Category Archives: Quantum Computing

Artificial intelligence has been on the rise in workplaces for at least the past decade. From consumer algorithms to quantum computing, AIs uses have grown in type and scope.

There are a number of risks associated with this technology. One of the more troubling is the apparent racial bias one that assigns more negative emotions to Black people than white people, even when they are smiling.

One of the more recent advances in AI technologies is the ability to read emotions through facial and behavioral analysis. While the emotional AI technology has largely been implemented in marketing campaigns and health care, a growing number of high-profile companies are using it in hiring decisions.

Companies should stop this immediately.

There are a number of risks associated with this technology. One of the more troubling is the apparent racial bias one that assigns more negative emotions to Black people than white people, even when they are smiling.

For example, Microsofts Face API software scored Black faces as three times more contemptuous than white faces. This bias is obviously harmful in a number of ways, but its especially devastating to non-white professionals who are disadvantaged in their the ability to secure a job and progress within their field.

Any workplace that uses a hiring algorithm that disproportionately sees Black and brown people as worse emotionally will further drive workplace inequalities and discriminatory treatment.

According to a Washington Post report, more than 100 companies are currently using emotional AI, and this technology has already been used to assess millions of job applicants. Among the top-tier companies deploying emotional AI are Hilton, Dunkin Donuts, IBM and the Boston Red Sox.

Emotional AI recognition has been estimated to be at least a $20 billion market.

The technology uses facial recognition to analyze emotional and cognitive ability. Generally, an interviewee will answer preselected questions during a recorded video interview, and be assessed by the AI algorithm. The assessment provides a grade or score on various characteristics, including verbal skills, facial movements, and even emotional characteristicsall of which aim to predict how likely the candidate will succeed in a position before taking next steps.

Supporters of the technology argue that it removes human prejudice from the equation. But replacing human bias with an artificial one cant be the solution.

Moreover, companies tend to use emotional AI to screen for a very limited data set to decide who gets marked as employable. These limited data sets usually favor majority groups while ignoring minority ones. For example, if someones first language isnt English and they speak with an accent or if an applicant is disabled, they will more likely be earmarked as less employable.

The technology can also work to the disadvantage of women.

For starters, much of the AI technology fails to properly identify women even iconic women such as Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama. Many examples have shown that, particularly in fields that are already male dominated, women applicants are downgraded and less likely to be recommended than male applicants.

There are a plethora of other anecdotes that highlight the biases of emotional AI, even outside the workplace. These include cameras that identify Asian faces as blinking and software that misgenders those with darker skin.

Of course, companies have been warned of the ongoing biases and have so far ignored them; many still use software like HireVue, which Princeton Professor of Computer Science Arvind Narayanan described as a bias perpetuation engine. Research institute AI Now, based at New York University, has called for a complete ban on emotional AI tech.

Until emotional AI is shown to be free of racial and gender biases, its unsafe for use in a world already struggling to overcome inequalities. If companies want to assist in that struggle, they should end the use of emotional AI in the workplace.

This column was produced for the Progressive Media Project, which is run by The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.

September 17, 2020

12:32 PM

See the original post:

Workplace Facial Screening is a Bad Idea - Progressive.org

Although many places in the world are currently preoccupied by the COVID19 pandemic, most infectious disease experts believe that a pandemic is unlikely to end the human race. The Black Death of the 14th century was probably the worst case in history. It eliminated onethird of Europe's population, which ironically, lead to higher wagesdue to a lack of workers, a distrust of authorities who could not protect the people against the disease, and a reinvestment in humanity, all of which lead to the Renaissance.

If anything is to end the human race, it'll be climate change. The iconic Doomsday Clock was moved ahead from two minutes to 100 seconds to midnight, in January of this year. The clock has been moved ahead each year for the last four years. What's more, this is the closest it's ever been to midnight since its inception in 1947.

We've got about a decade to turn things around before the damage becomes irreversible. The situation is so disheartening, that at least one group of scientists speculates the reason we don't see a universe replete with alien civilizations is that it's hard for species to survive the climate change advances in technology inevitably cause.

If we do get lucky enough to survive and steer clear of any other likely, apocalyptic scenario, say a thermonuclear war, the eruption of a supervolcano or an enormous asteroid slamming into the Earth, we'll have about five billion years until the sun runs out of fuel. But between now and the death of our sun, there's another issue scientists weren't even aware of, until now. Information itself could thwart humankind. It isn't data per se but storing it. As societies increasingly rely on digital information and there's more and more of it, we'll one day reach a point where the number of bits being stored will outnumber the atoms that make up our planet. That's according to theoretical physicist and Senior Lecturer Melvin Vopson at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. A peerreviewed paper on his theory, called "The Information Catastrophe," was recently published in the journal AIP Advances.

