that slowing downWe see so much promise in this ecosystem across enterprise software and other sectors.

The outgoing year has been one of record-breaking funding, turning crises into opportunity, globally recognized groundbreaking inventions, a surge in valuations of Israeli tech firms, big acquisitions, and maturation into a scale-up nation.

We really are transitioning from startup nation to scale-up nation and this is just attracting so much capital, says Jonathan Medved, founder, and CEO of OurCrowd.

Israeli innovation is everywhere, touching numerous tech sectors simultaneously. In 2021, local tech companies continued to take the lead in cybersecurity, agriculture technologies, financial technologies, mobility, data, and digital privacy, among other fields.

The big question: Where will Israel make its mark in 2022?

With so many booming sectors within the high-tech arena, its a tough call to make. So, NoCamels asked the experts to share their predictions for the next 12 months.

If the pundits are right, these are the 7 tech trends where Israel will make an impact in 2022:

E-commerce has exploded throughout 2021, in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to market reports, 66 percent of customers choose what to buy based on convenience. So, it is no surprise that e-commerce is a booming industry.

Theres a couple of spaces that we think Israel is really going to excel in, anda couple of them are around e-commerce. We are thinking a lot about how companies are going to chip away at Amazons monopoly, including around logistics and warehousing Priel told NoCamels.

Israeli companies are looking for solutions to rapid shipping and the online returns space, among other areas. Priel says Ibex Investors are taking a look at the online returns space and thinking about how startups can help mitigate online returns to create a stronger online shopping experience overall.

In addition to changing the way users shop, sellers need strong e-commerce tools for their online stores.

More focus and emphasis is going to be placed on customer success as a driver within SaaS organizations, so we are excited to see what technologies will pop up to support CS organizations and help drive revenue, says Priel.

It is more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a previous customer, Priel explains. It is because of this principle of marketing that customer satisfaction will become a more dominant indicator and marketing metric for SaaS-based companies which could allow sales teams to more accurately serve their clientele.

And, its not just in the traditional e-commerce space that well see new solutions.

Medved believes the next 10 years will see huge growth in immersive e-commerce.

We are looking at all kinds of AR, VR, more immersive interactions [in general] will become more normal over the coming years, he says, noting investments in ByondXR, an Israeli software company that creates immersive virtual stores where people can pick out goods, and ZipIt, which can turn any store into a touchless, personless Amazon-like store.

More advanced logistics, last-mile delivery, and shipment innovations are going to be a popular trend in tech in 2022, says Priel, citing dark kitchens food producers with no physical location and dark warehouses spaces used to deliver orders to shorten the distance to the consumer as examples.

We are also very excited about the idea of dark kitchens and dark warehouses for delivering items to consumers, whether its merchandise or food, says Priel.

While these unique distribution methods are important for last-mile delivery, the COVID-19 pandemic put the spotlight on supply chain logistics in general.

Supply chain is critical [and] Israel is very strong in terms of optimization and planning. There are a lot of unmet needs that we are busy working on, says Medved.

Blue-and-white solutions include Freightos, which streamlines the shipping industry through an international freight marketplace; BionicHive, which deploys easily portable and autonomously machines around warehouses; and Trellis which predicts the yield, cost, and quality of produce while using AI to accurately move goods.

Semiconductors are found in every piece of hardware we use from personal computers, cars, databases, toasters to rocket ships, and more.

Israel has a global name for its hardware innovation. With an ever-increasing need for processing power thanks to big data and AI its no surprise that in 2021, this country continued its rule as a global powerhouse in semiconductor and computer chip R&D.

Intel announced in May that it will be investing $10 billion in a new processing center in Kiryat Gat in addition to investing $600 million in its centers in Haifa and Jerusalem.

In March, Google announced that it will be doubling down on Israeli computer chip design and production. They hired former senior Intel executive, Uri Frank as VP of Engineering of Server Chip Design to build a world-class team in Israel.

Market reports show 2022 demand for computer chips is meant to rise. And this will only benefit Israel.

The increasing importance of semiconductors will only be good for Israel. We have situations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon all talking about setting up semiconductor activities here, says Medved.

Technology can only move as fast as the computer chips its built on. So how is Israel making them faster?

The answer is quantum computing.

Quantum Computing is a type of computing that harnesses the properties of quantum states to create calculations. Naturally, computers can only compute information as fast as physics will allow the particles to move. But, utilizing quantum properties, information can move much, much faster than currently possible.

The Israeli government is making a strong effort to push Israel forward in the field.

In 2019, the Knesset committed roughly $400 million to a five-year National Quantum Initiative which included $60 million towards the effort of producing a quantum computer. Physics Today reported in October that over the last two years, there has been a leap from five to 30 quantum-based companies in Israel.

Earlier this month, Hebrew University Physicist, Dr. Shlomi Kotler, won Physics Worlds 2021 Breakthrough of the Year award, presented by the UK-based Institute of Physics to two research teams who advanced the understanding of quantum systems.

His team successfully quantum-mechanically entangles two drumheads that can be used as quantum sensors or nodes in a quantum network.

Physics World editors chose this years winners from nearly 600 published research articles and wrote the winners demonstrated important work for scientific progress and/or the development of real-world applications.

