Daily Archives: February 3, 2022

DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- February 3, 2022, collaboration agreement was signed between Allosteric Bioscience, a company founded in 2021 integrating Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence with Biomedical sciences to create improved treatments for Aging and Longevity and Polaris Quantum Biotech, a company at the vanguard of Quantum Computing for drug discovery. Together, they are utilizing advancements in Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence for development of novel pharmaceuticals.

Improved Aging, Longevity and Aging related diseases is a lead program at Allosteric Bioscience and the focus of this agreement, supported by an investment in Polarisqb. This joint program uses Quantum Computing (QC) and artificial intelligence (AI) for creation of an inhibitor of a key protein involved in Aging that could have benefits for health representing a multibillion-dollar market. Allosteric Bioscience is using its "QAB" platform for integrating QC, AI, genetics, genomics, system biology, epigenetics, and proteomics, as well as two Aging platforms: "ALT" - Aging Longevity Targets and "ALM" Aging Longevity Modulators.

Dr. Shahar Keinan, CEO of Polarisqb stated, "Quantum Computing technology is coming of age, allowing us to revolutionize drug discovery timelines, while improving the overall profile of the designed drugs. We are excited about the joint program with Allosteric tackling Aging and Longevity using Polarisqb's Tachyon platform. The application of Quantum Computers to solving these complex questions is extraordinary."

Dr. Arthur P. Bollon, President of Allosteric Bioscience stated, "The agreement between Allosteric Bioscience and Polarisqb represents an important milestone in implementing the Allosteric Bioscience strategy of integrating the Quantum Computer and advanced AI with Biomedical sciences for creation and development of advanced treatments for Improved Aging, Longevity and Aging related diseases."

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Polaris Quantum Biotech, a leader in Quantum Computing for drug discovery, created the first drug discovery platform built on a Quantum Computer. Founded in 2020 by Shahar Keinan, CEO, and Bill Shipman, CTO, Polarisqb uses cloud, quantum computing, and machine learning to process, evaluate and identify lead molecules 10,000 times faster than alternative solutions. These high-quality drug leads are taken to synthesis, testing, and licensed to partners for development within months, rather than years. Information is available at http://www.Polarisqb.com

Allosteric Bioscience founders, Bruce Meyers, Arthur P. Bollon, Ph.D., and Peter Sordillo, Ph.D., M.D., have decades of expertise in the biotechnology industry as well as biomedical disciplines including genomics, epigenetics, systems biology, proteomics as well as oncology and quantum physics. Bruce Meyers and Dr. Bollon, founded multiple biotechnology companies including Cytoclonal Pharmaceutics (Dr. Bollon served as Chairman and CEO) which merged to create OPKO Health, a NASDAQ company with a market cap of $2 billion. Dr. Sordillo, who has a background in quantum information theory, is a leader in treating sarcomas and other cancers and managed over 50 clinical trials at leading institutions including Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

For information about Allosteric Bioscience: Dr. Arthur P. Bollon- abollon@allostericbioscience.com or Bruce Meyers- bmeyers@allostericbiocience.com

For information about Polarisqb: Dr. Shahar Keinan - skeinan@polarisqb.com or Will Simpson - wsimpson@polarisqb.com.

Cision

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SOURCE PolarisQB

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Quantum Computing Targets Improved Human Aging and Longevity in new Agreement between Allosteric Bioscience and Polaris Quantum Biotech - Yahoo...

Fundamental physics research in Finland has led to at least six very successful spin-offs that have supplied quantum technology to the global market for several decades.

According to Pertti Hakonen, an academic at Aalto University, it all started with Olli Viktor Lounasmaa, who in 1965 established the low-temperature laboratory at Aalto University, formerly Helsinki University of Technology. He served as lab director for about 30 years, says Pertti Hakonen, professor at Aalto University.

The low-temperature lab was a long-term investment in basic research in low-temperature physics that has paid off nicely. Hakonen, who has been conducting research in the lab since 1979, witnessed the birth and growth of several spin-offs, including Bluefors, a startup that is now by far the market leader in cryostats for quantum computers.

In the beginning, there was a lot of work on different cryostat designs, trying to beat low-temperature records, says Hakonen. Our present record in our lab is 100 pico-kelvin in the nuclei of rhodium atoms. Thats the nuclear spin temperature in the nuclei of rhodium atoms, not in the electrons.

