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Category: quantum physics – Page 79

Japan Cyber Threat Landscape

This document intends to provide a summary of the cybersecurity threats in Japan with reference to globally observed cyber landscape. It looks at various kinds of cyberattacks their quantum and impact as well as specific verticals that are targeted by various threat actors.

As in February, 2024, in Japan, an organisation faces an average of 1,003 attacks per week, with FakeUpdates being the top malware. Most malicious files are delivered via email, and Remote Code Execution is the most common vulnerability exploit. In recent times, major Japanese incidents include a sophisticated malware by a nation state, attacks on Nissan and JAXA, and data breaches at the University of Tokyo and CASIO. Globally, incidents include Ukrainian media hacks, a ransomware attack on U.S. schools, and disruptions in U.S. healthcare due to cyber-attacks. The document also covers trends in malware types, attack vectors, and impacted industries over the last 6 months.

The details provide an overview of the threat landscape and major incidents in Japan and globally, highlighting the prevalence of attacks, common malware types, and impact on various industries and organisations. The information described should create awareness and help businesses and government organisation prepare well to safely operate in a digital environment.

Gauging the Temperature Sensitivity of a Nuclear Clock

Researchers have characterized the temperature-induced frequency shifts of a thorium-229 nuclear transition—an important step in establishing thorium clocks as next-generation frequency standards.

Atomic clocks are at the core of many scientific and technological applications, including spectroscopy, radioastronomy, and global navigation satellite systems. Today’s most precise devices—based on electronic transitions in atoms—would gain or lose less than 1 second over the age of the Universe. An even more accurate timekeeping approach has recently emerged, based on a clock ticking at the frequency of a nuclear transition of the isotope thorium-229 (229 Th) [1, 2]. Now a collaboration between the teams of Jun Ye of JILA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of Colorado Boulder and of Thorsten Schumm of the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology has characterized one of the main sources of the systematic uncertainties that might spoil a clock’s accuracy: temperature-induced shifts of the clock transition frequency [3].

Physicists Just Found a Way to Control Atoms Using Twisted Light

Scientists have unlocked a new way to control ionization, the process where atoms lose electrons, using specially designed light beams

By leveraging optical vortex beams, light that carries angular momentum, they can precisely dictate how electrons break free from atoms. This discovery could reshape imaging technology, enhance particle acceleration, and open doors to advancements in quantum computing.

Performing computation using quantum-mechanical phenomena such as superposition and entanglement.

Scientists Cracked the Code to Capturing Ultrafast Electron Motion in Real Time

Researchers have simplified a highly complex quantum imaging technique, 2DES, used to observe ultrafast electron interactions.

By refining an existing interferometer design, they improved control over laser pulses, unlocking new capabilities for studying energy transfer in materials.

Unveiling the ultrafast world of electrons.

New Heavy Metal Molecule Could Reveal What Goes on Inside Nuclear Waste

Since it was first synthesized in a post-WW2 American lab in 1949, berkelium has been a rebel of the periodic table, defying quantum mechanics and taking on an extra positive charge that its relatives would never.

Now, a team of scientists from berkelium’s alma mater, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has wrangled the elusive element into a rare partnership with carbon that will enable them to study it in more detail.

Thanks to challenges involved in producing and safely containing the heavy element, few chemists have had the privilege of dealing with berkelium. Just one gram of the stuff can cost a boggling US$27 million. For this experiment, just 0.3 milligrams of berkelium-249 was required.

Electrons travel one of two routes in nano-biohybrid systems

Peanut butter and jelly. Simon and Garfunkel. Semiconductors and bacteria. Some combinations are more durable than others. In recent years, an interdisciplinary team of Cornell researchers has been pairing microbes with the semiconductor nanocrystals known as quantum dots, with the goal of creating nano-biohybrid systems that can harvest sunlight to perform complex chemical transformations for materials and energy applications.

Now, the team has for the first time identified exactly what happens when a microbe receives an electron from a quantum dot: The charge can either follow a direct pathway or be transferred indirectly via the microbe’s shuttle molecules.

The findings are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The lead author is Mokshin Suri.

NVIDIA Announces Spectrum-X Photonics, Co-Packaged Optics Networking Switches to Scale AI Factories to Millions of GPUs

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GTC — NVIDIA today unveiled NVIDIA Spectrum-X™ and NVIDIA Quantum-X silicon photonics networking switches, which enable AI factories to connect millions of GPUs across sites while drastically reducing energy consumption and operational costs. NVIDIA has achieved the fusion of electronic circuits and optical communications at massive scale.

As AI factories grow to unprecedented sizes, networks must evolve to keep pace. NVIDIA photonics switches are the world’s most advanced networking solution. They integrate optics innovations with 4x fewer lasers to deliver 3.5x more power efficiency, 63x greater signal integrity, 10x better network resiliency at scale and 1.3x faster deployment compared with traditional methods.

D-Wave demonstrates quantum supremacy in practical applications

D-Wave Quantum Inc. announced a scientific advance confirming its annealing quantum computer outperformed a powerful classical supercomputer in simulating complex magnetic materials. This achievement is documented in a peer-reviewed paper titled “Beyond-Classical Computation in Quantum Simulation,” published in Science.

The research indicates that D-Wave’s quantum computer completed simulations that would take nearly a million years and exceed the world’s annual electricity consumption if attempted with classical technology. The D-Wave Advantage2 prototype was central to this success.

An international team collaborated to simulate quantum dynamics in programmable spin glasses using both D-Wave’s system and the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, showcasing the quantum computer’s capability for swift and accurate simulation of various lattice structures and materials properties.