American Physical Society
Latest
Scientists testing an 'acoustic shield' to protect cities from earthquakes
What if you could put a shield around your city to prevent it from being demolished in an earthquake? A group of French scientists think they've created a way to do just that, thanks to refraction (essentially changing the direction of the vibration). In an experiment, the group was able to create the shield using several five-meter-deep boreholes in the ground. When a quake hits, the holes redirect vibrations to a less-populated nearby area so they'll do less damage. The catch is, all that force has to head somewhere. And we're guessing there won't be many towns signing up to have a big city's quake headed their way instead. Image Source: UN Photo/Logan Abassi
IBM: We're on the cusp of the Quantum Computing revolution (video)
Technology's holy grail is the development of a "perfect" Quantum Computer. Traditional computers recognize information as bits: binary information representing "On" or "Off" states. A quantum computer uses qubits: operating in superposition, a qubit exists in all states simultaneously -- not just "On" or "Off," but every possible state in-between. It would theoretically be able to instantly access every piece of information at the same time, meaning that a 250 qubit computer would contain more data than there are particles in the universe. IBM thinks it's closer than ever to realizing this dream and if you want to know more, we have the full details after the break.
