Hacking a 50-bit RSA key is so easy you could do it with your cell phone in secondsRecent headlines claim Chinese researchers used D-Wave quantum computers to hack RSA, AES, and "military-grade encryption." This is both true and misleading.A May 2024 white paper in the Chinese Journal of Computers details how researchers used D-Wave's...
(Nobel Prize Outreach/Alexander Mahmoud)If you've enjoyed an AI-generated video, fraud protection, or voice-to-text, you can thank scientists like physicist John Hopfield and computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton. On Oct. 8, 2024, they received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work on artificial neural networks, which, though inspired by biology, relied heavily on statistical...
Credit: PixabayThe term "atom," derived from Latin for "indivisible," can be misleading. A recent simulation by U.S. theoretical physicists has provided a detailed microscopic view of how an atom splits in two, shedding light on an energetic event that has significantly impacted science and technology.In 1938, physicists Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann...
Self-oscillations (red and blue) guide sound waves (green, orange, purple) in only one direction through the circulator. (Xin Zou)Imagine three people arranged in a circle, where each can only hear one other directly. Scientists have created a device that directs sound waves in just this way, allowing them to travel in a single direction only.Developed...
(Solar Orbiter/EUI Team/ESA & NASA)Nuclear power generates about 10% of the world's electricity, with countries like France relying on it for nearly 70%. Tech giants like Google are also turning to nuclear energy to power their demanding data centers.The energy for nuclear power comes from atomic binding energy, released through two primary processes: fission...
Credit: PixabayWhat started as a bonus question in a high school math competition has led to an astonishing 10 new proofs of the ancient Pythagorean theorem.It has long been considered impossible to use trigonometry to demonstrate a theorem that is foundational to trigonometric principles, as this creates a logical fallacy of circular reasoning by...
Credit: PixabayHeist movies are rarely about solving climate change, and for good reason. It’s hard to imagine George Clooney racing down the highway with a truckload of stolen diamonds, saying, "Hey, let’s crush these sparkly gems into powder and scatter them through the stratosphere to cool the planet."Calculating Diamonds for Global CoolingHowever, a team...
John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, seen in picture, are awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, which is announced at a press conference by Hans Ellergren, center, permanent secretary at the Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden Tuesday Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via APJohn Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, two...
An artist's impression of atoms (gold) flowing friction-free along an edge of laser light (green)Sampson WilcoxMIT scientists have successfully guided atoms into a unique "edge state" for the first time, enabling them to move without any friction. This breakthrough could pave the way for improved superconductor materials.When electrons pass through various materials, they experience...
An artist's impression of the new nuclear clockOliver Diekmann, TU WienAtomic clocks are currently the most precise timekeepers, losing only seconds over billions of years. However, nuclear clocks could potentially surpass them, enhancing GPS and internet technologies. Scientists have now developed and tested the first prototype nuclear clock.Atomic clocks measure time by counting the...
