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
Digital quantum magnetism on a trapped-ion quantum computer
<p>Nature, Published online: 29 April 2026; <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10445-3">doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10445-3</a></p>Simulations performed using Quantinuum’s H2 trapped-ion quantum computer for observing thermalization on challenging timescales demonstrate the usefulness of digital quantum computers for investigating continuous-time dynamics in regimes that classical simulation methods find difficult.
Transforming deep-space signals into cathedral sound
A new immersive sound installation at Oulu Cathedral, Finland, brings the research of MIT astrophysicist and associate professor of physics Kiyoshi Masui into a striking sensory form, transforming more than 4,000 cosmic signals into spatial audio.With its grand opening on April 4, “The Logos” project invites visitors to experience deep-space phenomena not as distant abstractions, but as something immediate and resonant. The work is led by artist and creative technologist Andrew Melchior in colla
Western music is getting simpler and more repetitive by the day and data prove it
Ever had that moment when a song comes on and it feels strangely familiar, like it reminds you of another song that came out just a few months ago? If you feel this phenomenon has become more frequent, then you are not imagining it. Science agrees with you. A recent study found that Western music is not only starting to sound more alike but is also becoming less structurally complex than in the past.
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'
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.
Physicists reveal universal speed limit on quantum information scrambling
Theoretical physicists in the US have discovered a "speed limit" on the time taken for quantum information to spread through larger systems. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Amit Vikram and colleagues at the University of Maryland have proved for the first time that this minimum time is closely linked with a system's entropy and temperature, perhaps paving the way for a deeper understanding of quantum information across a wide range of physical settings.
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 ...