"Currently, we produce 1021 digital bits of information annually on Earth," Vopson begins. This is based on an IBM estimate that humans produce 2.5 quintillion digital data bytes daily. With an assumed 20 percent growth rate, the number of bits we produce will outnumber the entirety of atoms on the planet in around 350 years. In a press release, Vopson said, "We are literally changing the planet bit by bit, and it is an invisible crisis."

There are a lot of variables to consider. For instance, the number of bits produced each year, data storage capacity, energy production and the size of the bit compared to the atom (mass distribution). There are humancentered factors too, such as population growth and the rate of access to information technology in developing countries. "If we assume a more realistic growth rates of 5%, 20%, and 50%," the paper states, "the total number of bits created will equal the total number of atoms on Earth after 1,200 years, 340 years, and 150 years, respectively."

In the most severe case, the 150year scenario, it would take approximately 130 years until all the power generated on Earth is sucked up by digital data creation and storage. In this version, by 2245, digital information's mass would equal half that of the Earth's. IBM states that 90 percent of the digital information we have today was only produced in the last ten years. "The growth of digital information seems truly unstoppable," Vopson said.

What's more, he believes his rates are conservative. He told me via email: "If we look only at the magnetic data storage density, it doubled every year for over 50 years." Not only might the generation of data increase at a faster clip, the estimate uses the thermodynamic energy limit for bit creation. This is the ideal case, the maximum possible efficiency, which we are miles away from, meaning the issue may arrive far sooner.

Dr. Vopson did offer one solution, using "nonmaterial media" to store information. He does not hold out hope for this, however. "I am more optimistic about the energy aspects as we will most likely master better ways of extracting energy from fusion (and) solar PVs to close to 100% efficiency." Quantum computing wouldn't be the answer, as quantum bits or qbits (bits in quantum superposition states) don't store data. Instead, storage happens using digital bits and classical computing.

Besides this theory, Vopson is the progenitor of the massenergyinformation equivalence, which states that information is an essential building block of the universe and it has mass. In this theory mass, energy, and information are all interconnected. Dark matter doesn't exist. Instead, the "missing" matter in the universe is the mass information itself contains.

Read more from the original source:

Information itself may be what ends the human race - Big Think

A

ndersen Cheng has a way with striking and memorable analogies. Boris Johnsons government is committing 1bn to building a Frankensteins monster, he says. Im trying to build a cage without any government funding to stop it running wild. The monster in question is the quantum computer, which is a hackers dream. The cage is what Post-Quantum was set up last year to create.

Cheng was born in Hong Kong but came to England to do his O-levels and A-levels. His parents sent him to a school in Devon. They wanted me to be as far from London as possible, he says. He duly learned to drive a tractor and milk cows, but went on to study engineering at Imperial College and do an MBA. When he started working in the City at the end of the Eighties as a computer auditor, there were only six portable compact computers in the whole company and disdain for the techies from people still using calculators.

Cheng became head of credit risk at JP Morgan in the midst of the dotcom bubble. He recalls how Boo.com burnt through $150m in 18 months. There just wasnt enough broadband speed for all those virtual mannequins spinning around, he says. After a spell in private equity, Cheng decided to break away and set up on his own as a consultant in the fast-growing realm of cryptography, working on top secret projects for the British government. It was so classified even the project name was secret, he says.

See the article here:

How Andersen Cheng plans to defend against the quantum computer - The Independent

It can be difficult to discern which skills companies are prioritizing, and what makes your rsum but not another stand out to recruiters. This common gripe among job seekers is why LinkedIn uses its vault of business data to create a job market road map each year.

This year, the company used data from 660+ million professionals in its network and 20+ million job listings to determine the hard and soft skills that are most in-demand (and most likely to get a candidate hired) in 2020.

To define the most in-demand skills, LinkedIn focused on skills that are in high demand relative to their supply. Demand was measured by identifying the skills listed on the LinkedIn profiles of people who are getting hired at the highest rates. Only cities with 100,000+ LinkedIn members were included in LinkedIn's evaluation, according to the company.

Below, we compiled the most in-demand hard and soft skills of 2020, according to LinkedIn. The online courses we listed to help you build these skills LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, Coursera, and edX are among the most popular and inexpensive options available today.

Coursera and edX allow you to take classes from the top universities in the world, like Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, and more, for a fraction of the cost. You can audit nearly all of these courses for free, but auditing typically doesn't include graded homework or full access to course materials. You also don't receive a certificate of completion when you audit, which you can add to your rsum, CV, and LinkedIn profile. Enrollment fees for these online courses typically range from $30-$160.