CEO and co-founder of Israeli-based, Quantum Machines, Itamar Sivan told Physics Today that he has no doubt that quantum computing will become influential and its ultimately a question of When?. He credits his companys success to the easy accessibility to funding for quantum based-firms. He said, There are great engineers and amazing talent in Israel. We can find people here who are both experts in quantum but also have some engineering background.

SEE ALSO: On Yom Haatzmaut, A Look At Israels Innovation Contributions To The World

Talking about the upcoming year, Medved says, 2022 will see Quantum Computing attract continued strong interest from investors. I expect that global Quantum VC investment will more than double from 2021s $1 billion and that revenues of Quantum companies will near $500 million in 2022. While this is impressive growth, we havent seen anything yet. In a decade from now, Quantum will be ubiquitous, and will be an order of magnitude larger in investment and revenues. While the mainstream adoption of quantum computing is still a decade away, the technological advances that are coming out of Israel will definitely make waves in the coming year and beyond.

The blockchain industry has come a long way. It started 12 years ago as a payment method and store of value. The technology slowly evolved to be a solution for supply chain management, digital security, voting applications, financial applications, and digital ownership in the form of tokens called NFTs and much more.

In 2021, blockchain technology became much more mainstream not only with the explosion of the NFT ecosystem but it gained adoption or is being explored by companies like Nike, Adidas, Facebook (Meta), PayPal, Visa, Ubisoft, and Shopify.

I think its going to flourish like crazy, Medved says of blockchain. Were starting to make investments in those types of companies. We have not been big players or players at all in ICOs or cryptocurrencies but we believe in DeFi and that theres going to be a lot of business applications utilizing the blockchain and now is the time.

The blockchain industry is set to be worth $67.8 billion by 2026, according to market reports.

Blockchain is expected to continue being a strong and emerging sector into 2022, especially in Israel.

In November, American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase acquired Unbound Security for a believed $150 million, according to a report. Coinbase not only gains access to some of the worlds most sophisticated cryptographic security experts but also a presence in Israel Weve long recognized Israel as a hotbed of strong technology and cryptography talent, reads a press release.

According to data compiled by Start-Up Nation Finder, cryptocurrency-tagged companies raised, for the first time ever, over $1 billion in funding for 2021. While a big milestone for the Israeli Web3 ecosystem, the global acceleration of the cryptocurrency markets crossing $2 trillion leaves a lot of room for Israels growth within this sector.

The pandemic accelerated the need for digital health solutions such as telemedicine, at-home medical devices, and personalized treatments.

Theres no slowing [digital health] down because people will get healthier, it will become much more efficient and it will reduce medical costs, says Medved.

Israel has long been a powerhouse in the health-tech space and COVID-19 has only upped its innovation. Israel has over 1,400 digital health startups, according to Start-Up Nation Finder.

On a global level, telehealth has increased 38 times from pre-COVID-19 levels, according to market reports. Global healthcare spending is set to hit over $10 trillion in 2022, and Fortune Business Insight predicts telehealth to be a $397 billion industry by 2027.

Israeli companies are all over the digital health space, with artificial intelligence for drug discovery, molecular diagnostics for personalized treatments, and VR-based FDA compliant telehealth meetings.

Among the companies to hit the news in 2021, are the likes of air filter companies like Aura Air, which this past week won the approval of the health and education ministries to be installed in 700 Jerusalem classrooms, and Tadiran which says it removes 99.9% of COVID-19 particles from the air. Additionally, SaNOtize, invented a nasal spray to kill the virus with a spritz and MigVax, claims to have an oral effective booster against the virus.

Also earlier this month, eight Israeli startups werenamedto the prestigiousDigital Health 150, an annual global ranking by New York-based research firm CB Insights of the 150 most promising companies using digital technology to transform the healthcare industry.

On health care technology, Medved told NoCamels, The most important word today in venture capital seems to be velocity. There seems to be a speed at which funding is getting done, companies are growing much faster than before and thats happening in healthcare too which is one of the slower moving areas because of the need for approval and you even see the FDA, because of the changes made in the pandemic just moving a lot faster.

Food tech conquered the headlines in 2021, with a wide range of jaw-dropping innovations.

And Israel is taking part in this revolution of what we eat, how we eat it, what its wrapped in, and how it gets from farm to our plate.

In September, Margalit Startup City Galil the International Foodtech Center, developed in conjunction with the Jewish National Fund (JNF), opened its doors. The center is dedicated to the application of food science and food technologies.

Lab-grown meat was a buzzword in 2021 and is likely going to continue to demand solutions that tackle the harmful effects of livestock systems and reduce the populations reliance on livestock in 2022. Earlier this year, NoCamels reported on the Israeli FoodTech incubator The Kitchen Hub and how its using its resources to cultivate sustainable innovations in the food industry.

Indeed, the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the UN found that the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems.

In November, the worlds first lab-grown meat factory opened in Israel.

Future Meat Technologies, a cell-grown meat developer, raised the most in the sectors history with a Series B investment of $347 million. This investment broke records as the biggest single investment in a cultured meat company to date.