For quantum computing you dont need temperatures this low. You only need 10 milli-kelvin. A dilution refrigerator is enough for that. In the old days, the cryostat had to be in a liquid helium bath. Bluefors was a pioneer in using liquid-free technology, replacing the liquid helium with a pulse tube cooler, which is cheaper in the long run. The resulting system is called a dry dilution refrigerator.

The pulse tube cooler is based on two stages in series. The first stage brings the temperature down to 70 kelvin and the next stage brings it down to 4 kelvin. Gas is pumped down and up continuously, passing through heat exchangers a process that drops the temperature dramatically.

Bluefors started business with the idea of adding closed-loop dilution refrigeration after pulse tube cooling. In 2005 and 2006, pulse tube coolers became more powerful, says David Gunnarsson, CTO at Bluefors. We used pulse tube coolers to pre-cool at the first two stages, which takes you down to around 3 kelvin. We get the pulse tube coolers from an American company called Cryomech.

Bluefors key differentiator is a closed-loop circulation system, the dilution refrigerator stages, where we circulate a mixture of helium 4 and helium 3 gas. At very cold temperatures, this becomes liquid, which we circulate through a series of well-designed heat exchangers. This approach can get the temperature down to below 10 milli-kelvin. This is where our specialty lies going below the 3 kelvin you get from off-the-shelf coolers.

Bluefors has more than 700 units on the market that are used for both research in publicly funded organisations, and for commercial research and development. One big market that has driven the dilution refrigeration is quantum computing. Anyone currently doing quantum computing based on superconducting qubits is most likely to have a Bluefors cryogenic system.

When a customer recognises the need for a cryogenic system, they talk to Bluefors to decide on the size of the refrigerator. This depends on the tasks they want to do and how many qubits they will use. Then they start looking at the control and measurement infrastructure, which must be tightly integrated with the cryogenic system. Some combination of different components and signalling elements might be added, depending on the frequencies being used. If the control and measurement lines are optical, then optical fibres are included.

As soon as Bluefors and the customer reach an agreement, Bluefors begins to produce the cryogenic enclosure, along with a unique set of options tailored to the use case. Bluefors then runs tests to make sure everything works together and that the enclosure reaches and maintains the temperatures required by the application.

The system has evolved since the company first started marketing its products in 2008. To cool down components with a dilution refrigerator, Bluefors uses a cascade approach, with nested structures that drop an order of magnitude in temperature at each level. The typical configuration includes five stages, with the first stage now bringing the temperature down to 50 kelvin. The temperature goes down to about 4 kelvin at the second stage, and reaches 1 kelvin at the third. It then drops to 100 milli-kelvin at the fourth stage, and at the fifth stage gets down to 10 milli-kelvin, or even below.

The enclosure can cool several qubits, depending on the power dissipation and the temperature the customer needs. A challenge here is that the more power dissipates, the higher the temperature is raised, and every interaction can increase the temperature.

Our most powerful model today can probably run a few hundred qubits in one enclosure, says Gunnarsson. IBM has just announced it has a system with 127 qubits. We can handle that many in one enclosure using the most powerful system we have today.

In most architectures, quantum programs work by sending microwave signals to the qubits. The sequence of signals constitutes a program. Then you have to read the outcome at the end.

The user typically has a microwave source at room temperature, says Gunnarsson. Usually, when it reaches the chips, its at power levels of the order of pico-watts, which is all that is needed to drive a qubit. Pico-watts are one trillionth of a watt a very small power requirement.

That is also a power that is very hard to read out at room temperature. So to read the output from a chip, the signal has to be amplified and taken back up to room temperature. A cascade of amplification is required to get the signal to the level you need.

The microwave control signals and the read-out process at the end constitute a cycle that lasts about 100 nanoseconds. Several such cycles occur per second, collectively making up a quantum program.

Another challenge for quantum computing is to get electronics inside the refrigerators. All operations are performed at very low temperatures, but then the result has to be taken up to room temperature to be read out. Wires are needed to start a program and to read results. The problem is that electrical wires generate heat.

This means that quantum computing lends itself only to programs where the results are not read out until the end one of many reasons interactive application such as Microsoft Excel will never be appropriate for the quantum paradigm.