Udemy offers over 100,000 video courses and typically prices them around $13 each. LinkedIn Learning offers over 15,000 courses and comes with a free one-month trial. After the trial period, access is $29.99 a month or $240 a year.

Below are the 15 hard and soft skills that are most likely to get you hired in 2020, according to LinkedIn:

The most in-demand hard skills in 2020

Most of this year's hard skills are in rapidly evolving fields and emphasize the importance of analyzing data. 2020 is the first year blockchain has topped LinkedIn's in-demand skills list, and business analysis (now #6) climbed 10 spots since 2019.

Bitcoin uses blockchain technology.

Image: davidmcbee/Pexels

2. Cloud and distributed computing

Cloud and distributed computing

Image: Coursera

Analytical reasoning

Image: Serpstat/Pexels

4. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Image: Alex Knight/Pexels

UX design

Image: picjumbo.com/Pexels

Business analysis

Image: goumbik/Pexels

Affiliate marketing

Image: Kaboompics/Pexels

Sales

Image: PhotoMIX Ltd./Pexels

Scientific computing

Image: Markus Spiske/Pexels

Video production

Image: ngu.donaldtong/Pexels

The most in-demand soft skills in 2020

Soft skills are harder to quantify than hard skills. They're typically what interviewers are trying to gauge by asking about your management style or how you've handled career setbacks in the past. Four of the top five soft skills in 2020 are the same as they were in 2019.

Creativity

Image: Pexels

Organizations need people who can creatively approach problems and tasks across all business roles, from software engineering to HR. Focus on honing your ability to bring new ideas to the table in 2020.

Persuasion

Image: Pexels

Collaboration

Image: Pexels

Adaptability

Image: Pexels

5. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence

Image: Pexels

Link:

These are the most in-demand job skills, according to LinkedIn - World Economic Forum

Editors note: Stephanie Long is Senior Analyst with Technology Business Research.

HAMPTON, N.H. Like IBM did with its Selectric typewriters in the 1960s, the company is successfully weaving its quantum computing thread through myriad aspects of the greater quantum ecosystem, underpinned by strategic sponsorships and the inclusion of partners in the IBM Quantum Experience.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is pushing back on this approach by offering a vendor-agnostic view of quantum cloud computing.

Academia has also thrown its hat into the ring with ongoing innovation and advancements in quantum computing.

The competitive landscape of quantum computing has begun to take on the look and feel of the early classical computing world; however, the modern industry has addressed the mistakes made with classical computing, and therefore progress can be more formulaic and swift.

August 2020 developments are starting to tie pieces of investments together to show a glimpse of when the post-quantum world may come, and as advancements continue the future state appears closer on the horizon than previously thought.

Duke joins $115M program to focus on development of quantum computing

If you would like more detailed information around the quantum computing market, please inquire about TBRsQuantum Computing Market Landscape,a semiannual deep dive into the quantum computing market. Our most recent version, which focused on services, was released in June. Look for our next iteration in December, focused on middleware.

(C) TBR

Read more:

What's the state of quantum computing? Led by IBM & Amazon it's developing rapidly - WRAL Tech Wire

The quantum computing economy is real and growing IBM (NYSE: IBM) is a headline sponsor of London Tech Week, with Bob Sutor, VP IBM Quantum Ecosystem Development, IBM Research, emphasising the collaborative approach of IBMs Q Network towards continued development of the quantum computing ecosystem. Archer is a member of the global IBM Q Network, and as part of an agreement with IBM, plans to use Qiskit as the software stack for its 12CQ qubit processors. Archer aims to build the 12CQ chip for quantum computing operation at room-temperature and integration onboard modern electronic devices. Sutor sent a clear message to sceptics of quantum computing, highlighting some extraordinary stats of the rapid user uptake of IBMs quantum tech solutions: in 4 years IBMs Qiskit quantum development platform has grown to 250,000+ registered users, and over 1 billion quantum hardware circuits are now being run on IBMs quantum computers each day! Other giants are also involved in the quantum economy, and Daniel Franke from Merck Ventures, the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of the pharmaceutical giant Merck (NYSE: MRK), updated delegates on their efforts to integrate with the emerging global quantum research ecosystem. Mercks approach saw the formation of numerous partnerships with start-ups, industry peers and academia with over 50 staff dedicated to a quantum computing taskforce focused on what they dubbed performance materials in the life sciences and pharmaceutical arena. A positive quantum disruption to entire economies UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation Amanda Solloway, highlighted the UKs National Quantum Technology Programme, which is set to attract more than 1 billion (A$1.8 billion) of public and private investment over its 10-year duration. Much of this investment over the next 5 years is to boost the UKs thriving technology ecosystem post-COVID19 and infrastructure that is quantum best-in-class globally, to develop the UKs first commercially available quantum computer, and new infrastructure including the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC). Quantum hardware: the new Smart Tech There was a bold consensus among panellists involving UK-based start-ups and a number of global players in the quantum computing space: a move to hybrid computing over the next 5 years and full quantum computing over the next 10 years. The time horizons come with the caveat of the need to progress quantum computing technology, including potential solutions to practical quantum computing, e.g. overcoming commercial limitations posed by excessive cooling requirements of current quantum computers. Progress in technology development a key market catalyst A year ago, delegates (including Archer) at the Quantum.Tech conference in Boston USA, heard a myriad of venture capitalist concerns of a quantum winter, and the inconvenience of quantum technologys deep tech time-to-market all compounded with uncertainties in market size. Now, at the Quantum Summit, corporate venture challenges appear to be shifting to a potential need to reframe a 1 to 2-year risk appetite towards a deep tech value-driven 5 to 10-year framework. This is to better capitalise on the global-scale of opportunity that quantum computing is now beginning to rapidly validate. It is clear that quantum computing is not just a faster computer. Even though early-stage quantum computing applications are not yet general purpose, examples of disruptive enterprise-scale solutions are spanning globally relevant industries of life sciences, finance, and telecommunications. We are excited in participating in the upcoming sessions of London Tech Week, and particularly as invited delegates of the Virtual Mission (Australian companies) which begins tonight, and I look forward to updating our shareholders on key outcomes at the conclusion of London Tech Week.

