Science News S2E4

Quantum Computers
A team at Yale University has created the world’s first solid state quantum processor, leading us another step closer to building a quantum computer.
The researchers manufactured two artificial atoms, or qubits ("q-bits"). While each qubit is actually made up of a billion aluminum atoms, it acts like a single atom that can occupy two different energy states. These states are akin to the "1" and "0" or "on" and "off" states of regular bits employed by conventional computers. Because of the counterintuitive laws of quantum mechanics, however, scientists can effectively place qubits in a "superposition" of multiple states at the same time, allowing for greater information storage and processing power.

The team is now trying to attach more qubits to the processor, which exponentially increases the processing power of the chip. A quantum computer, which would run thousands of times faster and with more processing power than our current computers, is still a long way off though.

Schrodinger’s Cat Helps Find Oil
Oxford University scientists have created a “quantum cat”. Schrodinger’s cat was a thought experiment that said that, if a cat sealed into a box with a poison that might or might not kill it, behaved like a subatomic particle, the cat would be alive and dead at the same time.

The quantum cat made at Oxford University is a star shaped atom where all of the 10 atoms are in the same spin state (that is, spinning the same way) and entangled (so if one changes its spin, they all do).

The cat is very sensitive to tiny fluctuations in magnetic fields, which change the spin of the cat. This means it can detect tiny changes that correspond to under sea deposits of oil or gas, or make ultra-high tech security, or help in other scientific experiments.

DNA Sequencing Through Quantum Tunnelling
DNA is a long sequence of Cs, Gs, As and Ts. Reading these sequences is vitally important to biochemistry and genetic science, as well as to modern medicine.

Bringing the power of DNA sequencing to every individual will require new, affordable technologies to help mine the wealth of information DNA can provide concerning morphology, hereditary traits and predisposition to disease. Standard biochemical sequencing is slow and extravagantly expensive.

Quantum tunneling is when a particle, say an electron, can cross a barrier, when, according to classical physics, it does not have enough energy to do so. That means that if you get an electrode close enough to a piece of DNA, electrons from the DNA can jump to the electrode and cause a measureable current. The Cs and Gs in DNA have slightly stronger chemical bonds, which make it harder for the electrons to tunnel to the electrode and cause a smaller current.
So theoretically, the new quantum sequencing can be done simply by running an electrode up the DNA and measuring the current as it passes over the DNA bases, instead of the slow, expensive processes used to sequence DNA currently.

Quantum Hurricanes in Really Cold Gas
When gas gets really cold, they spontaneously spin up into tiny quantum mechanical hurricanes. It’s not really of any practical value, but it is an interesting new fact about the way the universe works. It is, in fact, just cool.