Aurelia Butler

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    in Physics

    A quantum computer corrected its own errors, improving its calculations 

    For the first time, a quantum computer has improved its results by repeatedly fixing its own mistakes midcalculation with a technique called quantum error correction.

    Scientists have long known that quantum computers need error correction to meet their potential to solve problems that stump standard, “classical” computers (SN: 6/22/20). Quantum computers calculate with quantum bits, or qubits, which are subject to quantum physics but suffer from jitters that result in mistakes. 

    In quantum error correction, multiple faulty qubits are combined to make reliable qubits, called logical qubits, which are then used to perform the calculation. Previous efforts found that error correction made calculations worse, rather than better, or detected errors but didn’t actually fix them (SN: 10/4/21). More

  • 100 Shares129 Views

    in Heart

    Fiddler crabs are migrating north to cooler waters

    This video was supported by funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

    TRANSCRIPT

    David Johnson: So in 2014, we were on a muddy bank in the marsh up here in Massachusetts, and I saw this small crab scuttle across the mud bank and pop into a hole. And so I dug out the crab, and it was a fiddler crab. I was shocked. I had worked a decade in this marsh and had never seen a fiddler crab up here. More

  • 125 Shares119 Views

    in Heart

    Summer-like heat is scorching the Southern Hemisphere — in winter

    It’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere — but you wouldn’t know it from the thermostat.

    On August 26, a remote stretch of the coastline in Western Australia experienced the highest winter temperature ever recorded anywhere in the country: a blistering 41.6° Celsius (107° Fahrenheit).

    In Bidyadanga, an Aboriginal community in Western Australia, the overnight low temperature on August 28 was a staggering 27.2° C (81° F). That’s in winter, when the long-term average nighttime temperature has been around 15° C (59° F). Such heightened nighttime temperatures can disrupt sleep, leading to decreased cardiovascular and mental health (SN: 8/6/23). More

  • 113 Shares99 Views

    in Heart

    Extreme heat and rain help send dengue cases skyrocketing

    When it rains, it pours. And when it pours, mosquitoes pop up. 

    A series of storms slammed the northeastern United States on August 18, unleashing torrents of rain and causing flash floods across parts of New York and Connecticut. In Oxford, Conn., a potentially record-breaking rainfall of roughly 38 centimeters (15 inches) fell in 24 hours. The National Weather Service is confirming whether the measurements beat the state’s single-day record, set 69 years ago when Hurricane Diane dumped about 32 centimeters of rain.

    Meanwhile, millions of people were under excessive heat warnings as Texas and the Southwest baked under a heat dome last week. Phoenix extended its ongoing, record-long streak of triple-digit Fahrenheit temperatures, and air conditioner use across Texas on August 20 pushed energy demand to a record high (SN: 8/12/24). More

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    in Heart

    The world’s record-breaking hot streak has lasted 14 months. When will it end?

    In its latest global climate report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed that July was the 14th straight month of record-breaking heat. That, in and of itself, is a new record.

    In the last 175 years, there has been only one other hot streak that comes close in terms of longevity. According to NOAA, the second longest hot streak on record spanned the 12 months from May 2015 to May 2016 (SN: 1/20/16; SN: 1/14/21). Then things drop off: The third and fourth longest recorded streaks were six months each, and subsequent stints are shorter still.

    Many of these streaks occurred during an El Niño, a natural phenomenon in which warm surface waters spread across the tropical Pacific Ocean, temporarily elevating the global average temperature (SN: 8/21/19). Its cyclical counterpart, La Niña, involves those warm surface waters receding to the western side of the Pacific, causing a transient global cooling effect. More

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    in Heart

    More than 4 billion people may not have access to clean water

    Access to clean water is a human right — one that half of the world may not have.

    Out of the roughly 8 billion people on Earth, more than 4.4 billion lack access to safely managed drinking water, researchers report August 15 in Science. The estimate, based on computer simulations of data from low- and middle-income countries, is more than double the figure calculated by the World Health Organization (SN: 8/16/18).

    “The number of people whose basic human right to safe drinking water is not being met may therefore be significantly underestimated,” says environmental microbiologist Esther Greenwood of Eawag, an aquatic research institute in Dübendorf, Switzerland. More

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    in Heart

    Your medications might make it harder for you to beat the heat

    The pills stocked inside your medicine cabinet may factor into how well you can handle summer heat.

    Extreme heat can be deadly. As outdoor temperatures sizzle, our bodies jump into action to keep internal temps under control (SN: 8/6/23). Blood rushes to the surface of our skin to release heat as sweat pours onto it, cooling us as it evaporates. If these methods fail to keep body temperature in check, people can fall victim to heat-related symptoms such as headache, dizziness and confusion. In severe cases, people might become delirious or go into organ failure. More