See the original post here:

Global Scale of the Quantum Computing Opportunity - Quantaneo, the Quantum Computing Source

The emergence of quantum computing has led industry heavyweights to fast track their research and innovations. This week, Google conducted the largest chemical simulation on a quantum computer to date. The U.S. Department of Energy, on the other hand, launched five new Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers. Will this accelerate quantum computings progress?

Quantum technology is the next big wave in the tech landscape. As opposed to traditional computers where all the information emails, tweets, YouTube videos, and Facebook photos are streams of electrical pulses in binary digits, 1s and 0s; quantum computers rely on quantum bits or qubits to store information. Qubits are subatomic particles, such as electrons or photons which change their state regularly. Therefore, they can be 1s and 0s at the same time. This enables quantum computers to run multiple complex computational tasks simultaneously and faster when compared to digital computers, mainframes, and servers.

Introduced in the 1980s, quantum computing can unlock the complexities across different industries much faster than traditional computers. A quantum computer can decipher complex encryption systems that can easily impact digital banking, cryptocurrencies, and e-commerce sectors, which heavily depend on encrypted data. Quantum computers can expedite the discovery of new medicines, aid in climate change, power AI, transform logistics, and design new materials. In the U.S., technology giants, including IBM, Google, Honeywell, Microsoft, Intel, IonQ, and Rigetti Computing, are leading the race to build quantum computers and gain a foothold in the quantum computing space. Whereas Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei are leading companies in China.

For a long time, the U.S. and its allies, such as Japan and Germany, had been working hard to compete with China to dominate the quantum technology space. In 2018, the U.S. government released the National Strategy Overview for Quantum Information Science to reduce technical skills gaps and accelerate quantum computing research and development.

In 2019, Google claimed quantum supremacy for supercomputers when the companys Sycamore processor performed specific tasks in 200 seconds, which would have taken a supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. In the same year, Intel rolled out Horse Ridge, a cryogenic quantum control chip, to reduce the quantum computing complexities and accelerate quantum practicality.

Tech news: Is Data Portability the Answer To Anti-Competitive Practices?

Whats 2020 Looking Like For Quantum Computing?

In July 2020, IBM announced a research partnership with the Japanese business and academia to advance quantum computing innovations. This alliance will deepen ties between the countries and build an ecosystem to improve quantum skills and advance research and development.

More recently, in June 2020, Honeywell announced the development of the worlds highest-performing quantum computer. AWS, Microsoft, and several other IaaS providers have announced quantum cloud services, an initiative to advance quantum computing adoption. In August 2020, AWS announced the general availability of its Amazon Braket, a quantum cloud service that allows developers to design, develop, test, and run quantum algorithms.

Since last year, auto manufacturers, such as Daimler and Volkswagen have been leveraging quantum computers to identify new methods to improve electric vehicle battery performance. Pharmaceutical companies are also using the technology to develop new medicines and drugs.

Last week, the Google AI Quantum team used their quantum processor, Sycamore, to simulate changes in the configuration of a chemical molecule, diazene. During the process, the computer was able to describe the changes in the positions of hydrogen accurately. The computer also gave an accurate description of the binding energy of hydrogen in bigger chains.

