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Category: computing

The Future of Neuroscience Is Growing and Reviving Human Brains

Further Reading.
Thumbnail image credit: Not alive, but not dead… FEATURED SCIENCE ARTICLE.
Brain background: Nexorg.
Brain organoid images: Elke Gabriel.

Not alive, but not dead: disembodied human brains used for drug testing.
https://www.science.org/content/artic…
Restoration of brain circulation and cellular functions hours.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30996…

Vascularizing organoids-on-chip for perfused and personalized models.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/artic…

Startup Testing Drugs on Freshly Extracted Human Brains That Are Kept On Life Support.
https://futurism.com/health-medicine/.…

Cerebral organoids transplantation repairs infarcted cortex and restores impaired function after stroke https://www.nature.com/articles/s4153…

Microsoft Announces 1000x Better Quantum Chip

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Microsoft just announced the Majorana 2 — a topological quantum chip with qubits 1,000 times more reliable than its predecessor. I got exclusive access to Microsoft’s quantum lab in Copenhagen and sat down with Chetan Nayak (Director of Quantum Hardware at Microsoft) to find out what actually changed, whether the results hold up, and what this means for the timeline to a useful quantum computer.

0:00 — Microsoft Announce Majorana 2
1:07 — How Quantum Computers Actually Work.
3:12 — The Case for Topological Qubits.
4:10 — How to Build a Topological Qubit.
8:06 — Ad break.
9:45 — What Changed in Majorana 2
13:05 — Why Lead Beats Aluminium.
14:33 — When Are We Getting a Quantum Computer?

Microsoft Announcement: https://quantum.microsoft.com/en-us/i… Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.03884 A note Microsoft shared with me on the retracted 2018 paper: “In 2018, an independent university research paper that drew funding from several sources including Microsoft, was retracted by Nature. The research was not conducted by Dr. Chetan Nayak or any members of the Microsoft team leading the work on the Majorana 1.” My Patreon:🚀 / drbenmiles My Instagram: / drbenmiles My TikTok: / drbenmiles My Newsletter: https://drbenmiles.substack.com/ My Merch: https://www.rockstarscientist.org/ 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/drbenmiles MY GEAR 📷 Sony A7III https://amzn.to/3OWrmGd 🔎 Sigma 402,965 16 mm F1.4 https://amzn.to/49BNJdq 🎤 Shure SM7B https://amzn.to/4sF3ngx 🎤 Zoom H4n Pro https://amzn.to/3OXsklB 🎤 Sennheiser AVX https://amzn.to/4geWnBi.
arXiv Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.

A note Microsoft shared with me on the retracted 2018 paper: \.

Bidirectional manipulation of gate-free quantum electronic states via semiconductor interface engineering

A recent study published in Nature Communications demonstrates precise control over electron spatial arrangement in two directions simultaneously—without any applied voltage—through interface engineering between semimetal bismuth (Bi) thin films and two-dimensional semiconductor MoS₂

Researchers found that in the horizontal direction, the Moiré potential generated by small-angle twisted bilayer MoS₂ confines electrons to specific sites; in the vertical direction, tuning the bismuth film thickness modulates the electron effective mass, enabling switching between two distinct configurations—thinner films favor electron clustering into a trimer (molecular-like bonding) arrangement, while thicker films drive electrons apart into a periodic Kagome-like configuration.

Requiring no external voltage to induce electron confinement, this material system offers a critical foundation for developing charge qubits and ultra-low-power devices, potentially opening new design pathways for next-generation quantum computing and energy-efficient semiconductor chips.

Abstract algebra unlocks distinguishable states for quantum systems

Researchers around the world are racing to develop new quantum-based systems for sensing, communication, computing and control that have the promise of outperforming traditional systems. Creating stable, measurable, distinguishable quantum states—which would be the heart of any such system—is a daunting task.

Quantum states possess unique properties that can be exploited to develop novel information-processing systems. Two key properties, stability and distinguishability, are hard to achieve, however. Extracting information from a quantum system depends on the distinguishability of quantum states, an intrinsic property associated with a property known as orthogonality. Nevertheless, no two Gaussian states (a widely studied class of quantum states) are orthogonal, and this yields an unavoidable error when attempting to distinguish them.

In addition, present quantum devices tend to remain stable only for a fraction of a second and require complex protocols to distinguish states. Now, researchers at MIT and the University of Ferrara have found a new approach for creating easily distinguishable states that could help enable the development of these new quantum-based devices.

