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Stabilized laser components could shrink quantum computers from room- to chip-scale

Scientists in the Riccio College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California Santa Barbara have demonstrated key laser and ion trap components necessary to help drastically shrink the size of quantum computers, an achievement aligned with the shrinking of integrated microprocessors in the 1970s, 80s and 90s that allowed computers to move from room-sized behemoths to today’s ultrathin smartphones.

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Pairs of atoms observed existing in two places at once for the first time

Quantum physicists at ANU have observed atoms entangled in motion. “It’s really weird for us to think that this is how the universe works,” says Dr. Sean Hodgman from the ANU Research School of Physics. “You can read about it in a textbook, but it’s really weird to think that a particle can be in two places at once.”

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Scientists harness plasma clumps trapped in stellar magnetospheres to assess habitability around M dwarf stars

How does a star affect the makeup of its planets? And what does this mean for the habitability of distant worlds? Carnegie’s Luke Bouma is exploring a new way to probe this critical question—using naturally occurring space weather stations that orbit at least 10% of M dwarf stars during their early lives. He presented his work at the American Astronomical Society meeting (AAS 247) held in Phoenix in January.

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Measuring titanium in Apollo rock to uncover moon’s early chemistry

Earth and the moon may look very different today, but they formed under similar conditions in space. In fact, a dominant hypothesis says that the early Earth was hit by a Mars-sized object, and it was this giant impact that spun off material to form the moon. But unlike Earth, the moon lacks plate tectonics and an atmosphere capable of reshaping its surface and recycling elements such as oxygen over billions of years.

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Quantum researchers engineer extremely precise phonon lasers

When lasers were invented in the 1960s, they opened new avenues for scientific discovery and everyday applications, from scanners at the grocery store to corrective eye surgery. Conventional lasers control photons—individual particles of light—but over the past 20 years, scientists have invented lasers that control other fundamental particles, including phonons—individual particles of vibration or sound. Controlling phonons could open even more possibilities with lasers, such as taking advantage of unique quantum properties like entanglement.

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Finding the ‘quantum needle’ in a haystack: New filtering method can isolate photons

In quantum technologies, everything depends on the ability to detect the properties carried by a single photon. But in the real world, that photon of interest is often buried in a sea of unwanted light—a true “needle in a haystack” challenge that currently limits the deployment of many applications, including secure quantum communication, quantum sensors used in telescope networks, as well as the interconnection of quantum computers to accelerate the development of new drugs and materials.

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BWC: Wis. officer fatally shoots suspect while clinging to fleeing tow truck

Video shows the Milwaukee officer ordering the man to exit the truck; he refused and drove away at a high rate of speed as the officer attempted to remove him

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Earth formed from material exclusively from the inner solar system, planetary scientists show

Planetary scientists have long debated where the material that formed Earth comes from. Despite its location in the inner solar system, they consider it likely that 6–40% of this material must have come from the outer solar system, i.e., beyond Jupiter. For a long time, material from the outer solar system was considered necessary to bring volatile components such as water to Earth. Accordingly, there must also have been an exchange of material between the outer and inner solar systems during the formation of Earth. But is that really true?

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Silicon quantum computer performs logical operations for the first time

Silicon is ubiquitous in modern electronics, and now it is becoming increasingly useful in quantum computing. In particular, silicon’s compatibility with existing chip technology and its long coherence times in silicon-based spin qubits make it a promising material for scalable quantum computing. A new study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, has demonstrated silicon’s use in a logical quantum processor, representing the first of its kind.

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Conn. officer fired following fatal OIS of knife-wielding man

Video from Hartford PD shows Steven Jones advancing toward several officers with a knife; now-former officer Joseph Mangano fired multiple shots, fatally wounding Jones

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New Henrietta spectrograph to probe alien atmospheres

Finding life beyond our solar system goes beyond measuring an exoplanet’s size, as rocky, Earth-sized worlds might not have the conditions for life as we know it. While exoplanets can be directly imaged by blocking their star’s glare, these images are fuzzy and lack resolution to provide enough details about the habitability. Therefore, astronomers are limited to studying an exoplanet’s atmosphere, and this has proven to be quite beneficial in teaching scientists about an exoplanet’s formation and evolution, and whether it contains the necessary ingredients for life as we know it.

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Framework unifies the classical and quantum Mpemba effects

Physicists have developed a new theoretical framework which unifies a wide array of seemingly unrelated “Mpemba effects”: counterintuitive cases where systems driven further from equilibrium relax faster than those closer to it. Reporting their results in Physical Review X, researchers led by John Goold at Trinity College Dublin show that both classical and quantum versions of the effect can be understood using the same underlying logic—resolving a long-standing conceptual puzzle.

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LASD deputy suffers fatal medical emergency while running law enforcement relay race

Deputy Levi Vargas died after suffering a medical emergency during the Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup, a 120-mile law enforcement relay race

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A rare ‘triple-double’ radio galaxy discovered using MeerKAT

Astronomers have discovered an exceptionally rare radio galaxy that has three distinct pairs of radio lobes. This system falls into a subpopulation of radio galaxies known as “triple-double” radio galaxies (TDRGs). Located nearly 7.5 billion light-years away, this unique system, cataloged as J022248−060934, is only the seventh known example of its kind. A paper outlining this discovery was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on February 25.

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Apollo’s impatient old-timers are rooting for NASA’s return to the moon with Artemis II launch

The people who toiled night and day to put astronauts on the moon during Apollo are thrilled that NASA is finally going back. They just wish these Artemis moonshots had happened sooner while more of Apollo’s workforce was still alive.

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