If quantum computers develop the ability to predict chemical processes, it would advance the development of a wide range of new materials with unknown properties. Current quantum computers, unfortunately, lack the augmented scaling required for such a task. Although todays computers are not ready to take on such a challenge yet, computer scientists hope to accomplish this in the near future as tech giants like Google invest in quantum computing-related research.

Tech news: Will Googles Nearby Share Have Anything Transformative to Offer?

It, therefore, came as a relief to many computer scientists when the U.S. Department of Energy announced an investment of $625 million over the next five years for five newly formed Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers in the U.S. The newly formed hubs are an amalgam of research universities, national labs, and tech titans in quantum computing. Each of the research hubs is led by the Energy Departments Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; powered by Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Riggeti, and ColdQuanta. This partnership aims to advance quantum computing commercialization.

Chetan Nayak, general manager of Quantum Hardware at Microsoft, says, While quantum computing will someday have a profound impact, todays quantum computing systems are still nascent technologies. To scale these systems, we must overcome a number of scientific challenges. Microsoft has been tackling these challenges head-on through our work towards developing topological qubits, classical information processing devices for quantum control, new quantum algorithms, and simulations.

At the start of this year, Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner at Futurum Research, predicted that 2020 will be a big year for investors and Silicon Valley to invest in quantum computing companies. He said, It will be incredibly impactful over the next decade, and 2020 should be a big year for advancement and investment.

Quantum computing is still in the development phase, and the lack of suppliers and skilled researchers might be one of the influential factors in its establishment. However, if tech giants, and researchers continue to collaborate on a large scale, quantum technology can turbocharge innovation at a large scale.

What are your thoughts on the progress of quantum computing? Comment below or let us know on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Wed love to hear from you!

See the article here:

The Quantum Dream: Are We There Yet? - Toolbox

It might all sound like a sci-fi concept, but building quantum networks is a key ambition for many countries around the world. Recently the US Department of Defense (DoE) published the first blueprint of its kind, laying out a step-by-step strategy to make the quantum internet dream come true, at least in a very preliminary form, over the next few years.

The US joined the EU and China in showing a keen interest in the concept of quantum communications. But what is the quantum internet exactly, how does it work, and what are the wonders that it can accomplish?

WHAT IS THE QUANTUM INTERNET?

The quantum internet is a network that will let quantum devices exchange some information within an environment that harnesses the weird laws of quantum mechanics. In theory, this would lend the quantum internet unprecedented capabilities that are impossible to carry out with today's web applications.

SEE: Managing AI and ML in the enterprise 2020: Tech leaders increase project development and implementation (TechRepublic Premium)

In the quantum world, data can be encoded in the state of qubits, which can be created in quantum devices like a quantum computer or a quantum processor. And the quantum internet, in simple terms, will involve sending qubits across a network of multiple quantum devices that are physically separated. Crucially, all of this would happen thanks to the whacky properties that are unique to quantum states.

That might sound similar to the standard internet. But sending qubits around through a quantum channel, rather than a classical one, effectively means leveraging the behavior of particles when taken at their smallest scale so-called "quantum states", which have caused delight and dismay among scientists for decades.

And the laws of quantum physics, which underpin the way information will be transmitted in the quantum internet, are nothing short of unfamiliar. In fact, they are strange, counter-intuitive, and at times even seemingly supernatural.

And so to understand how the quantum ecosystem of the internet 2.0 works, you might want to forget everything you know about classical computing. Because not much of the quantum internet will remind you of your favorite web browser.

WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION CAN WE EXCHANGE WITH QUANTUM?

In short, not much that most users are accustomed to. At least for the next few decades, therefore, you shouldn't expect to one day be able to jump onto quantum Zoom meetings.

Central to quantum communication is the fact that qubits, which harness the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics, behave very differently to classical bits.

As it encodes data, a classical bit can effectively only be one of two states. Just like a light switch has to be either on or off, and just like a cat has to be either dead or alive, so does a bit have to be either 0 or 1.

Not so much with qubits. Instead, qubits are superposed: they can be 0 and 1 simultaneously, in a special quantum state that doesn't exist in the classical world. It's a little bit as if you could be both on the left-hand side and the right-hand side of your sofa, in the same moment.

The paradox is that the mere act of measuring a qubit means that it is assigned a state. A measured qubit automatically falls from its dual state, and is relegated to 0 or 1, just like a classical bit.

The whole phenomenon is called superposition, and lies at the core of quantum mechanics.

Unsurprisingly, qubits cannot be used to send the kind of data we are familiar with, like emails and WhatsApp messages. But the strange behavior of qubits is opening up huge opportunities in other, more niche applications.

