Chicago-Area Researchers Study Quantum Computing

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers and Chicago-area scientists are working to create a communications network that can withstand hacking. The University of Illinois announced last month that it will be joining the Chicago Quantum Exchange in its effort to explore quantum technology, an emerging field of physics and engineering that involves studying matter and […]

New quantum criticality discovered in superconductivity

Using solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) techniques, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory discovered a new quantum criticality in a superconducting material, leading to a greater understanding of the link between magnetism and unconventional superconductivity. Most iron-arsenide superconductors display both magnetic and structural (or nematic) transitions, making it difficult to understand […]

Why Elon Musk fears artificial intelligence

Elon Musk is usually far from a technological pessimist. From electric cars to Mars colonies, he’s made his name by insisting that the future can get here faster. But when it comes to artificial intelligence, he sounds very different. Speaking at MIT in 2014, he called AI humanity’s “biggest existential threat” and compared it to “summoning the […]