entangled dot cloud

MIT engineers develop a magnetic transistor for more energy-efficient electronics

Transistors, the building blocks of modern electronics, are typically made of silicon. Because it’s a semiconductor, this material can control the flow of electricity in a circuit. But silicon has fundamental physical limits that restrict how compact and energy-efficient a transistor can be.MIT researchers have now replaced silicon with a magnetic semiconductor, creating a magnetic transistor that could enable smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient circuits. The material’s magnetism strongly

Help a fellow dev on AI-localization?

We built an AI-based localization pipeline for our software product (HR domain) and would love feedback/ suggestions from others working in production MT/localization, so that we can learn and improve.Current methodology:GPT-5-nano forward translation + back-translationtext-embedding-3-small cosine similarity on source vs. back-translated text.Threshold: ≥0.92 = auto-approvedOn a recent ~970-string Spanish localization run:~75% of strings passed automaticallyWe then had two human tran

Show HN: I built a 2nd-order PyTorch optimizer for LLMs that runs on 16GB GPUs

Hi HN,I'm Danilo. I've been struggling with the limitations of AdamW when fine-tuning LLMs locally. Second-order optimizers (like Shampoo or SOAP) offer significantly better step-convergence by exploiting Kronecker-factored curvature. The problem? They require O(d^2) memory and O(d^3) compute per layer, which immediately OOMs consumer hardware like a 16GB T4 or RTX 3090.I wanted Shampoo-quality preconditioning on my home setup, so I built SCAO (Sparse Curvature-Aware Optimizer).It&#x27

Breakthrough in experimental light-powered quantum computers could mean scaling them up is now far more viable

Scientists have achieved a breakthrough by "distilling" light to eliminate the noise that prevents photonic quantum computers from scaling.

Will you heed my warnings NOW?

Holy crap … yesterday I was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences! If you don’t believe me, click the link and keep scrolling down until you hit the name “Aaronson.” But then continue scrolling to see 144 other inductees, including my IAS postdoctoral classmate Maria Chudnovsky, my longtime friend and colleague Salil Vadhan, and even Janet Yellen. I’m humbled to be in such company.Years ago, somewhere on this blog, I mused that, if I were ever invited to join

Docker Container GUI Display Using Wayland

The Modern Display Server Protocol for Linux

MIT engineers’ virtual violin produces realistic sounds

There is no question that violin-making is an art form. It requires a musician’s ear, a craftsperson’s skill, and an historian’s appreciation of lessons learned over time. Making a violin also takes trust: Violin makers, or luthiers, often must wait until the instrument is finished before they can hear how all their hard work will sound.But a new tool developed by MIT engineers could help luthiers play around with a violin’s design and tweak its sound even before a single part is carved.In a stu

A one-in-a-million supernova seen five times could reveal the Universe’s true speed

A spectacular cosmic event nicknamed “SN Winny” could help solve one of astronomy’s biggest mysteries: how fast the universe is expanding. This rare superluminous supernova, located 10 billion light-years away, appears five times in the sky thanks to gravitational lensing, creating a dazzling “cosmic fireworks” effect. By measuring the slight delays between each appearance—caused by light taking different paths around two foreground galaxies—scientists can directly calculate the universe’s expan

Scientists just found the Milky Way’s edge and it’s closer than expected

Scientists have uncovered the true boundary of the Milky Way’s star-forming region using stellar “age mapping.” They found a telltale U-shaped pattern showing that star formation drops sharply around 35,000–40,000 light-years from the center. Beyond that, stars are mostly migrants, slowly drifting outward rather than forming in place. The discovery gives a long-sought answer to where our galaxy’s stellar nursery really ends.

Google claims quantum breakthrough as Willow chip runs algorithm 13,000× faster than supercomputers

The big picture: In 2019, Google's Sycamore chip achieved quantum supremacy by solving a random number problem that would have taken the fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. Although that ...

Is consciousness more fundamental to reality than quantum physics?

The idea that everything that exists can be built from the bottom up has long held sway among physicists. Now, a new kind of science is under construction that centres conscious experience – and might unravel the universe’s biggest mysteries

Quantum computing is a national priority, but who’s actually in charge?

There's a lot of hype about its promise, especially because it has this ability for increased processing speed and power," said Candice Wright.

Scientists measure the 'shape' of electrons for the first time, marking a huge advance in quantum physics

For the first time, scientists have measured the 'shape' of an electron in solids, opening the door to advances in quantum materials.

'Quantum Across Illinois' wants to build the next workforce in quantum technology

Since the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park was backed by the state about two years ago, quantum technology developers have been looking to grow the sector's workforce. "Quantum Across Illinois" is visiting the state's universities, including Illinois State, to recruit students and promote the initiative.

This ultracold quantum device turns electricity into something far stranger that could unlock sound-based lasers

Researchers at McGill University have developed a novel device that generates sound-like particles known as phonons at ...

Physicists Simulated a Quantum Process That Could End The Universe

We consider a vacuum to be the lowest energy state of the Universe. But it's possible that there's an even lower-energy, more ...

Quantum chips could scale faster with new spin-qubit readout that reduces sensors and wiring

Quantum computers, devices that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could tackle some tasks that are ...

Light can now be shaped in empty space, and it could simplify sensing and boost data links

Scientists at the University of East Anglia have uncovered a hidden property of light that allows it to twist, spin and behave differently—without mirrors, materials or special lenses. In a breakthrough that could transform medical testing, data transmission and future quantum technologies, researchers from the UK and South Africa have shown that light can be "programmed" simply by exploiting its natural geometry.

Sony’s Table-Tennis Robot Beat Elite Human Players With Unorthodox Moves

AI long ago surpassed humans at games like chess and Go. Now it’s powering robots that can challenge top athletes. Peter Dürr could barely follow the table-tennis ball as it zoomed across the net, each strike’s trajectory designed to perplex the opponent. This was no ordinary match: Taira Mayuka, one of the top players in the world, was on one side—on the other, was a robot called Ace.Mayuka launched a twisting smash that should have nailed a point. But in the blink of an eye, Ace answered

NASA Curiosity rover finds mysterious life linked molecules on mars

Curiosity has detected a surprising variety of organic molecules on Mars, including compounds tied to the chemistry of life. Some of these molecules may be billions of years old, preserved in ancient clay-rich rocks that once held water. One standout find resembles building blocks of DNA, raising exciting questions about Mars’ past. Although not proof of life, the discovery suggests the Red Planet may have once been far more biologically promising than we thought.