Beyond the lab-grown meat trend, a slew of companies like Imagindairy develop animal-free dairy, Ukko designs proteins that dont trigger allergic responses, and ZeroEgg produces plant-based eggs that aim to behave and taste like the real thing.

Were (globally) investing broadly in food, a ton of money, in next generation milk, eggs, fish, and reduced sugar. Were investing in agriculture tech in terms of data collection and sensors, but not for one year, says Medved.

Read more from the original source:
7 Tech Trends Where Israel Could Make An Impact In 2022 - NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News

Geely and Waymo cooperate to develop robotaxi

Geelys premium electric vehicle (EV) brand Zeekr will cooperate with Googles self-driving car unit Waymo to develop robotaxi in the United States. The robotaxi is designed and developed by Zeekrs factory in Sweden, integrating Waymos unmanned driving technology. Waymo has already launched robotaxi services in Phoenix about a year ago and has provided services to thousands of customers so far. Cooperating with Zeekr can help Waymo expand its robotaxi services, and pave the way for Geely to enter the US market.

Baidu releases Quantum Platform 2.0

During the Baidu Create 2021, Baidu officially released Baidu Quantum Platform 2.0. Duan Runyao, director of Baidu Quantum Computing Institute, said that Baidu Quantum Platform can lower the threshold for quantum computing learning and application, and accelerate the application of quantum computing in the fields of chemistry, finance and materials.

Consumer-grade robot brand ROBOSEN raises US$100 million

Chinese consumer-grade robot brand ROBOSEN has completed a series B+ round of financing, led by Cedarlake Capital. Recent Capital, Lightspeed China Partners, existing investors Sequoia Capital China, Dayone Capital and Qlacier Capital also participated. After the completion of financing, ROBOSEN will continue to explore more IP partners, provide diversified products, and expand talent team.

QCraft partners with Dongfeng Motor on Sharing Bus

QCraft, a Chinese autonomous driving technology firm, signed a cooperation agreement with Dongfeng Sharing-VAN in the fields of pre-installation mass production, customized development, optimization and iteration of Sharing Bus models, to jointly practice the commercial innovation of autonomous driving, and help Wuhan build the first "autonomous driving city" in China. In the future, QCraft and Dongfeng Sharing-VAN will gradually realize the commercial operation of 300 unmanned vehicles nationwide.

(China Money Networks articles are curated and translated from credible Chinese media organizations with established brands, experienced editorial teams, and trustworthy journalism practices. However, we are not responsible for the accuracy of the information. For any questions, please reach out to our editorial department.)

Originally posted here:
China Tech Digest: Geely And Waymo Cooperate To Develop Robotaxi; QCraft Partners With Dongfeng Motor On Sh... - China Money Network

Global spending on digital transformation is predicted to jump 20 per cent annually to $1.8 trillion next year, according to Statista.

Covid-induced market disruptions and widespread adoption of hybrid work models have accelerated the process. Many businesses are more inclined towards developing in-house technologies to reduce their dependence on third-party service providers and ensure they are less affected in case of future supply chain disruptions, industry experts said.

Digital tech initiatives remain a top strategic business priority for companies as they continue to reinvent the future of work focusing spending on making their infrastructure bulletproof and accommodating increasingly complex hybrid work for employees going into 2022, said Jon-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.

Amid the increasing digital transformation budgets and emergence of latest innovations, The National looks at the 10 top technology trends for the year ahead.

The hand of a humanoid robot operates a switchboard during a demonstration by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. Photo: Reuters

One of the most powerful artificial intelligence techniques coming to market is generative AI. It involves a set of machine learning methods that learn about content or objects from their data and use the knowledge to produce totally new and more realistic products.

Connecticut-based technology research and consulting company Gartner expects generative AI to account for nearly 10 per cent of all data produced, up from less than 1 per cent today.

This technology can be used for a range of activities such as creating software code, accelerating new drug development and targeted marketing. However, industry analysts cautioned it can also be misused for scams, spreading political disinformation and creating forged identities.

Digital finance innovations, such as cryptocurrencies and central bank-backed digital currencies (CBDCs), will boost financial inclusion and improve cross-border payments.

A Christmas tree in front of racks of illuminated mining rigs at the Minto cryptocurrency mining centre in Nadvoitsy, Russia. Photo: Bloomberg

In October, the International Monetary Fund said it was looking at both the risks and opportunities that digital currencies pose.

Central banks across the world are increasingly assessing the potential of digital currencies amid a growing interest in cryptocurrencies and other online payment channels.

The number of countries developing CBDCs has dramatically increased as consumers shifted to digital payments during the coronavirus pandemic, a report by Moodys Investors Service said.

For many consumers and businesses that made the switch to digital payments, there is probably no going back, even if the pandemic-related concerns about the tactile nature of cash were to recede, Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics at Cornell University and author of the book, The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance, told CNBC.

As businesses continue to transform, traditional programming or simple automation will not scale enough.

A robot displays Covid-19 protection instructions at Expo 2020 Dubai. AFP

Autonomic systems are self-managing physical or software systems that learn from their environments. Unlike automated or even autonomous systems, autonomic systems can modify their own algorithms without an external software update, enabling them to rapidly adapt to new conditions in the field, much like humans can.