Brain-computer interface enables independent, accurate communication for man living with ALS

A new study demonstrates that a person with severe paralysis caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can use a brain-computer interface (BCI) at home to communicate, work and interact with the digital world—without the need for researcher support. Published in Nature Medicine, the results mark a significant step toward delivering practical assistive technology for people with severe speech and motor impairments.

The BCI system was developed at UC Davis, in collaboration with colleagues at Brown University and Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute. It is equipped with advanced decoding algorithms that translate neural signals into text (speech BCI) and enable cursor control (movement BCI). It allows full interaction with a personal computer.

The brain-computer interface is designed to restore communication and computer control by decoding neural activity linked to attempted speech and movement. Although recent advances have achieved high accuracy in research settings, real-world adoption has been limited by two key challenges: independent at-home use and reliable long-term performance.

Passive quantum error correction doubles qubit lifetime, reaching break-even point

A team of U.S. researchers has designed a passive quantum error correction technique that enables qubits to correct their own errors. Demonstrated by Shruti Shirol and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the protocol transforms the inevitable dissipation of energy in qubit systems from a hindrance into an advantage, offering a promising route toward practical quantum computing outside the lab. The research has been published in Physical Review X.

As the building blocks of quantum computers, qubits aren’t limited to being either a 0 or a 1, like the classical bits that computers use today. Instead, they can exist in quantum superpositions of these states, offering new ways of storing and processing information.

However, these states are notoriously fragile. As they interact with vibrations and impurities in their surroundings, they can easily be destroyed, resulting in energy being dissipated from the system. To date, this poses one of the biggest roadblocks to building quantum computers in realistic settings outside the lab.

Tiny chip could help cameras spot hidden details

A tiny new chip could give cameras and sensing systems a far sharper view of the world, helping them detect subtle differences in materials and environments that standard color imaging systems cannot see.

In research led by Zhejiang University in collaboration with RMIT University, scientists have demonstrated a new way to build light-analysis capability directly into imaging hardware.

Cameras are highly effective at capturing images, but applications such as machine vision, automated inspection and environmental monitoring depend on understanding different colors and wavelengths of light, not just what something looks like. That information can reveal differences in materials, surface conditions or environmental changes that appear identical to the human eye.

Alonzo Church

His revolutionary idea? Before “computer science” was even a field, Church invented the lambda calculus (λ-calculus)—an elegant, abstract system for expressing computation through pure mathematical functions. In 1936, he used it to prove that no universal algorithm could ever decide the truth of all mathematical statements, solving Hilbert’s famous Entscheidungsproblem in the negative. This became known as Church’s Theorem, and it revealed something profound: there are hard limits to what any machine can compute.

That same year, Church articulated what we now call the Church–Turing thesis: any problem that can be “effectively calculated” can be computed by a Turing machine—or equivalently, expressed in lambda calculus. When Alan Turing learned of Church’s work, he traveled to Princeton to study under him. Together, they proved their two seemingly different models of computation were fundamentally equivalent, laying the bedrock for all future computer science.

Alonzo Church was born on June 14, 1903, in Washington, D.C., where his father, Samuel Robbins Church, was a justice of the peace [ 5 ] and the judge of the Municipal Court for the District of Columbia. He was the grandson of Alonzo Webster Church (1829−1909), United States Senate Librarian from 1881 to 1901, and great-grandson of Alonzo Church, a professor of Mathematics and Astronomy and 6th President of the University of Georgia. [ 6 ] As a young boy, Church was partially blinded by an air gun accident. [ 7 ] The family later moved to Virginia after his father lost his position at the university because of failing eyesight. With help from his uncle, also named Alonzo Church, the son attended the private Ridgefield School for Boys in Ridgefield, Connecticut. [ 8 ] After graduating from Ridgefield in 1920, Church attended Princeton University, where he was an exceptional student. He published his first paper on Lorentz transformations [ 9 ] in 1924 and graduated the same year with a degree in mathematics. He stayed at Princeton for graduate work, earning a Ph. D. in mathematics in three years under Oswald Veblen.

He married Mary Julia Kuczinski in 1925. The couple had three children: Alonzo Jr. (1929), Mary Ann (1933), and Mildred (1938).

After receiving his Ph.D., he taught briefly as an instructor at the University of Chicago. [ 10 ] He received a two-year National Research Fellowship that enabled him to attend Harvard University in 1927–1928, and the University of Göttingen and University of Amsterdam the following year.

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