Quantum Computing With Time Travel

Credit: Adapted from npj Quantum Information, doi:10.1038/npjqi.2015.7 (2015) Why send a message back in time, but lock it so that no one can ever read the contents? Because it may be the key to solving currently intractable problems. That's the claim of an international collaboration who have just published a paper in npj Quantum Information. It turns out that an unopened message can be exceedingly useful. This is true if the experimenter entangles the message with some other system in the laboratory before sending it. Entanglement, a strange effect only possible in the realm of quantum physics, creates correlations between the time-travelling message and the laboratory system. These correlations can fuel a quantum computation. If the universe allows 'open timelike curves', particles travelling back in time along them could help to perform currently intractable computations. Even though such curves don't allow for interaction with anything in the past, researchers writing in npj Quantum Information show there is a gain in computational power as long as the time-travelling particle is entangled with one kept in the present. Around ten years ago researcher Dave Bacon, now at Google, showed that a time-travelling quantum computer could quickly solve a group of problems, known as NP-complete, which mathematicians have lumped...
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Bracelet transforms wrist into a touchscreen

A bracelet that turns skin into a smartphone style interface is on the cusp of mass development after its developers promised a prototype in a matter of weeks. The Cicret bracelet incorporates a pico-projector and eight proximity sensors to display an interface on the back or the front of the user's wrist and support touch interaction. The video in this story shows multiple consumer applications but the bracelet could also be used to access control interfaces or presentation materials in the professional environment. Cicret says the product will be available in 16 and 32 GB versions and is durable and waterproof. It is a similar concept to Microsoft’s Sikinput system but demonstrates a product that can be deployed in a small and ergonomic format. Source: InAVat...
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Augmented reality gets serious with high-tech hard hat

. Augmented reality developer DAQRI is targeting industrial applications with a hard hat that incorporates 360 degree navigation cameras and a high resolution depth sensor to deliver augmented reality to workers in the field. It uses DAQRI's tracking technology, Intellitrack to overlay 4D virtual content on the wearer’s field of vision. Intellitrack was designed for industrial applications and can maintain tracking when dealing with non-standard shapes and low lighting. Even if the majority of DAQRI Smart Helmet’s sensors are obscured or blocked, tracking will continue to function. The helmet was designed to integrate with existing hardware and software and become part of an existing workflow. The interface can be controlled and touched via integration with new form factors such as smart watches.Source: InAVate...
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Nissan develops stylish ?Bladeglider? EV

Car manufacturer Nissan has developed a new and stylish ‘wedge’ shaped electric car called the ‘BladeGlider’ which it describes as a proposal for the future direction of Nissan EV development The company developed the vehicle in order to give both the driver and passengers a new, sustainable and exhilarating driving experience. It has a unique architecture which Nissan describes as ‘targeting the visionary individual’ and incorporates a ‘pioneering’ spirit that distinguishes it from anything yet envisioned for EV’s. “The goal was to revolutionise the architecture of the vehicle to provoke new emotions, provide new value and make visible for consumers how Zero Emissions can help redefine our conception of vehicle basics” said Francois Bancon, division general manager of Product Strategy and Product Planning at Nissan. The car has a narrow front track which is designed to challenge the orthodoxy of car design that the company says has dominated the roads since the earliest days of the internal combustion engine. The concept has its roots in the aerial images of a soaring, silent, glider and the triangular shape of a high performance "swept wing" aircraft.  This means that the main developmental focus was aerodynamics in order to achieve low drag and generating a road-hugging downforce. “BladeGlider was conceived around...
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DARPA brain implant for PTSD, brain injuries and other neurological and psychiatric disorders researched

Conceptual model of brain implant for PTSD and TBI, Courtesy of MGH and Draper Labs Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) today announced a new research initiative designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. The goal of the project, which is made possible by a $30 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is to design and build a first-of-its-kind implantable deep brain stimulation (DBS) device which will monitor signals across multiple brain structures in real time. Based on the monitored activity, it will then deliver stimulation to key areas to alleviate symptoms related to neuropsychiatric disorders such asPTSD, severe depression, drug addiction, and TBI. “Deep brain stimulation has been shown to be an effective treatment for a variety of brain diseases, especially those involving movement like Parkinson’s disease,” says Emad Eskandar MD, director of functional neurosurgery at MGH and the project’s principal investigator.  “Our goal is to take DBS to the next level and create an implantable device to treat disorders like PTSD and TBI. Together with our partners we’re committed to developing this technology, which we hope will be a bold new step toward treating those suffering...
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