Microsoft is developing Majorana-based topological quantum computer qubits which will be higher-quality and lower error rate qubits. A high-quality hybrid system made of InSb nanowires with epitaxial-grown Al shells has revealed ballistic superconductivity and quantized zero-bias conductance peak. This holds great promise for making the long-sought topological quantum qubits. Theorists have already begun designing solid-state …
Samsung’s 3nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process, 3GAE, development is on track. The Process Design Kit (PDK) version 0.1 for 3GAE was released in April to help customers get an early start on the design work and enable improved design competitiveness along with reduced turnaround time (TAT).
University of Massachusetts researchers have successfully made a 2 nanometer individually addressable memristors. It is capable of being mass-produced in conventional fabs. This could be great for neuromorphic computing and AI in general. This should lead to high-density memristor arrays with low power consumption for both memory and unconventional computing applications. There were difficulties in …
Dutch researchers have successfully developed nanowires allowing individual electrons to be captured by a ‘quantum dot’ on which superconductivity can take place. These nanowires could make powerful quantum computers. The combination of a quantum dot and superconductivity makes it possible to create ‘Majorana fermions’, exotic particles that are their own antiparticle and which are regarded …
Chinese scientists have become the first in the world to use a revolutionary new gene-editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9 on living humans. Scientists at Sichuan University in Chengdu have injected a person with aggressive lung cancer with cells modified using the gene-splicing technology in a bid to make the patient’s immune system more effective at …
Hypersonic (speeds over 5 times the speed of sound) material needs to withstand extreme temperature of up to 1,500 degrees Celsius for a long time. Russia already has developments in carbon-based composite materials. “We have achieved significant results in this area, and Russia takes one of the first places in the world in the development …
China and Sudan have signed a framework agreement for the construction of the east African country’s first nuclear power plant. Sudan – one of China’s main suppliers of oil – was on the list of priorities for Chinese reactor sales in a State Council (cabinet) Energy Development Strategic Action Plan 2014-2020. Sudan’s Ministry of Energy …
The electrodes in a cochlear implant can be used to direct gene therapy and regrow neurons. The researchers behind the work are investigating whether electrode-triggered gene therapy could improve other machine-body connections—for example, the deep-brain stimulation probes that are used to treat Parkinson’s disease, or retinal prosthetics. More than 300,000 people worldwide have cochlear implants. …
Worldcrunch has an article that makes the case China is still many years from becoming a superpower. China neither is at the heart of a multilateral regime nor does it have a single significant ally. It must permanently juggle a coalition of interests — which sometimes aligns it with developing countries, sometimes with other emerging …
The Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) researcher Ben Goertzel was interviewed for Next Big Future in 2009. Goertzel is overseeing a team of researchers in Hong Kong and elsewhere, trying to develop his OpenCOG project, but the program is currently resource-constrained. In order to generate funds sufficient to hire the senior AI researchers necessary to bring …
Drones are projected to be mostly utilized for precision agriculture and public safety (police, medical and fire departments). One industry group projects an $82 billion economic impact from drones operating in the U.S. in 2015-2025. Precision agriculture management practices can significantly reduce the amount of nutrient and other crop inputs used while boosting yields. Farmers …