Autonomic behaviour has already made itself known through recent deployments in complex security environments, but in the longer term will become common in physical systems such as robots, drones, manufacturing machines and smart spaces, said David Groombridge, research vice president at Gartner.

Electric vehicles are fast gaining popularity as government incentives and subsidies drive their adoption.

An electric car is charged at a roadside EV charge point in London. Photo: Reuters

But charging is still a problem as public EV charging networks usually have a low level of interoperability it involves different access methods, payment types and accounts.

UK-based Juniper Research said it will begin to break down in 2022.

The worlds biggest EV maker Tesla is already opening its supercharger network and other large charging networks are expected to follow, to make the technology mainstream.

End users will gain significantly they will have better, more comprehensive charging network options, making EV ownership more viable, Juniper said.

More EV charging networks will enable interoperability and work to develop common ways to access and pay. Vehicle manufacturers will offer aggregator apps that enable easier charging options, it added.

Quantum computers represent a massive acceleration in computing speed and performance. It is expected to deliver extraordinary advances across a multitude of industries including pharmaceutical development, nuclear energy, materials science, renewable energy, climate change mitigation, sustainable agriculture and more.

The world's biggest economies the US, Russia, China and Japan as well as tech titans IBM, Alibaba, Google and Microsoft, are all battling for supremacy in the field. Companies such as Visa, JP Morgan and Volkswagen are also experimenting with early-stage quantum technology.

In May, Google said it aims to build a commercial-grade quantum computer by 2029 that can perform error-free complex calculations in tiny fractions of a second.

In March, Abu Dhabi said it will build its own quantum computer, the first in the country, which will be able to process information at much faster speeds than classic technology.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and Daniel Sank, senior research scientist at Google, with one of the company's quantum computers in the Santa Barbara lab, California. Photo: Reuters

Hyperautomation is a process in which businesses automate as many tasks as possible using tools like AI, machine learning and robotics.

It enables fast growth and business resilience by quickly finding, testing and automating as many processes as possible.

Top-performing hyperautomation teams focus on three key priorities improving the quality of work, speeding up business processes and enhancing the agility of decision-making, Mr Groombridge said.

By 2022, nearly 45 per cent of repetitive work tasks will be automated and augmented by using digital co-workers, powered by AI and robotics, according to International Data Corporation.

Gallery workers pose with the Ai-Da Robot at the Ashmolean Museum in the UK. Ai-Da is an ultra-realistic robot with artificial intelligence capabilities. Photo: EPA

Faster digital connections, powered by 5G and the Internet of Things, will unlock the untapped potential and add to the world economy, industry experts said.

Ensuring faster connections in areas such as mobility, healthcare, manufacturing and retail could increase the global gross domestic product by $1.2tn to $2tn by 2030, according to McKinsey.

Cyber security mesh is a strategy that independently secures each device with its own perimetre. Most of the traditional security practices use a single perimetre to secure an entire IT environment, but a cyber security mesh uses a more rounded and an all-inclusive approach.

Data is only useful if enterprises can trust it, Mr Groombridge said.

Today, assets and users can be anywhere, meaning the traditional security perimetre is gone this requires a cyber security mesh architecture.

Workers on a 5G tower at Shougang Park, one of the sites for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo: AFP

By 2024, organisations adopting cyber security mesh to integrate security tools to work as a co-operative ecosystem will reduce the financial impact of individual security incidents by an average of 90 per cent, Gartner predicted.

Covid-induced disruptions and cyber attacks have put the spotlight on the necessity to have a resilient network of supply chains.

Supply-chain cyber security will become a concern for all industries, not just those that deal with the software directly, Juniper predicted.

Legislative pressure, particularly from the US, is driving cyber security reform for the software supply chain increased availability of AI, blockchain and other digital technologies will be leveraged for increased security following several high-profile data breaches in 2021, it added.

Cyber security is one of the growing concerns among businesses worldwide. Pawan Singh / The National

The pandemic and the surge in digital services are making cloud the centrepiece of new digital experiences.

In 2022, global cloud revenue is estimated to total $474 billion, up from $408bn this year, according to Gartner.

There is no business strategy without a cloud strategy, said Milind Govejar, vice president at Gartner.

Cloud has enabled new digital experiences such as mobile payment systems where banks have invested in start-ups, energy companies using cloud to improve their customers retail experiences or car companies launching new personalisation services for customers' safety and infotainment, he added.

Updated: December 29th 2021, 10:33 AM

Follow this link:
Top 10 tech trends to watch out for in 2022 - The National

Let's look at example that shows how quantum computers can succeed where classical computers fail:

A supercomputer might be great at difficult tasks like sorting through a big database of protein sequences. But it will struggle to see the subtle patterns in that data that determine how those proteins behave.

Proteins are long strings of amino acids that become useful biological machines when they fold into complex shapes. Figuring out how proteins will fold is a problem with important implications for biology and medicine.

A classical supercomputer might try to fold a protein with brute force, leveraging its many processors to check every possible way of bending the chemical chain before arriving at an answer. But as the protein sequences get longer and more complex, the supercomputer stalls. A chain of 100 amino acids could theoretically fold in any one of many trillions of ways. No computer has the working memory to handle all the possible combinations of individual folds.