It also means that every qubit needs at least one control line and then one readout line. Multiplexing can be used to reduce the number of readout lines, but there is still a lot of wiring per qubit. The chips themselves are not that large what takes up most space are all the wires and accompanying components. This makes it challenging to scale up refrigeration systems.

Since Bluefors supplies the cryogenic measurement infrastructure, we developed something we call a high-density solution, where we made it possible to have a six-fold increase in the amount of signal lines you can have in our system, says Gunnarsson. Now you can have up to 1,000 signal lines in a Bluefors state-of-the-art system using our current form factor.

One very recent innovation from Bluefors is a modular concept for cryostats, which is used by IBM. The idea is to combine modules and have information exchanged between them. This modular concept is going to be an interesting development, says Aalto Universitys Hakonen, who since the 1970s has enjoyed a front-row view of the development of quantum technology in Finland.

Finland has a very strong tradition in quantum theory in general and specifically, the quantum physics used in superconducting qubits, which is the platform used by IBM and Google. Now a large area of active research is in quantum algorithms.

How one goes about making a program is a key question, says Sabrina Maniscalco, professor of quantum information and logic at the University of Helsinki. Nowadays, the situation is such that programming quantum computing is much more quantum theory-related than any software ever managed or developed. We are not yet at a stage where a programming language exists that is independent of the device on which it runs. At the moment, quantum computers are really physics experiments.

Finland has long been renowned worldwide for its work in theoretical quantum physics, an area of expertise that plays nicely into the industry growing up around quantum computing. Two other factors that contribute to the growing ecosystem in Finland are the willingness of the government to invest in blue-sky research and the famed Finnish education system, which provides an excellent workforce for startups.

The countrys rich ecosystem of research, stable political support and the education system have resulted in the birth and growth of many startups that develop quantum algorithms. This seems like quite an achievement for a country of only five million inhabitants. But in many ways, Finlands small population is an advantage, creating a tight-knit group of experts, some of whom wear several different hats.

Maniscalco is a case in point. In addition to her research into quantum algorithms at the University of Helsinki, she is also CEO of quantum software startup Algorithmiq, which is focused on developing quantum software for life sciences.

We are trying to make quantum computers more like standard computers, but its still at a very preliminary stage Sabrina Maniscalco, University of Helsinki

As a researcher, I am first of all a theorist, she says. I dont get involved in building hardware, but I have a group of several people developing software. Quantum software is as important as hardware nowadays because quantum computers work very differently from classical computers. Classical software doesnt work at all on quantum systems. You have to completely change the way you program computers if you want to use a quantum computer.

We are trying to make quantum computers more like standard computers, but its still at a very preliminary stage. To program a quantum computer, you need quantum physicists who work with computer scientists, and experts in the application domain for example, quantum chemists. You have to start by creating specific instructions that make sense in terms of the physics experiments that quantum computers are today.

Algorithm developers need to take into account the type of quantum computer they are using the two leading types are superconducting qubits and trapped ions. Then they have to look at the quality of the qubits. They also need to know something about quantum information theory, and about the noise and imperfections that affect the qubits the building blocks of quantum computers.

Conventional computers use error correction, says Maniscalco. Thanks to error correction, the results of the computations that are performed inside your laptop or any computer are reliable. Nothing similar currently exists with quantum computers. A lot of people are currently trying to develop a quantum version of these error correction schemes, but they dont exist yet. So you have to find other strategies to counter this noise and the resulting errors.

Overcoming the noisiness of the current generation of qubits is one of many challenges standing in the way of practical quantum computers. Once those barriers are lifted, the work Maniscalco and other researchers in Finland are doing on quantum algorithms will certainly have an impact around the world.

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Finland brings cryostats and other cool things to quantum computing - ComputerWeekly.com

Experts have been warning of something called the quantum apocalypse the point when quantum computers become a reality and render most methods of internet encryption useless.

Boris Johnson promised in November that the UK would go big on quantum computing a new and more powerful way of processing information, based on quantum physics. If you imagine a standard computer to be like a horse and cart, then a quantum computer is more like a sports car a huge leap forward, explained the BBC.

The UK is aiming to secure 50% of the global quantum computing market by 2040, said The Guardian, by investing in the National Quantum Computing Centre in Harwell, Oxfordshire. But the US and China have already taken huge steps to revolutionise research in the field, with the Americans achieving a dramatic lead in quantum computing patents, said Scientific American.

