Seeing beneath our feet

Researchers are hoping a significant advancement in quantum sensor technology that is being refed to as an “Edison moment” has worldwide implications.

A new study in Nature details one of the first practical uses of quantum sensing, a since mostly theoretical technology that combines quantum physics and the study of Earth’s gravity to look below the ground (researchers associated with this research believe it will be massive).

Regarded as a quantum gravity gradiometer, this new sensor created by the University of Birmingham under contract with the UK’s Ministry of Protection is the first time such a technology has seen application beyond a lab. Researchers claim it will permit them to explore complex underground substructures far more inexpensively and efficiently than previously.

While gravity sensors already exist, the difference between conventional instruments and this quantum-powered sensor is massive. As Physics World describes, the old technology takes a long time to identify shifts in gravity, needs re-calibration, and becomes inaccurate with any vibrations that take place nearby.

Alternatively, this new form of extremely sensitive quantum sensor can determine the minute variations in gravity fields from objects of various dimensions and compositions that exist underground (such as human-made structures buried by the ages, tantalizingly) much quicker and more precisely.

Striking Gold

In a press blurb, the University of Birmingham’s Kai Bongs, which heads the UK Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing, stated that the advancement offers the possibility of ending dependence on bad records and luck as humans continue to develop and repair.

Bongs added that this is an ‘Edison moment’ in sensing, which will certainly change society, human understanding, and economies.

Alongside applications for both archaeologists and engineers that wish to discover what is beneath the surface of the Planet, this new quantum sensor will additionally, researchers hope, assist in forecasting all-natural catastrophes like volcanoes.

Originally published by: futurism.com