Moving Beyond Silicon (Part Three): The Holy Grail, Quantum Computing.

Posted on March 16, 2015 by | Leave a comment

“This is a revolution not unlike the early days of computing. It is a transformation in the way computers are thought about.”

– Ray Johnson, Lockheed Martin

In Part One of this series, we discussed how Photonics could extend Moore’s Law by allowing conventional computers to send information at light speed. In Part Two, we discussed how Graphene could extend Moore’s law by creating computers that could operate thousands of times faster, cheaper, cooler, and friendlier to the environment. But what if the solution to Moore’s Law isn’t harnessing a new technology, or implementing some new material; what if the only way to make Moore’s law obsolete, is to go back to the drawing board and rethink how information is computed. Welcome to the world of Quantum Computing.

D-Wave 128qubit chip

A chip constructed by D-Wave Systems, a company in Burnaby, B.C., designed to operate as a 128-qubit quantum optimization processor, Credit: D-Wave Systems (Wikimedia Commons)

In order to appreciate the impact of quantum computing, it will first be necessary to understand how it differs from classical computing. To get a decent overview, please watch the following short explanation by Isaac McAuley.

YouTube Preview Image

Now, with a better understanding of Quantum Computing and how it differs from classical computing, we can ask, “Why is this development so important?”

In order to answer this, consider that Quantum Computers can solve certain problems much more efficiently then our fastest computers can. For instance, suppose you have a budget for buying groceries and you want to work out which items at the store will give you the best value for your money; a quantum computer can solve this task much faster then a classical one. But let’s try a less trivial example. Suppose you take that very same problem and now you  are a hydro company, you have a limited amount of electricity to provide your entire city with, and you want to find the best method of providing electricity to all people within your city at all hours of the day. Ever further, consider that you might be a doctor and that you want to radiate the most amount of cancer out of your patient’s body, using the smallest amount of radio isotopes, and by compromising the least amount of their immune system. All of these are problems of optimization that a quantum computer can solve at breakneck speeds. Think about it, how much time and money is spent trying to solve these problems and how much scientific progress could be made if they could all of these problems could be solved exponentially faster. For further consideration, checkout the following video by Lockheed Martin (one of the first buyers of a Quantum Computer) below:

YouTube Preview Image

Now that we are familiar with how Quantum Computing differs from classical computing, and what Quantum Computing could do for scientific research, the question one might ask is, “Why do we not have Quantum Computers yet?” The simplest answer is that while some Quantum Computers are for sale at exorbitant prices (The D-Wave One 128 Qubit Computer remains a costly $10,000,000 USD), Quantum Computers remain highly prone to errors.

Recently, researchers at the Martinis Lab at the University of Santa Barbara have developed a new technology for Quantum Computers that allows the computer to check itself for errors without compromising how the system operates. One of the fundamental obstacles when working with Quantum Computers is that measuring a Qubit changes its inherent state. Therefor, any operation performed on a Qubit, such as checking to see that the Qubit stores the information that you want, will defeat the purpose of the system altogether.

Why? Well, because Quantum Physics, that’s why.

This new system allows Qubits to work together in order to ensure that the information within them is preserved by storing information across several Qubits which backup their neighbouring Qubits. According to chief researcher Julian Kelly, this new development allows Quantum computers the ability to

“pull out just enough information to detect errors, but not enough to peek under the hood and destroy the quantum-ness”

This development could allow Quantum Computers the reliability needed to not only ensure that they work as intended; but also, decrease the price of the current Quantum Computers as most of the money spent on a Quantum Computer is on the environmental controls the machine is placed in to prevent errors from occurring.

If you are interested in learning more about Quantum Computing, I highly recommend the following articles as introductions to what will surely be a revolution in Computer Science:

1. Quantum Computing for Everyone by Michael Neilson (a writer on the standard text for Quantum Computing, )
2. The Limits of Quantum by Scott Aronson in Scientific American (an MIT Professor of Computer Science)
3. The Revolutionary Quantum Computer that May Not Be Quantum at All by Wired Science

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment. I hope you all enjoyed this three part series on what the future of computation holds in trying to surpass Moore’s Law. Whatever way you look at it, the future looks bright indeed!

– Corey Wilson

Leave a comment

Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

The Cure to Cancer May Only Be a Sip Away

Posted on March 15, 2015 by | 2 comments

The Oral Cancer Foundation reports that oral cancer is responsible for over 8,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. That is an average of one death per hour. Oral cancer can target many areas of the mouth and neck, such as the tongue, lips, and lymph nodes (oval-shaped organs). Fortunately, researchers have been studying the effects of a very popular drink that could lead to promising treatments for oral cancer.