A leaked Google research paper published in 2019 suggested that a computer designed by the tech giant had achieved quantum supremacy defined by The Independent as the ability to perform a calculation that was far beyond the reach of todays most powerful supercomputers.

The paper said that Googles 72-qubit computer took just 200 seconds to perform a calculation that would have taken a supercomputer around 10,000 years to complete.

There is hope that the sophistication of quantum computers could enable scientists to design new chemicals, paving the way for advanced medicines and materials. It could also help weather forecasts and stock trades, and even combat global heating.

Quantum computing gives us a way to model nature better, said Jay Gambetta, a vice-president of quantum computing at IBM, which boasts the worlds most powerful quantum processor.

However, there is also what the BBC has described as a dark side to quantum computing. Current computers would take years, decades and even centuries to crack the encryption codes created by todays machines, but the fact that a quantum computer could theoretically do this in just seconds poses an enormous cybersecurity risk.

The notion of all the worlds most encrypted files from WhatsApp messages to online banking to government data suddenly being broken into thanks to the advent of quantum computing is known as the quantum apocalypse.

The quantum apocalypse could also mark the end of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, as it would make the blockchain network which is considered to be pretty much hack-proof insecure. UK cybersecurity firm Post Quantum has said that if measures are not put in place, then bitcoin will expire the very day the first quantum computer appears.

The quantum apocalypse isnt a problem that can be left to the next generation to solve. Tim Callan, chief compliance officer at cybersecurity firm Sectigo, warned The Independent that quantum computers could reach the point of defeating our current encryption systems within the next 10 or 15 years.

When that happens, our modern systems of finance, commerce, communication, transportation, manufacturing, energy, government, and healthcare will for all intents and purposes cease to function, he added.

This prognosis was echoed in a BBC interview with Ilyas Khan, chief executive of the Cambridge and Colorado-based company Quantinuum. Quantum computers will render useless most existing methods of encryption, he said. They are a threat to our way of life.

But its not all doom and gloom. As data scientists make advances in the world of quantum computing, theyre also working to create quantum-resistant algorithms to protect our digital footprints.

In the UK, all top secret government data has already been classified as post-quantum, said the BBC. This means that it uses new forms of encryption that scientists believe will standup to quantum computers.

If we werent doing anything to combat [the quantum apocalypse] then bad things would happen, an unnamed Whitehall official told the broadcaster.

None of this comes cheap. The UK has invested millions into the industry over the last few years and that amount is only going to rise. But if you listen to the experts, the consequences of the quantum apocalypse could be so catastrophic that advancing our current systems of encryption is most definitely money well spent.

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What is the quantum apocalypse? - The Week UK

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Credit: BECCAL

In early December 2021, the project "Development of a laser system for experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates on the International Space Station within the BECCAL payload (BECCAL-II)" commenced, with the involvement of a team of researchers led by Professor Patrick Windpassinger and Dr. Andr Wenzlawski from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). In collaboration with Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin, the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) and Universitt Hamburg, the researchers will develop a laser system for the BECCAL experiment to study ultracold atoms on board the International Space Station (ISS).

The BECCAL experiment is a multi-user platform that will be open to numerous national and international scientists to test their ideas in practice. The platform will enable them to conduct a wide range of experiments in fields such as quantum sensing, quantum information, and quantum optics.

Transport of the BECCAL payload to ISS scheduled for early 2026

The ISS offers a unique combination of weightlessness, accessibility, and a large number of experiments. This will make it possible, among other things, to carry out high-precision experiments such as testing Einsteins equivalence principle. "Ideally, the experiments require the ultracold atom cloud to be completely free of any forces. Weightlessness permits such conditions," said Dr. Andr Wenzlawski from the Windpassinger group at Mainz University.

The BECCAL experiment is a successor to the CAL project, which has conducted numerous experiments aboard the ISS since 2018. BECCAL is intended to enhance the experimental capabilities on board the ISS, especially in the fields of precision atomic interferometry and the manipulation of atoms with detuned optical fields. An additional improvement of the overall performance is being sought by the implementation of new technological approaches to preparing atomic ensembles. The payload is scheduled for launch in early 2026 and will directly replace the CAL apparatus in the ISS Destiny module.