QUANTUM (SAFER) COMMUNICATIONS

One of the most exciting avenues that researchers, armed with qubits, are exploring, is security.

When it comes to classical communications, most data is secured by distributing a shared key to the sender and receiver, and then using this common key to encrypt the message. The receiver can then use their key to decode the data at their end.

The security of most classical communication today is based on an algorithm for creating keys that is difficult for hackers to break, but not impossible. That's why researchers are looking at making this communication process "quantum". The concept is at the core of an emerging field of cybersecurity called quantum key distribution (QKD).

QKD works by having one of the two parties encrypt a piece of classical data by encoding the cryptography key onto qubits. The sender then transmits those qubits to the other person, who measures the qubits in order to obtain the key values.

SEE: The UK is building its first commercial quantum computer

Measuring causes the state of the qubit to collapse; but it is the value that is read out during the measurement process that is important. The qubit, in a way, is only there to transport the key value.

More importantly, QKD means that it is easy to find out whether a third party has eavesdropped on the qubits during the transmission, since the intruder would have caused the key to collapse simply by looking at it.

If a hacker looked at the qubits at any point while they were being sent, this would automatically change the state of the qubits. A spy would inevitably leave behind a sign of eavesdropping which is why cryptographers maintain that QKD is "provably" secure.

SO, WHY A QUANTUM INTERNET?

QKD technology is in its very early stages. The "usual" way to create QKD at the moment consists of sending qubits in a one-directional way to the receiver, through optic-fibre cables; but those significantly limit the effectiveness of the protocol.

Qubits can easily get lost or scattered in a fibre-optic cable, which means that quantum signals are very much error-prone, and struggle to travel long distances. Current experiments, in fact, are limited to a range of hundreds of kilometers.

There is another solution, and it is the one that underpins the quantum internet: to leverage another property of quantum, called entanglement, to communicate between two devices.

When two qubits interact and become entangled, they share particular properties that depend on each other. While the qubits are in an entangled state, any change to one particle in the pair will result in changes to the other, even if they are physically separated.The state of the first qubit, therefore, can be "read" by looking at the behavior of its entangled counterpart. That's right: even Albert Einstein called the whole thing "spooky action at a distance".

And in the context of quantum communication, entanglement could in effect, teleport some information from one qubit to its entangled other half, without the need for a physical channel bridging the two during the transmission.

HOW DOES ENTANGLEMENT WORK?

The very concept of teleportation entails, by definition, the lack of a physical network bridging between communicating devices. But it remains that entanglement needs to be created in the first place, and then maintained.

To carry out QKD using entanglement, it is necessary to build the appropriate infrastructure to first create pairs of entangled qubits, and then distribute them between a sender and a receiver. This creates the "teleportation" channel over which cryptography keys can be exchanged.

Specifically, once the entangled qubits have been generated, you have to send one half of the pair to the receiver of the key. An entangled qubit can travel through networks of optical fibre, for example; but those are unable to maintain entanglement after about 60 miles.

Qubits can also be kept entangled over large distances via satellite, but covering the planet with outer-space quantum devices is expensive.

There are still huge engineering challenges, therefore, to building large-scale "teleportation networks" that could effectively link up qubits across the world. Once the entanglement network is in place, the magic can start: linked qubits won't need to run through any form of physical infrastructure anymore to deliver their message.

During transmission, therefore, the quantum key would virtually be invisible to third parties, impossible to intercept, and reliably "teleported" from one endpoint to the next. The idea will resonate well with industries that deal with sensitive data, such as banking, health services or aircraft communications. And it is likely that governments sitting on top secret information will also be early adopters of the technology.

WHAT ELSE COULD WE DO WITH THE QUANTUM INTERNET?

'Why bother with entanglement?' you may ask. After all, researchers could simply find ways to improve the "usual" form of QKD. Quantum repeaters, for example, could go a long way in increasing communication distance in fibre-optic cables, without having to go so far as to entangle qubits.

That is without accounting for the immense potential that entanglement could have for other applications. QKD is the most frequently discussed example of what the quantum internet could achieve, because it is the most accessible application of the technology. But security is far from being the only field that is causing excitement among researchers.

The entanglement network used for QKD could also be used, for example, to provide a reliable way to build up quantum clusters made of entangled qubits located in different quantum devices.

Researchers won't need a particularly powerful piece of quantum hardware to connect to the quantum internet in fact, even a single-qubit processor could do the job. But by linking together quantum devices that, as they stand, have limited capabilities, scientists expect that they could create a quantum supercomputer to surpass them all.

