Implementing a quantum approximate optimization algorithm on a 53-qubit NISQ device

A large team of researchers working with Google Inc. and affiliated with a host of institutions in the U.S., one in Germany and one in the Netherlands has implemented a quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) on a 53-qubit noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) device. In their paper published in the journal Nature Physics,, the group describes their method of studying the performance…

Evading Censors, Chinese Users Flock To U.S. Chat App Clubhouse

“The U.S. app Clubhouse erupted among Chinese social-media users over the weekend,” reports Bloomberg, “with thousands joining discussions on contentious subjects…undisturbed by Beijing’s censors.” On the invite-only, audio-based social app where users host informal conversations, Chinese-speaking communities from around the world gathered to discuss China-Taiwan relations and the prospects of unification, and to share their knowledge and experience of Beijing’s crackdown…

Perl.com Domain Stolen, Now Using IP Address of Past Malware Campaigns

“The domain name perl.com was stolen and now points to an IP address associated with malware campaigns,” reports Bleeping Computer: Perl.com is a site owned by Tom Christiansen and has been used since 1997 to post news and articles about the Perl programming language. On January 27th, Perl programming author and Perl.com editor brian d foy tweeted that the perl.com domain…

How Reddit’s Co-Founder, Jim Cramer, and Wall Street Reacted to GameStop’s Surge

Friday afternoon CNBC reported that “heightened speculative trading by retail investors” (later referred to as “GameStop mania”) had “continued to unnerve the market.”
The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 620.74 points, or 2%, to 29,982.62, the first time the 30-stock gauge has closed below the 30,000 mark since Dec. 14…. The market also experienced the highest trading volume in years as the…

How to spot an alien megastructure: The new search for Dyson spheres

Intelligent extraterrestrials may have built vast solar power plants around their host stars. The hunt for their telltale glow is hotting up Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933190-800-how-to-spot-an-alien-megastructure-the-new-search-for-dyson-spheres/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

GitHub Reverses Takedown of Code for Anime Torrent Site Despite Film Group’s DMCA

Inside.com’s developer newsletter spotted this code repository story:
GitHub posted a DMCA notice it received from the Motion Picture Association (MPA) last week asking the platform to take down a repository associated with NYAA.si, a popular torrent site specializing in anime content. The DMCA captured attention as the code doesn’t belong to the MPA. Rather, the MPA argues the code is used…

Why Do We Assume Extraterrestrials Might Want To Visit Us?

Avi Loeb, former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University and who chairs the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies, writing at Scientific American: It is presumptuous to assume that we are worthy of special attention from advanced species in the Milky Way. We may be a phenomenon as uninteresting to them as ants are to us;…

Vertical Farms Grow Veggies On Site At Restaurants and Grocery Stores

New Atlas reports on ag-tech company Vertical Field’s efforts to produce soil-based indoor vertical farms grown at the very location where food is consumed. From the report: The Vertical Field setup retains many of the advantages of hydroponic vertical farms, but instead of the plants growing in a nutrient-packed liquid medium, the container-based pods treat their crops to real soil, supplemented…

Biden Rejoins Paris Climate Accord, Works To Overturn Trump’s Climate Policies

During his first moments in the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Biden returned the United States to the Paris climate accord and directed federal agencies to begin unraveling Donald Trump’s environmental policies. The Washington Post reports: Biden’s executive order recommitting the United States to the international struggle to slow global warming fulfilled a campaign promise and represented a stark repudiation of…