Quantum algorithms take a new approach to these sorts of complex problems -- creating multidimensional spaces where the patterns linking individual data points emerge. In the case of a protein folding problem, that pattern might be the combination of folds requiring the least energy to produce. That combination of folds is the solution to the problem.

Classical computers can not create these computational spaces, so they can not find these patterns. In the case of proteins, there are already early quantum algorithms that can find folding patterns in entirely new, more efficient ways, without the laborious checking procedures of classical computers. As quantum hardware scales and these algorithms advance, they could tackle protein folding problems too complex for any supercomputer.

How complexity stumps supercomputers

Proteins are long strings of amino acids that become useful biological machines when they fold into complex shapes. Figuring out how proteins will fold is a problem with important implications for biology and medicine.

A classical supercomputer might try to fold a protein with brute force, leveraging its many processors to check every possible way of bending the chemical chain before arriving at an answer. But as the protein sequences get longer and more complex, the supercomputer stalls. A chain of 100 amino acids could theoretically fold in any one of many trillions of ways. No computer has the working memory to handle all the possible combinations of individual folds.

Quantum computers are built for complexityQuantum algorithms take a new approach to these sorts of complex problems -- creating multidimensional spaces where the patterns linking individual data points emerge. Classical computers can not create these computational spaces, so they can not find these patterns. In the case of proteins, there are already early quantum algorithms that can find folding patterns in entirely new, more efficient ways, without the laborious checking procedures of classical computers. As quantum hardware scales and these algorithms advance, they could tackle protein folding problems too complex for any supercomputer.

See more here:
What is Quantum Computing? | IBM

In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore observed that the number of transistors per square inch on a microchip had doubled every year since their invention while the costs were cut in half a phenomenon that became known as Moores Law.

More than 50 years of chip innovation have allowed transistors to get smaller and smaller until the point where its no longer physically possible to reduce the size of transistors any further. As a result, improvements in computing are slowing down and new ways to process information will need to be found if we want to continue to reap the benefits from a rapid growth in computing.

Enter Quantum computing a radical new technology that could have a profound affect all our lives. It has, for example, the potential to transform medicine and revolutionize the fields of Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity.

But what exactly is quantum computing and how does it vary from the computers we use today? In short, it is fundamentally different. Todays computers operate using bits which are best thought of as tiny switches that can either be in the off position (zero) or in the on position (one). Ultimately all of todays digital data whether thats a website or app you visit or image you download comprise millions of bits made up of ones and zeroes.

However, instead of bits, a quantum computer uses whats known as a qubit. The power of these qubits is their ability to scale exponentially so that a two-qubit machine allows for four calculations simultaneously, a three-qubit machine allows for eight calculations, and a four-qubit machine performs 16 simultaneous calculations.

According to Wired magazine, the difference between a traditional supercomputer and a quantum computer can best be explained by comparing the approaches that they might take in getting out of a maze. For example, a traditional computer will try every route in turn, ruling out each one until it finds the right one, whereas a quantum computer will go down every route at the same time. It can hold uncertainty in its head, claims Wired.

Rather than having a clear position, unmeasured quantum states occur in a mixed 'superposition', similar to a coin spinning through the air before it lands in your hand.

While a single qubit cant do much, quantum mechanics has another phenomenon called entanglement, which allows qubits to be set up in a way so that their individual probabilities are affected by the other qubits in the system. For example, a quantum computer with two entangled qubits is a bit like tossing two coins at the same time and while theyre in the air every possible combination of heads and tails can be represented at once. The more qubits that are entangled together, the more combinations of information that can be simultaneously represented.

Building a quantum computer is not without its problems. Not only does it have to hold an object in a superposition state long enough to carry out various processes on them, but the technology is also extremely sensitive to noise and environmental effects. Quantum chips must be kept colder than outer space to create superpositionsand information only remains quantum for so long before it is lost.

Nevertheless, researchers have predicted that quantum computers could help tackle certain types of problems, especially those involving a daunting number of variables and potential outcomes, like simulations or optimization questions. For example, they could be used to improve the software of self-driving cars, predict financial markets or model chemical reactions. Some scientists even believe quantum simulations could help find a breakthrough in beating diseases like Alzheimers.

Cryptography will be one key application. Currently, encryption systems rely on breaking down large numbers into prime numbers, a process called factoring. Whereas this a slow process for classical computers, for quantum computers it can be carried out very easily. As a result, all of our data could be put at risk if a quantum computer fell into the wrong hands. However, one way data could be protected is with quantum encryption keys which could not be copied or hacked.

Theres no question that quantum computing could be a revolutionary technology. And while the prospect of a quantum notebook or mobile phone look a very long way off, its likely that quantum computers will be widespread in academic and industrial settings at least for certain applications - within the next three to five years.

See more here:
What Is Quantum Computing? - Data Center Knowledge

Twenty-seven years before Steve Jobs unveiled a computer you could put in your pocket, physicist Paul Benioff published a paper showing it was theoretically possible to build a much more powerful system you could hide in a thimble a quantum computer.