13080645805_b03a5045e9_o

Mitochondria in a Cell, Source: Flickr Commons

The article, Green tea ingredient may target protein to kill oral cancer cells, published in January 2015 states that a compound in green tea may be able to treat patients with oral cancer. Researchers at Penn State’s Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health studied epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a compound found in green tea. They compared the affects of EGCG on normal human oral cells versus human oral cancer cells. They grew these cells in petri dishes and exposed them to the compound. Surprisingly, they found that EGCG damages the mitochondria in only oral cancer cells. The mitochondria are vital parts of the cell that provides energy, but once they become damaged, they are unable to function correctly. This type of disruption to the mitochondria will cause the oral cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death.

Morning_cup_of_green_tea

A Cup of Green Tea, Source: Wikimedia Commons

Dr. Lambert, the co-director at Penn State’s Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health, argues that the selective nature of EGCG to attack oral cancer cells and not normal cells may be applied to other types of cancers as well. He also mentions the benefits of consuming green tea over current  methods to treat cancer. For instance, chemotherapy drugs target rapidly dividing cells, but cannot differentiate between fast-growing cancer cells and normal dividing cells in your hair follicles and intestines. Unfortunately, these drugs can cause harmful and unpleasant side effects like hair loss, nausea, and vomiting. However, the selective nature of green tea may be able treat cancer patients without the presence of these terrible side effects. Overall, consuming green tea would be less harmful and also a lot cheaper than existing cancer treatments.

So, can we state with certainty that you will be able to drink your way to a cure to cancer in the future? The current research looks promising, but only through further research, like clinical trials can we really determine if a sip of green tea will in fact be the new anti-cancer treatment.

Check out the video below uploaded by iHealthTube.com for more information on green tea!

YouTube Preview Image

 

By: Navjit Moore

2 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged , ,

A Step Closer to Nuclear Fusion Reactors

Posted on March 14, 2015 by | 2 comments

When people hear the term ‘nuclear’ they view it as a negative and dangerous field of technology that can create large problems due to radiation and improper disposal of radioactive waste. Most non-war applications of nuclear technology are around the generation of electricity through nuclear fission, the other method, using nuclear fusion to generate electricity, is still very much experimental but that might change with new fusion reactor designs.

The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of_NASA's_Solar_Dynamics_Observatory_-_20100819

The sun produces its energy through nuclear fusion; Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

While generating electricity from nuclear power plants is a topic of debate due to safety (a very prominent disaster was the Chernobyl reactor meltdown) and waste product concerns it is important to understand that most nuclear facilities use nuclear fission, splitting a large atom, to generate their power. The method of nuclear fusion on the other hand is opposite in the way that it involves fusing smaller atoms to create a larger atom and is much safer due to the different starting materials and products created.

248px-Deuterium-tritium_fusion.svg

A diagram showing the fusion reaction of two common fusion reactants Deuterium and Tritium; Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

When comparing nuclear fusion and fission we see that although they both involve working with atoms their energy consumption and production are vastly different as well as the by-products created. Nuclear fusion both creates less radioactive waste as well as producing more energy than nuclear fission; but the catch with nuclear fission is that due to the large amount of energy required to start a fusion reaction currently energy production from fusion reactors is in an experimental stage.

 

Currently, in an effort to push nuclear fusion energy forward, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is being built in France based off the Tokamak design style. The ITER is expected to work but is a very large reactor and for fusion power to become the future smaller reactors will need to be possible.

Fortunately the company of Lockheed Martin has released more details on an experimental fusion reactor prototype that could make fusion power a common reality. They are in the process of designing a compact fusion reactor using their own designs. The compact fusion reactor (CFR) being designed is expected to be ten times smaller  while producing the same power output as a Tokamak styled reactor, like the ITER. Currently the Lockheed Martin project is still in early stages but the designers are hopeful that they will be able to produce an early prototype in 5 years. While 5 years might seem like a long time the main thing  is that fusion reactors are much closer to becoming a reality than they were before.

YouTube Preview Image

The ability to have the massive energy produced by fusion reactors in a compact design means that energy intensive processes such as desalination would be much more affordable and the CFR could even be installed into ships or applied to providing power to cities. With the CFR it could open doors to provide sustainable energy to the world.

– Matthew Leupold

2 Comments

Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged , , , ,

The Glass is Half Full: How a Positive Outlook can Increase Longevity

Posted on March 9, 2015 by | 2 comments

The way different people perceive their age can vary greatly from one person to another. Some can feel older than their years while others may feel younger at heart. If someone were to ask you “How old are you?” and “How old do you feel?” how would those two numbers compare?

aged

The Marks We Make Fade Away by Tony Hall on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

In a study conducted by the University College London, they used data collected from a group of 6,489 people and compared their chronological age, averaging at 65.8 years, to their self-perceived age, averaging at 56.8 years. It was observed that around 70% of those individuals had self-perceived themselves to be younger by three years or more, 26% had thought their perceived and actual age were roughly the same and about 5% had felt more than a year older than their real age. About eight years later, a follow up was conducted on the same group of people and discovered that in the group of individuals who felt younger 14.3 % had passed away. However, the observed mortality rate was much higher for the groups that felt the same age and those that felt older at 18.5% and 24.6% respectively.