SEE: Guide to Becoming a Digital Transformation Champion (TechRepublic Premium)

By connecting many smaller quantum devices together, therefore, the quantum internet could start solving the problems that are currently impossible to achieve in a single quantum computer. This includes expediting the exchange of vast amounts of data, and carrying out large-scale sensing experiments in astronomy, materials discovery and life sciences.

For this reason, scientists are convinced that we could reap the benefits of the quantum internet before tech giants such as Google and IBM even achieve quantum supremacy the moment when a single quantum computer will solve a problem that is intractable for a classical computer.

Google and IBM's most advanced quantum computers currently sit around 50 qubits, which, on its own, is much less than is needed to carry out the phenomenal calculations needed to solve the problems that quantum research hopes to address.

On the other hand, linking such devices together via quantum entanglement could result in clusters worth several thousands of qubits. For many scientists, creating such computing strength is in fact the ultimate goal of the quantum internet project.

WHAT COULDN'T WE DO WITH THE QUANTUM INTERNET?

For the foreseeable future, the quantum internet could not be used to exchange data in the way that we currently do on our laptops.

Imagining a generalized, mainstream quantum internet would require anticipating a few decades (or more) of technological advancements. As much as scientists dream of the future of the quantum internet, therefore, it is impossible to draw parallels between the project as it currently stands, and the way we browse the web every day.

A lot of quantum communication research today is dedicated to finding out how to best encode, compress and transmit information thanks to quantum states. Quantum states, of course, are known for their extraordinary densities, and scientists are confident that one node could teleport a great deal of data.

But the type of information that scientists are looking at sending over the quantum internet has little to do with opening up an inbox and scrolling through emails. And in fact, replacing the classical internet is not what the technology has set out to do.

Rather, researchers are hoping that the quantum internet will sit next to the classical internet, and would be used for more specialized applications. The quantum internet will perform tasks that can be done faster on a quantum computer than on classical computers, or which are too difficult to perform even on the best supercomputers that exist today.

SO, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

Scientists already know how to create entanglement between qubits, and they have even been successfully leveraging entanglement for QKD.

China, a long-time investor in quantum networks, has broken records on satellite-induced entanglement. Chinese scientists recently established entanglement and achieved QKD over a record-breaking 745 miles.

The next stage, however, is scaling up the infrastructure. All experiments so far have only connected two end-points. Now that point-to-point communication has been achieved, scientists are working on creating a network in which multiple senders and multiple receivers could exchange over the quantum internet on a global scale.

The idea, essentially, is to find the best ways to churn out lots of entangled qubits on demand, over long distances, and between many different points at the same time. This is much easier said than done: for example, maintaining the entanglement between a device in China and one in the US would probably require an intermediate node, on top of new routing protocols.

And countries are opting for different technologies when it comes to establishing entanglement in the first place. While China is picking satellite technology, optical fibre is the method favored by the US DoE, which is now trying to create a network of quantum repeaters that can augment the distance that separates entangled qubits.

In the US, particles have remained entangled through optical fibre over a 52-mile "quantum loop" in the suburbs of Chicago, without the need for quantum repeaters. The network will soon be connected to one of the DoE's laboratories to establish an 80-mile quantum testbed.

In the EU, the Quantum Internet Alliance was formed in 2018 to develop a strategy for a quantum internet, and demonstrated entanglement over 31 miles last year.

For quantum researchers, the goal is to scale the networks up to a national level first, and one day even internationally. The vast majority of scientists agree that this is unlikely to happen before a couple of decades. The quantum internet is without doubt a very long-term project, with many technical obstacles still standing in the way. But the unexpected outcomes that the technology will inevitably bring about on the way will make for an invaluable scientific journey, complete with a plethora of outlandish quantum applications that, for now, cannot even be predicted.

Originally posted here:

What is the quantum internet? Everything you need to know about the weird future of quantum networks - ZDNet

Amazon (AMZN)

What was the last thing you heard about Amazon (AMZN)?

Let me guess. Its battle with Walmart WMT ? Or was it the FAAs approval of Amazons delivery drones? Most of this news about Amazons store is just noise that distracts investors from Amazons real force.

As Ill show, Amazon is running an operating system that powers some of todays most important technologies such as virtual reality, machine learning, and even quantum computing. Behind the scenes, it is utilized by over a million companiesincluding tech giants Apple AAPL , Netflix NFLX , and Facebook FB .

This is Amazons key and ever-growing moneymaker that has been driving Amazon stock to the moon. But before I pull the curtains, lets step back for a moment.

First, how Amazon makes moneyfor real

For all the online shopping fuss, Amazon doesn't earn much from its store. Yes, Amazon.com AMZN flips hundreds of billions of dollars worth of products every yearand its revenues are on a tear. But Amazon turns only a sliver of that into profits.

