Let’s Build a Supercomputer on the Moon
NASA currently controls its deep space missions through a network of huge satellite dishes in California, Spain and Australia known as the Deep Space Network (DSN). Even the Voyager 1 probe relies on these channels to beam data back to Earth as it careers away into space. But traffic on the network is growing fast,…
IBM Busts Record for ‘Superconducting’ Quantum Computer
Today’s quantum computers are no more than experiments. Researchers can string together a handful of quantum bits – seemingly magical bits that store a “1″ and “0″ at the same time – and these ephemeral creations can run relatively simple algorithms. But new research from IBM indicates that far more complex quantum computers aren’t that…
How the Technology Behind Nanosecond Trading Could Make Markets Go Haywire
The afternoon of May 6, 2010 was among the strangest in economic history. Starting at 2:42 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones stock index fell 600 points in just 6 minutes. Its nadir represented the deepest single-day decline in that market’s 114-year history. By 3:07 p.m., the index had rebounded. The “flash crash,” as it came…
Researchers Build a Transistor Out Of a Single Electron
University of Pittsburgh researchers have assembled a key piece of tech that will help enable a future generation of extremely powerful quantum computers as well as advanced electronic materials and better computer memories. Their single-electron transistor is the first of its kind made entirely from oxide-based materials, an important aspect that allows it to work…