Adaptive method helps light-based quantum processors act more like neural networks

Machine learning models called convolutional neural networks (CNNs) power technologies like image recognition and language translation. A quantum counterpart—known as a quantum convolutional neural network (QCNN)—could process information more efficiently by using quantum states instead of classical bits.

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Experimental proof shows quantum world is even stranger than previously thought

The quantum world is famously weird—a single particle can be in two places at once, its properties are undefined until they are measured, and the very act of measuring a quantum system changes everything. But according to new research published in Physical Review Letters, the quantum world is even stranger than previously thought.

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BWC: Agitated man punches Conn. officer, puts him in chokehold

The man faces multiple charges after hitting and fighting with a Newtown Police officer before the officer was able to subdue him and take him into custody

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From orbit to X-ray: Imaging the entire EURECA satellite to reveal hidden structural damage

Whether it’s a sprained ankle or a backpack at the airport, X-ray images are an everyday occurrence in many areas. Empa researchers at the Center for X-Ray Analytics have succeeded in taking images that are far less commonplace: In collaboration with the Swiss Space Center (now Space Innovation at EPFL) and the Swiss Museum of Transport, they have X-rayed an entire satellite.

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Finding 40,000 asteroids before they find us

The number 40,000 might not sound particularly dramatic, but it represents humanity’s growing catalog of near-Earth asteroids, rocky remnants from the solar system’s violent birth that cross paths with our planet’s orbit. We’ve come a long way since 1898, when astronomers discovered the first of these wanderers, an asteroid called Eros.

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Researchers reveal key role of interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in molecular clouds

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are important carriers of organic matter throughout the universe. As organic molecules, they play a central role in interstellar chemistry and are closely related to the origin of prebiotic molecules. Understanding how these organic compounds evolve in molecular clouds—the cold, dark cradles of star formation—is essential for tracing the origins of complex molecules that may lead to life.

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Chang’e-6’s far-side lunar samples show strongly cohesive behavior

Lunar samples serve as a critical link between orbital remote sensing and ground-truth measurements. Previous sample-return missions—Apollo, Luna, and Chang’e-5—have collectively brought back approximately 383 kilograms of lunar soil and rock from the moon’s near side, advancing the understanding of lunar geological evolution and regolith properties. However, the absence of samples from the far side has limited investigations into its unique composition and geologic history.

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Recently discovered X-ray transient traced to possible collapsar origin

Using various ground-based and space telescopes, an international team of astronomers has observed a recently discovered fast X-ray transient designated EP 241021a. Results of the multiwavelength observational campaign, published November 17 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the behavior and nature of this transient.

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Quantum key distribution enables secure communication via hybrid and mobile channels

As part of the QuNET project, researchers have demonstrated how quantum key distribution works reliably via hybrid and mobile channels. The results are milestones for sovereign, quantum-secured communication in Germany and have been published in the New Journal of Physics.

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Video: Driver stopped on highway pushes Mich. sheriff’s office cruiser into traffic

The suspect, who was initially found passed out behind the wheel, gained consciousness and began pushing a Livingston County Sheriff’s Office cruiser into the road

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Video: Man attacks Wash. SRO who stopped to help at crash, tries to grab her gun

After a TASER was ineffective, the man began fighting with the Thurston County SRO and others who arrived to assist, incuding a tribal officer and an off-duty corrections officer

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Anomalous electronic state opens pathway to room-temperature superconductivity

Superconductive materials can conduct electricity with no resistance, but typically only at very low temperatures. Realizing superconductivity at room temperature could enable advanced, energy-efficient electronics and other technologies.

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Defining work and heat in quantum systems: Laser light coherence offers a consistent approach

Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a new approach to applying thermodynamics to microscopic quantum systems.

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Consciousness as the foundation: New theory addresses nature of reality

Consciousness is fundamental; only thereafter do time, space and matter arise. This is the starting point for a new theoretical model of the nature of reality, presented by Maria Strømme, Professor of Materials Science at Uppsala University, in AIP Advances. The article has been selected as the best paper of the issue and featured on the cover.

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Particle accelerator waste could help produce cancer-fighting materials

Energy that would normally go to waste inside powerful particle accelerators could be used to create valuable medical isotopes, scientists have found.

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