In the subproject, which is funded with EUR 3.4 million, the group led by Professor Patrick Windpassinger from the Institute of Physics at JGU will work together with Universitt Hamburg to develop and realize a Zerodur-based optical splitting and switching system and implement it into the BECCAL payload. These developments will draw on the findings of numerous previous experiments conducted in microgravity conditions, such as MAIUS, QUANTUS, and KALEXUS, in all of which JGU participated. "These experiments have allowed us to lay the technological foundations for running such an extremely complex experiment as well as to perform initial fundamental tests on the feasibility of the envisaged experiments," said Wenzlawski.

The robust laser modules necessary for the experiment are being supplied by the FBH, which is currently manufacturing 55 of the narrow-band laser sources. Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin is coordinating the integration of these laser modules along with the optical beam splitting and switching benches into a compact overall system. The project is being financed by the German Space Agency of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, following a resolution by the German Bundestag.

Related links:https://www.qoqi.physik.uni-mainz.de/ Experimental Quantum Optics and Quantum Information research group at the JGU Institute of Physics ;https://www.dlr.de/qt/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-13511/23496_read-54021/ Bose Einstein Condensate and Cold Atom Laboratory (BECCAL) ;https://www.physik.hu-berlin.de/en/qom Optical Metrology group at Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin ;https://www.fbh-berlin.de/en/research/quantum-technology/quantum-photonic-components/fundamental-physics Integrated quantum technology group at Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH

Read more:https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/13342_ENG_HTML.php press release "Atom interferometry demonstrated in space for the first time" (13 April 2021) ;https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/6645_ENG_HTML.php press release "Bose-Einstein condensate generated in space for the first time" (31 Oct. 2018) ;https://www.magazin.uni-mainz.de/8106_ENG_HTML.php JGU MAGAZINE: "Pioneering measurements in space" (17 Feb. 2017) ;https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/260_ENG_HTML.php press release "Experiment involving ultracold rubidium lifts off with research rocket" (2 Feb. 2017)

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Collaborative research project on quantum technology starts on the International Space Station - EurekAlert

Today is the release date for the UK edition of A Brief History of Timekeeping (the US edition came out last Tuesday), and Ive been doing a lot of publicity interviews on both sides of the Atlantic. One of the most frequent questions Ive been asked in this process is Whats the most surprising thing you learned in researching this book? and that seems like a decent topic for a publication-day post.

Before I go into the list, though, one important note of background: my training as a professional physicist mostly took place at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD, and the people in the lab next door to mine were literally working on an improved cesium atomic clock. As a result, Im a little jaded when it comes to modern clocks based on quantum physics, just because theyre so familiar to me. That means most of the things that surprised me come from the realm of history.

Anyway, with that out of the way, heres a list of things I found surprising when I began digging into the subject for the course that eventually became the backbone of the book:

IRELAND - NOVEMBER 14: Newgrange Stone Age Passage Tomb (Unesco World Heritage List, 1993), County ... [+] Meath, Ireland. ca 3200 BC. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Precision Timekeeping Is Really Ancient:

I sort of knew this going in, because I always planned to start the story with neolithic solstice markers like Newgrange and Stonehenge. But it was still remarkable to me to learn how long ago a lot of the key elements of astronomical timekeeping were known. The basic idea of making a solstice marker is really simple it just needs a couple of sticks and some patience so its not that surprising that people could manage it thousands of years ago. But lots of other fairly sophisticated bits of science and technology are also thousands of years old. Around 1500 BCE, an Egyptian court official bragged named Amenemhet bragged about inventing a water clock that could keep accurate time through the whole year, which is probably the ancestor of the Karnak clepsydra, whose tapered shape provides a remarkably constant flow rate, and whose seasonal markings reflect a good knowledge of the changing length of the days. The Egyptians were aware of the 1400-year Sothic cycle describing the drift of a 365-day year relative to the seasons (because their civilization lasted long enough to see it, twice), and the Babylonians knew about the Metonic cycle of adding months to keep a lunar calendar in synch with the seasons and the Saros cycle of eclipses for several centuries BCE. Thats a depth of history thats really impressive.