Named for the subatomic physics it aimed to harness, the concept Benioff described in 1980 still fuels research today, including efforts to build the next big thing in computing: a system that could make a PC look in some ways quaint as an abacus.

Richard Feynman a Nobel Prize winner whose wit-laced lectures brought physics to a broad audience helped establish the field, sketching out how such systems could simulate quirky quantum phenomena more efficiently than traditional computers. So,

Quantum computing is a sophisticated approach to making parallel calculations, using the physics that governs subatomic particles to replace the more simplistic transistors in todays computers.

Quantum computers calculate using qubits, computing units that can be on, off or any value between, instead of the bits in traditional computers that are either on or off, one or zero. The qubits ability to live in the in-between state called superposition adds a powerful capability to the computing equation, making quantum computers superior for some kinds of math.

Using qubits, quantum computers could buzz through calculations that would take classical computers a loooong time if they could even finish them.

For example, todays computers use eight bits to represent any number between 0 and 255. Thanks to features like superposition, a quantum computer can use eight qubits to represent every number between 0 and 255, simultaneously.

Its a feature like parallelism in computing: All possibilities are computed at once rather than sequentially, providing tremendous speedups.

So, while a classical computer steps through long division calculations one at a time to factor a humongous number, a quantum computer can get the answer in a single step. Boom!

That means quantum computers could reshape whole fields, like cryptography, that are based on factoring what are today impossibly large numbers.

That could be just the start. Some experts believe quantum computers will bust through limits that now hinder simulations in chemistry, materials science and anything involving worlds built on the nano-sized bricks of quantum mechanics.

Quantum computers could even extend the life of semiconductors by helping engineers create more refined simulations of the quantum effects theyre starting to find in todays smallest transistors.

Indeed, experts say quantum computers ultimately wont replace classical computers, theyll complement them. And some predict quantum computers will be used as accelerators much as GPUs accelerate todays computers.

Dont expect to build your own quantum computer like a DIY PC with parts scavenged from discount bins at the local electronics shop.

The handful of systems operating today typically require refrigeration that creates working environments just north of absolute zero. They need that computing arctic to handle the fragile quantum states that power these systems.

In a sign of how hard constructing a quantum computer can be, one prototype suspends an atom between two lasers to create a qubit. Try that in your home workshop!

Quantum computing takes nano-Herculean muscles to create something called entanglement. Thats when two or more qubits exist in a single quantum state, a condition sometimes measured by electromagnetic waves just a millimeter wide.

Crank up that wave with a hair too much energy and you lose entanglement or superposition, or both. The result is a noisy state called decoherence, the equivalent in quantum computing of the blue screen of death.

A handful of companies such as Alibaba, Google, Honeywell, IBM, IonQ and Xanadu operate early versions of quantum computers today.

Today they provide tens of qubits. But qubits can be noisy, making them sometimes unreliable. To tackle real-world problems reliably, systems need tens or hundreds of thousands of qubits.

Experts believe it could be a couple decades before we get to a high-fidelity era when quantum computers are truly useful.

Predictions of when we reach so-called quantum computing supremacy the time when quantum computers execute tasks classical ones cant is a matter of lively debate in the industry.

The good news is the world of AI and machine learning put a spotlight on accelerators like GPUs, which can perform many of the types of operations quantum computers would calculate with qubits.

So, classical computers are already finding ways to host quantum simulations with GPUs today. For example, NVIDIA ran a leading-edge quantum simulation on Selene, our in-house AI supercomputer.

NVIDIA announced in the GTC keynote the cuQuantum SDK to speed quantum circuit simulations running on GPUs. Early work suggests cuQuantum will be able to deliver orders of magnitude speedups.

The SDK takes an agnostic approach, providing a choice of tools users can pick to best fit their approach. For example, the state vector method provides high-fidelity results, but its memory requirements grow exponentially with the number of qubits.

That creates a practical limit of roughly 50 qubits on todays largest classical supercomputers. Nevertheless weve seen great results (below) using cuQuantum to accelerate quantum circuit simulations that use this method.

Researchers from the Jlich Supercomputing Centre will provide a deep dive on their work with the state vector method in session E31941 at GTC (free with registration).

A newer approach, tensor network simulations, use less memory and more computation to perform similar work.

Using this method, NVIDIA and Caltech accelerated a state-of-the-art quantum circuit simulator with cuQuantum running on NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs. It generated a sample from a full-circuit simulation of the Google Sycamore circuit in 9.3 minutes on Selene, a task that 18 months ago experts thought would take days using millions of CPU cores.

Using the Cotengra/Quimb packages, NVIDIAs newly announced cuQuantum SDK, and the Selene supercomputer, weve generated a sample of the Sycamore quantum circuit at depth m=20 in record time less than 10 minutes, said Johnnie Gray, a research scientist at Caltech.

This sets the benchmark for quantum circuit simulation performance and will help advance the field of quantum computing by improving our ability to verify the behavior of quantum circuits, said Garnet Chan, a chemistry professor at Caltech whose lab hosted the work.

NVIDIA expects the performance gains and ease of use of cuQuantum will make it a foundational element in every quantum computing framework and simulator at the cutting edge of this research.

Sign up to show early interest in cuQuantum here.

