Toggle light / dark theme

Superconductor advancement could unlock ultra-energy-efficient electronics

Superconducting materials could play a crucial role in the energy-efficient applications of the future. However, several technical challenges still stand in the way of their practical use. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a new material design that addresses a major obstacle in the field: enabling superconductivity to operate at higher temperatures while also withstanding strong magnetic fields. This breakthrough could pave the way for far more energy-efficient electronics and quantum technologies.

Digital devices, data centers and information and communications technology (ICT) networks currently account for approximately 6% to 12% of global electricity consumption. There is a substantial and growing need for more energy-efficient electronics and this is where superconducting materials have emerged as a promising solution. Unlike conventional electronics, which lose energy as heat, superconductors can conduct electricity with zero energy loss. Thus, superconductors have the potential to make power grids, electronics and quantum technologies hundreds of times more energy efficient.

However, the path to real-world applications is still blocked by several key challenges. One major obstacle is that superconducting states often require extremely low temperatures—down to around −200°C. Cooling to such temperatures is complex and energy-intensive. Another major challenge is that superconductivity can be weakened or destroyed by strong magnetic fields. This is a critical limitation, as magnetic fields are often present in advanced electronic devices and are essential to many quantum technologies.

A world‑first quantum battery charges faster when it gets bigger—but it’s tiny and only lasts nanoseconds

You’re late for an important appointment. Just as you are leaving your house, you realize your phone is flat. Imagine you could charge it almost instantly by exploiting the strange rules of quantum physics. That’s the promise of quantum batteries.

My colleagues and I at CSIRO have developed the world’s first quantum battery prototypes —and the direction the technology has taken is surprising.

Building trust in the future of quantum computing

Quantum computers could solve certain problems that would take traditional classical computers an impractically long time to solve. At the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), researchers are now working to make these systems reliable and trustworthy.

Unlike classical computers that process information in binary digits (bits) as either 0 or 1, quantum computers use quantum bits or “qubits” that can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously, enabling dramatic speedups in computations for specific problems.

The potential applications of quantum computing are wide-ranging. These include factoring large numbers that could break today’s encryption, optimizing complex industrial processes, accelerating drug discovery, and supporting advances in artificial intelligence (AI).

New “Giant Superatoms” Could Solve Quantum Computing’s Biggest Problem

A new quantum system called giant superatoms could protect quantum information and enable entanglement between multiple qubits. The concept merges giant atoms and superatoms to improve stability and scalability for future quantum technologies. Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sw

Microwave quantum network shows resilience against heat-related disturbances

Quantum communication systems are emerging solutions to transmit information between devices in a network leveraging quantum mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement. Entanglement is a quantum effect that entails a link between two or more particles that share a unified state even at a distance, so that measuring one instantly affects the other.

Like most quantum systems, quantum communication networks are typically highly sensitive to changes and disturbances in the environment, also referred to as noise. Random changes in temperature, as well as random energy caused by heat (i.e., thermal noise), can disrupt the connections in a quantum network, making the reliable transfer of quantum states challenging.

Researchers in Shenzhen, China have demonstrated a quantum network that relies on microwave photons, low-energy light particles and a superconducting transmission line. Their paper, published in Nature Electronics, introduces a promising approach to reduce thermal noise in this network, enabling the reliable transmission of quantum states between distant devices.

Scientists create a new state of matter at room temperature using light and nanostructures

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have created a new and unusual state of matter—known as a supersolid—by engineering how light and matter interact inside a nanoscale device. The work, published in Nature Nanotechnology, demonstrates that this exotic quantum phase can exist at room temperature, overcoming a long-standing limitation in the field.

Supersolids are unusual because they combine two seemingly incompatible properties: Like a solid, they form an ordered, crystal-like structure. At the same time, they behave like a fluid, meaning they can flow without resistance. Until now, such states have only been observed under extremely cold conditions, close to absolute zero.

“Our work shows that you can create and control this exotic state using light,” said Wei Bao, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at RPI and senior author of the study. “What’s especially exciting is that it happens at room temperature, in a platform that can be engineered and potentially scaled.”

Scientists used 7,000 GPUs to simulate a tiny quantum chip in extreme detail

Researchers have pushed quantum chip design into a new era by simulating every physical detail before fabrication. Using a supercomputer with nearly 7,000 GPUs, they modeled how signals travel and interact inside an ultra-tiny chip. Unlike earlier “black box” approaches, this method captures real materials, layouts, and qubit behavior. The result is a powerful new way to spot problems early and build better quantum hardware faster.

CERN Discovers New Particle After Upgrading Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider has discovered a new particle, the 80th identified so far by the world’s most powerful particle smasher, Europe’s CERN physics laboratory announced Tuesday.

The new particle has been named “Xi-cc-plus”

Scientists hope the particle – which is similar to a proton but four times heavier – will reveal more about the strange behaviour of quantum mechanics.

Are Faster-Than-Light Messages Already Reaching Us?

What if the universe is already sending messages faster than light… and humanity has been too primitive to recognize them?

In this episode of Divergent Files, we investigate one of the most disturbing possibilities in modern physics: that information may already be moving beyond the speed limit we were taught could never be broken.

Quantum entanglement. Nonlocality. Unexplained cosmic bursts. Declassified research into remote viewing, anomalous cognition, and consciousness. Different fields. Different languages. Same uncomfortable pattern.

Something may be traveling farther, faster, and stranger than our current models can fully explain.

This is not a claim of proof.

It’s a grounded investigation into the science, the anomalies, and the classified edges of research that all point toward the same question:

/* */