Month: October 2018

Enlarge / Not this kind of microwave, of course. (credit: Matthew Paul Argall)

Companies like IBM and Google have leapt at the opportunity to build toy quantum computers. They’ve produced nice interfaces, so you can play quantum computing games. The access frameworks they've provided makes me feel like we are about to break out in useful quantum computers.

The public interface, however, hides the relatively slow progress in solving hardware problems. In particular, qubits don’t live very long, so not much computation can be done. Now, in a very nice bit of work, a team of researchers from China have put together qubits that last about 10-15 times longer.

The case of the vanishing qubits

To get your head around this result, we need to understand three key features of how information is stored and processed in quantum computing. Information is stored in qubits, but a qubit does not just hold a one or a zero; it is really a probability of being a one or a zero. Computations are performed by modifying the probability of a qubit being a one or a zero when it's measured.

Enlarge / Naomi Hirose, vice chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. (TEPCO). (credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images)

The meltdown of the reactors at Fukushima Daichi has changed how many people view the risks of nuclear power, causing countries around the world to revise their plans for further construction and revisit the safety regulations for existing plants. The disaster also gave the world a first-hand view of the challenges of managing accidents in the absence of a functional infrastructure and the costs when those accidents occur in a densely populated, fully developed nation.

Earlier this week, New York's Japan Society hosted a man with a unique perspective on all of this. Naomi Hirose was an executive at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) when the meltdown occurred, and he became its CEO while he was struggling to get the recovery under control. Ars attended Hirose's presentation and had the opportunity to interview him. Because the two discussions partly overlapped, we'll include information from both below.

The accident and safety

During his presentation, Hirose noted that the epicenter of 2011's Tōhoku earthquake was only 180 kilometers from Fukushima. But initially, safety protocols kicked in; called a scram, the protocols led to control rods being inserted into the reactors to shut down the nuclear reactions and bring the plant to a halt. Since this had happened previously in response to earthquakes, Hirose said people were feeling confident the situation was under control.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson/United Launch Alliance)

Welcome to Edition 1.20 of the Rocket Report! We have a couple of stories about a rising Chinese commercial space company, LandSpace, and its efforts to attract new talent that have gone viral. There is also news about commercial crew delays, which may or may not be hardware related, as well as an official Space Launch System slip.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

LandSpace to launch a solid rocket, but eyes liquid engines. Chinese startup LandSpace announced that it will launch its Zhuque-1 three-stage, solid-propellant rocket near the end of October, with the exact date to be decided, SpaceNews reports. The Zhuque-1 booster is 19 meters tall, with a 1.3-meter diameter, and a thrust of 45 tons. It is able to carry 200 kilograms to a 500-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit and 300 kilograms to LEO.

Enlarge (credit: Verizon)

Verizon's launch of 5G home Internet targeted four cities dominated by either Comcast or Charter, and Verizon says it will continue to bring the service to densely populated areas dominated by cable companies.

The launch cities that got Verizon 5G home Internet this week were Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. Comcast is the main cable provider in Houston, Indianapolis, and Sacramento, while Charter leads the way in Los Angeles and covers part of Indianapolis, according to ISP tracker BroadbandNow.

That's no coincidence. Verizon Chief Technology Architect Ed Chan told Ars that Verizon is focusing on using the $70-per-month wireless home Internet service to compete against dominant cable companies.