Visit link:
What Is Quantum Computing? | NVIDIA Blog

When the quantum internet arrives, researchers predict it will shift the computing landscape on a scale unseen in decades. In their estimation, it will make hacking a thing of the past. It will secure global power grids and voting systems. It will enable nearly limitless computing power and allow users to securely send information across vast distances.

But forTian Zhong, assistant professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago, the most tantalizing benefits of the quantum internet have yet to be imagined.

Zhong is a quantum engineer working to create this new global network. In his mind, the full impact of the quantum internet may only be realized after its been built. To understand his work and why the United States is spending$625 millionon the new technology, it helps to consider the science behind it: quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics is a theory created to explain fundamental properties of matter, particularly on the subatomic scale. Its roots trace back to the late 19th and early 20th century, when scientists tried to explain the unusual nature of light, which behaves as both a wave and a particle. In the hundred years since then, physicists have learned a great deal, particularly concerning the strange behavior of subatomic particles.

Theyve learned, for example, that some subatomic particles have the ability to be in two states at the same time, a principle called superposition. Another such principle is entanglement, which is the ability of two particles to communicate instantaneously despite being separated by hundreds of miles.

Over time, scientists have found ways to manipulate those principles, entangling particles at will or controlling an electrons spin. That new control allows researchers to encode, send, and process information using subatomic particleslaying the foundations of quantum computing and the quantum internet.

At the moment, both technologies are still hampered by certain physical limitationsquantum computers, for example, need to be kept in giant sub-zero freezersbut researchers like Zhong are optimistic those limitations will be resolved in the near future.

Were at a juncture where this is no longer science fiction, Zhong said. More and more, its looking like this technology will emerge from laboratories any day, ready to be adopted by society.

Zhongs research focuses on the hardware needed to make the quantum internet a reality, things like quantum chips that encrypt and decrypt quantum information, and quantum repeaters that relay information across network lines. To create that hardware, Zhong and his team work on the subatomic scale, using individual atoms to hold information and single photons to transmit it through optic cables.

Zhongs current work centers on finding ways to fight against quantum decoherence, which is when information stored on a quantum system degrades to the point that its no longer retrievable. Decoherence is an especially difficult obstacle to overcome because quantum states are extremely sensitive and any outside forcebe it heat, light, radiation, or vibrationcan easily destroy it.

Most researchers address decoherence by keeping quantum computers at a temperature near absolute zero. But the instant any quantum state is transmitted outside the freezer, say on a network line, it begins to break down within a few microseconds, severely limiting the potential for expansive interconnectivity.

See the rest here:
To build the quantum internet, UChicago engineer teaches atoms how to remember - UChicago News

A new academic paper reveals a worrisome tendency for cosmic rays to disrupt quantum computer processors in a way that may be nearly impossible for current error correction techniques to reliably counteract.

One of the biggest obstacles faced by quantum computers is dealing with error correction. Traditionally, this has been most commonly handled by grouping together multiple qubits, the quantum equivalent of traditional computing's bits, into a sort of committee within quantum processing units. Rather than the system relying on a single qubit, which may or may not be correct, it instead relies on the consensus provided by an entire group of qubits. This strips away erroneous outliers and greatly reduces the error rate to a point where it's extremely unlikely that it will interfere with an ongoing processing job.

Unfortunately, in a very sci-fi-sounding turn of events, it appears that an unseen enemy from outer space may be threatening the viability of this error-correcting technology.

Cosmic rays are invisible, microscopic particle beams that constantly bombard the Earth from sources as far away as other galaxies. They typically collide harmlessly with the planet's atmosphere as well as objects within it. In fact, you'll likely be hit by several of them while reading this article. Luckily, for our peace of mind, they generally go completely unnoticed and do absolutely no harm before continuing on their cosmic journey. Unfortunately for quantum computing developers, it appears that quantum processors may be far, far more sensitive to these typically unnoticeable intruders than they realized.

In a paper published in Nature Physics and covered by Ars Technica, it's been revealed that one of these typically harmless rays could cause a major problem when it hits an operating quantum CPU. According to the findings of several researchers working at Google Quantum AI, a cosmic ray strike on an operating quantum computer core can result in the formation of a quasiparticle called a phonon.

These phonons have the capacity to disrupt operations by inverting the quantum state of not only a single qubit, but an entire entangled set of qubitsas they proliferate across the processor. This means a strike could distribute errors across an entire qubit set, essentially nullifying the protection provided by the committee-like error correction mentioned above.

In an experiment detailed within the paper, Google researchers tested a set of 26 qubits that were known to be amongst their most reliable. This set was then left in an idle state for 100 microseconds. While idling, reliable qubits should generally remain in their current state. To use a traditional, binary computing analogy, a 1 should remain a 1, a 0 should remain a 0.

On average, the 26 qubits set in question displayed an error rate of about 4 qubits that erroneously flipped their state within the 100 microsecond test period. This is well within the built-in error correction's ability to compensate by relying on the remaining majority of 22 qubits. However, during confirmed quantum ray strikes, 24 of the 26 qubits were found to have erroneously flipped to the opposite state. This result is well beyond traditional error correction's ability to compensate for. Such an outcome would place the entire group in error and could throw the entire processing job's continuity into question.