Researchers believe that there could be various factors contributing to the lower mortality rate observed in the group of individuals who felt younger than their age. For example, these individuals may have maintained a healthier diet and weight or had a higher sense of control and competency in life. Although further investigation is needed to confirm theses associations, researchers believe that the younger self-perceived age could also have influenced the lower death rate observed. In fact, new research shows that two key personality characteristic, optimism and conscientiousness, seem to be linked to people living longer lives. This is because these individuals are more aware and willing to lead healthier lifestyles to maintain their health into older age. This is an interesting finding as people may now have the ability to have a slight influence on their longevity.

One of the many great examples of an individual who possesses these two personality traits and leads a long and active life is Fauja Singh. Currently, he is 103 years old and is believed to be the world’s oldest marathon runner and world record holder in his age bracket. Fauja Singh loves to run and says that “Laughter and happiness is what life should be about, that’s your remedy for everything.”

BBC News interviewing Fauja Singh.  YouTube video courtesy of nsotd4.

– Candace Chang

2 Comments

Posted in Science in the News

Tagged , , , ,

WHY IS IT HARD TO STOP SMOKING IN ONE SHOT?

Posted on March 8, 2015 by | 3 comments

Even though it is widely known that smoking causes serious health problems, people still do it. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reminds us that some of the consequences of smoking are cardiovascular diseases, respiratory problems, cancer development, and even death. Nevertheless, some people are still smoking because of good feeling nicotine leaves in the body. On the contrary, some others are trying to quit smoking. Trying. But why is it hard to do it in just one shot? Here is a video from ehowhealth YouTube channel which explains what nicotine does in the body.

Recent research at the University of Copenhagen has demonstrated that the post-smoking symptoms are what make quitting smoking really difficult. In a press-release from ScienceDaily, Professor Albert Gjedde, neuroscience researcher at the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen explains “Regular smokers experience an almost dementia-like condition in the early hours after quitting, as suggested by brain scans.”

Risk from Smoking        Source: Wikipedia

According to brain scans on smokers performed by Gjedde’s research team, after having stopped smoking, the blood flow and oxygen uptake in the brain decrease by almost 20%. This is considered a stressful situation for the body, which in turn starts producing an anxiety-like reaction, which is “probably one of the reasons why it can be very difficult to quit smoking once and for all. Smokers drift back into abuse, perhaps not to obtain a pleasant effect […] but simply because the withdrawal symptoms are unbearable.” MedlinePlus  provides a comparison of the way one feels while smoking and one does after. From such list, it is evident why people have a hard time when throwing cigarettes away.

Cigarette Smoking           Source: Johanna Keppler – Flickr

 

So what could be the best method to quit smoking? Scientists have recommended that a gradual withdrawal from smoking could be less traumatic than trying to quit in a single attempt. The explanation is that the effect of the post-smoking symptom will not hit not be as overwhelming, since they will not ‘hit’ the person at once. That way quitting smoking will be more manageable.

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged , , , ,

Watch Out for Heart Attacks During Daylight Saving Time

Posted on March 8, 2015 by | 2 comments

Daylight saving time(DST) begins March 8, 2015, and we all expect another hour of sunshine in Vancouver. As people set their clock forward an hour, the time change is not necessarily good for our health.

Daylight Saving Time Increased the Risk of Heart Attacks Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP

Daylight Saving Time Increased the Risk of Heart Attacks (Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP)

A research published in Open Heart online journal in 2014 shows that switching to DST increases that risk of a heart attack, especially on the coming Monday morning.

In fact, on Monday following a DST, the number of heart attacks increases 24 percent comparing with other Mondays throughout the year. In contrast, the Tuesday following the time switching to standard time in the fall was associated with 21 percent decrease in heart attacks.

Spring Forward: Heart Attacks More Numerous After Daylight Saving Time In The Spring ( Image Credit: Thinkstock.com）

In the study, researchers used the database from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is a large insurance company, in Michigan from March 2010 to September 2013. They tracked the number of hospital admissions for heart attacks, and a total 42060 cases occurred during the study period. Researchers have found that an average of 32 patients has heart attacks on any Monday; however, on the Monday following by DST, there were an average of eight additional heart attacks. There is no significant change in the total number of heart attacks in the week after spring DST change.

The exact reason for the increasing of heart attacks in spring time switching is unknown, but sleep deprivation, the body’s circadian clock and immune responses can be possible considering reasons.

People who are vulnerable to heart attack, such as those who have a family history of heart attack or have high blood pressure, may be at higher risk after time changes. If you know you have heart trouble, take extra care on Monday and shouldn’t delay a trip to the emergency room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FWMraW2-ps

Suggestions given by Professor Martin Young from University of Alabama to lessen health issues on Monday after time changing:

  • Wake up 30 minutes earlier on Saturday and Sunday than you need to in preparation for the early start on Monday
  • Eat a decent-sized breakfast
  • Go outside in the sunlight in the early morning
  • Exercise in the mornings over the weekend

By Xindi Wang

2 Comments

Posted in Science in the News

Tagged , ,