In the past year, Amazons store generated a record $282 billion in revenue from Amazon.com. That translated to just $5.6 billion in profitskeep in mind that was Amazon.coms most profitable year ever.

Meanwhile, most of Amazons profits came from the lesser-known side of its business called Amazon Web Services (AWS), as you can see below:

Amazon's profits from AWS vs Amazon.com

Its Amazons cloud arm that is serving over a million companies across the world. You may have heard that AWS has something to do with storing data in the cloud. But its much,muchmore than that.

AWS is the operating system of the internet

To get an idea of how AWS works, take your computer as an example.

Like every other computer, it runs on an operating system such as Windows or MacOS, which comes with a set of programs. This software puts your computer resources to use and helps you carry out daily taskssuch as sending emails or sorting out your files.

Now, think of AWS as an operating system thats running not one, but hundreds of thousands of big computers (in tech lingo: servers). It gives companies nearly unlimited computing power and storageas well as tools to build and run their software on the internet.

The difference is that these big computers sit in Amazons warehouses. And companies work on them remotelyor via the cloud. In other words, AWS is like the operating system of the internet.

Amazons operating system now powers AI, blockchain, and other next-gen technologies

In 2003, when Amazons AWS first started out, it offered only a couple of basic cloud services for storage and mail. Today, this system offers an unmatched set of 175+ tools that help companies build software harnesses todays top technologies.

The list includes blockchain, VR, machine learning (AI), quantum computing, augmented reality (AR), and other technologies that are the building blocks of todays internet.

For example, Netflix is using AWS for more than simply storing and streaming its shows on the internet. Its also employing AWS machine learning technology to recommend movies and shows to you.

Youve also probably heard of Slack (WORK), the most popular messaging app for business. Slack recently announced it will use Amazons media technology to introduce video and audio calls on its app.

And its not just tech companies that are utilizing Amazons AWS tools.

Take GE Power. The worlds energy leader is using AWS analytics technology to store and sift through avalanches of data from its plants. Or Fidelity. Americas mutual fund giant experiments with Amazons VR technology to build VR chat rooms for its clients.

In a picture, Amazons AWS works like this:

How Amazon's AWS powers the internet

Amazons AWS is earning more and more... and more

Amazon is not the only company running a cloud service. Google, Microsoft MSFT , Alibibaba, IBM IBM , and other tech giants are all duking it out for a slice of this lucrative business. But Amazon is the biggest and most feature-rich.

Today, Amazon controls 33% of the market, leaving its closest competitors Microsoft (2nd with 18%) and Google (3rd with 9%) far behind in the dust. That means nearly one third of the internet is running on Amazons AWS.

And it doesnt appear that Amazon will step down from its cloud throne anytime soon. Amazons sales from AWS soared 10X in the past six years. And last year, Amazon reported a bigger sales gain from AWS (dollar-wise) than any other cloud company.

Heres the main takeaway for investors

If you are looking into Amazon stock, dont get caught up in the online shopping fuss.

For years, AWS has been the linchpin of Amazons business. And this invisible side of Amazon is where Amazons largest gears turn.

Problem is, AWS is like a black box. Amazon reports very little on its operations. So if you want to dig deeper, youll have to do your own research.

Youll also have to weigh a couple of risks before putting your money into Amazon stock:

Other than that, Amazon is an outstanding stock, killing it in one of the most lucrative businesses on the planet. And its proven to be resilient to Covid, whose spread could hit the markers again.

Get investing tips that make you go Hmm...

Every week, I put out a big picture story to help explain whats driving the markets. Subscribe here to get my analysis and stock picks right in your inbox.

Continue reading here:

How Amazon Quietly Powers The Internet - Forbes

Appropriators said the bills $23 billion allocation for NASA is aimed primarily at furthering investments into human space exploration, which also means investing in future astronauts. The bill sets aside $126 million of NASAs total for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics educationfunds the White House had proposed cutting.

The National Science Foundation would receive nearly $9 billion in funding, up $270 million from the enacted level in fiscal 2020.

These funds will foster innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness, the committee said, including funding for research on artificial intelligence, quantum information science, advanced manufacturing, physics, mathematics, cybersecurity, neuroscience, and STEM education.

Appropriators are seeking to use the nearly $25 billion legislation funding the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission to assist in antitrust investigations of Silicon Valley and to understand where rural Americans lack internet access.

The bill boosts the FTCs budget by $10 million, for a total of $341 million, to aidits antitrust enforcement work amid ongoing investigations by federal and state regulators into major technology firms such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple. A committee press release singles out antitrust enforcement and consumer protection work as justification for the increase.

View original post here:

House proposes billions of dollars for technology throughout government - Roll Call