Cosmic ray interference is nothing new. As Ars noted, they can also interact with traditional CPUs by messing with the electrical charges they rely on to complete their logic operations. However, the unique and still-developing structure of quantum processors makes them far more prone to such interference, with Google's research indicating that a cosmic ray-induced error happens as often as every 10 seconds. This means the hours-long processing jobs most quantum CPUs are being tasked with could include hundreds, if not thousands of errors littered throughout their results.

Making matters worse is the fact that the processor these researchers used for their testing was rather small. As processing demands increase, so too must the size of the quantum processor. But, the larger the processor, the more surface area there is to potentially suffer a cosmic ray collision. It appears the threat of forced errors is only going to become direr as quantum CPUs continue making their way towards practical applications.

Unfortunately, there is no practical way to reliably block these problematic, intergalactic travelers. They are moving at almost the speed of light, after all. However, as pointed out by Ars Technica, some clever workarounds have already been developed to help devices like astronomical imaging equipment cope with quantum ray interference. While the paper does not specifically explore the viability of these potential solutions, they do seem to indicate the problem of cosmic ray interference is a surmountable one.

Here is the original post:
Quantum computing now has an out-of-this-world problem: Cosmic rays - ZDNet

IonQ(NYSE:IONQ) seeks to lead the way in a very specific market: quantum computing. Fortunately, you dont have to be a mathematician or computer scientist to invest in IONQ stock.

Source: Amin Van / Shutterstock.com

It is important to understand what the company does, though. To put it simply, IonQ develops quantum computers designed to solve the worlds most complex problems.

This niche industry has vast moneymaking potential. According to IonQ, experts predict that the total addressable market for quantum computing will reach around $65 billion by 2030.

IonQ got in fairly early and aggressively, as the company has been around since 2015 and produced six generations of quantum computers. Theres a terrific investment opportunity here, yet the share price is down and if you ask me, this just doesnt compute.

Going back to the beginning, IonQoffered its shares for public tradingon theNew York Stock Exchange on Oct. 1, 2021, after reverse-merging with dMY Technology Group III.

The stock started off at around $10 but sank to the low $7s in just a few days time. However, that turned out to be a great time to start a long position.

Amazingly, IONQ stock staged a swift turnaround and soared to nearly $36 in November. In hindsight, however, this rally went too fast and too far.

Inevitably, a retracement ensued and the early investors had to cough up some of their gains. By early December, the share price had declined to $18 and change.

Sure, you could wait and hope that IONQ stock falls further before considering a position. Yet, you might miss out on a buy-the-dip opportunity with an ambitious, future-facing tech business.

I case I didnt make it abundantly clear already, IonQ is serious about advancing quantum-computing technology.

Case in point: in order to cement its leadership position in this niche, IonQ recently revealed its plans to use barium ions as qubits in its systems, thereby bringing about a wave of advantages it believes will enable advanced quantum computing architectures.

A qubit, or quantum bit, is basically a tiny bit of coded information in quantum mechanics.

Its perfectly fine if you dont fully understand the scientific minutiae, as IonQ President and CEO Peter Chapman and his team have the necessary know-how and experience.

We believe the advanced architectures enabled by barium qubits will be even more powerful and more scalable than the systems we have been able to build so far, opening the door to broader applications of quantum computing, Chapman assured.

Apparently, the advantages of using barium ions as qubits include lower error rates, higher gate fidelity, better state detection, more easily networked quantum systems and iterable, more reliable hardware, with more uptime for customers.

Thankfully, now I can leave the science to the scientists, and focus on what I do best: breaking down financial data.After all, Id be hard-pressed to recommend any company if it didnt at least have a decent capital position.

CFO Thomas Kramer was evidently glad to report that, as of Sept. 30 IonQ had cash and cash equivalents of $587 million.The companys strong balance sheet, according to Kramer will allow IonQ to accelerate [the] scaling of all business functions and continue attracting the industrys best and brightest.

Since IonQ is well-capitalized, the company should be well-positioned to benefit from Capitol Hills interest in quantum as shown by the infrastructure bill, the CFO added.

Its also worth noting that IonQ generated $223,000 in revenues during 2021s third quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to $451,000.

Hopefully, the company can parlay its quantum-computing know-how into seven-figure revenues in the near future.

IonQs loyal investors dont need to understand everything about qubits. They only need to envision a robust future for the quantum-computing market.

We cant claim that IonQ is generating massive revenues at this point. Therefore, it requires patience and foresight to invest in this company with confidence.

Yet, an early stake could offer vast rewards in the long run. After all, when it comes to deep-level, next-gen quantum computing, IonQ clearly has it down to a science.

On the date of publication, David Moadeldid not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.

David Moadel has provided compelling content and crossed the occasional line on behalf of Crush the Street, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finom Group, Benzinga, and (of course) InvestorPlace.com. He also serves as the chief analyst and market researcher for Portfolio Wealth Global and hosts the popular financial YouTube channel Looking at the Markets.

Continue reading here:
IonQ Stock Is an Investment in Cutting Edge, Global Solutions - InvestorPlace