Tablet, Old Babylonian, circa 1800-1600BC. Astronomical Tablet showing the risings and settings of ... [+] Venus. cuneiform script. Dimensions: height: 7.5 cmwidth: 9 cmthickness: 2.8 cmArtist Unknown. (Photo by Ashmolean Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Some of the Most Important Innovations Are Anonymous:

We can attach names to some really ancient timekeeping discoveries Amenemhet and his clepsydra, Meton of Athens and the cycle he cribbed from the Babylonians but some much more recent inventors remain anonymous. We have no idea who invented the first mechanical clock, for example verge-and-foliot clocks spring up in medieval Europe, and spread rapidly across the continent, but theres no clear record of their invention, or who was responsible. Similarly, we have no idea who made the first sandglass they just start showing up all over the place. There are scattered claims that one person or another invented these things, but most of those werent written down until centuries later, so theyre doubtful at bet.

UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 18: Oil on canvas painting by Thomas Hudson (1701-1779), showing Graham ... [+] (1673-1751) seated beside a mercury compensating pendulum in an open clock case, c 1710. Following his apprenticeship with London clockmaker Henry Askem, Graham, the inventor of the mercurial pendulum, was considered one of the greatest instrument makers of his day. He made various astronomical instruments, and contributed significantly to the advancement of precision timekeeping. Dimensions (unframed): 1200mm x 960mm. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Increases in Precision Can Be Astonishingly Rapid:

Prior to the 1600s, few clocks had minute hands because most mechanical clocks werent accurate enough for it to be worthwhile they would require re-setting by checking against the sun on a regular basis. When Galileo Galilei was doing experiments on free fall and pendulum motion, and Tycho Brahe was making the astronomical observations that led to our modern understanding of the solar system, they mostly used water clocks as few if any mechanical clocks of the time were up to the task. The first pendulum clock was built in 1657; within 60 years, George Graham and John Harrison in England were making pendulum clocks that compensated for changes in temperature to such a degree that they were good to around one second a month. We see similarly rapid increases in precision with the introduction of quartz clocks in 1930, and atomic clocks in 1955, and arguably with laser-cooled fountain clocks circa 2000 and optical-frequency clocks in the following decade. These are now accurate enough to measure the gravitational influence on time from an altitude change of centimeters. When scientists and engineers get hold of a good new way to keep time, they turn it into a great way to keep time in a hurry.

[UNVERIFIED CONTENT] Multi-face public clock in a ball shaped brass housing in front of the US flag ... [+] in Grand Central Terminal from low perspective framed with two chandelier

Time Zones Are a Corporate Creation:

In the book, I describe the introduction of time zones in the US as happening via a quinessentially American process: introduced by massive corporations acting to pre-empt legislation. The first national system of standardized time zones came in in 1883, replacing a patchwork of local times based on the sun with a system of broad zones based on the boundaries between rail companies. This was largely the work of William Allen, the Secretary of the General Time Convention of the railroad association, who explicitly wrote that the railroads should adopt his standarization scheme because there is little likelihood of any law being adopted in Washington... that would be as universally acceptable to the railway companies. The companies agreed, and signed on to Allens plan, and lobbied state and local governments to synchronize their clocks with railroad time, rather than the other way around. (I wrote more about this a few months ago here.)

Ambrogio Lorenzetti (Italian, 12851348), Allegory of Good and Bad Government: Good Government, ... [+] fresco, 1338-9, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

Sandglasses and Mechanical Clocks Were Invented at the Same Time:

This stands as the single most surprising thing I learned in the process of research for this book. If you look at a sand timer, it seems like an incredibly ancient technology, something that mustve been in use since Egyptian times. In fact, though, the earliest unambiguous reference to a sandglass that we know of is its appearance in a fresco in Siena, Italy, painted in the 1330s. Its just... there in a way that suggests the artist knew it was something the audience would recognize, so they had probably been around for a while, putting the invention sometime in the 1200s. Which is also when the first verge-and-foliot mechanical clocks start popping up in church towers all over Europe.

So, while a sandglass seems like something incredibly old, and ticking mechanical clocks feel relatively modern, theyre actually invented at around the same time. That was really surprising to me, actually the single most surprising fact that I learned in this process. (But again, Im a weirdo physicist who knew a lot about atomic clocks before starting...)

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The Five Biggest Surprises From The History Of Timekeeping - Forbes