Future ‘quantum computers’ will offer increased efficiency… and risks
UCF Professor makes unique discovery, may revolutionize encryption technology

An unusual observation in a University of Central Florida physics lab may lead to a new generation of “Quantum Computers” that will render today’s computer and credit card encryption technology obsolete.

The observations are documented this week in the online version of Nature Physics under Advance Online Publication (http://www.nature.com/nphys/index.html ). The title of UCF Professor Enrique del Barco’s paper is “Quantum Interference of Tunnel Trajectories between States of Different Spin Length in a Dimeric Molecular Nanogmagnet.”

Consumers, credit card companies and high-tech firms rely on cryptography to protect the transmission of sensitive information. The basis for current encryption systems is that computers would need thousands of years to factor a large number, making it very difficult to do.

However, if del Barco’s observation can be fully understood and applied, scientists may have the basis to create quantum computers — which could easily break the most complicated encryption in a matter of hours.

Del Barco said the observation may foster the understanding of quantum tunneling of nanoscale magnetic systems, which could revolutionize the way we understand computation.

“This is very exciting,” del Barco said. “When we first observed it, we looked at each other and said, ‘That can’t be right.’ We did it again and again and we achieved the same result every time.”

According to quantum mechanics, small magnetic objects called nanomagnets can exist in two distinct states (i.e. north pole up and north pole down). They can switch their state through a phenomenon called quantum tunneling.

When the nanomagnet switches its poles, the abrupt change in its magnetization can be observed with low-temperature magnetometry techniques used in del Barco’s lab. The switch is called quantum tunneling because it looks like a funnel cloud tunneling from one pole to another.

Del Barco published paper shows that two almost independent halves of a new magnetic molecule can tunnel, or switch poles, at once under certain conditions. In the process, they appear to cancel out quantum tunneling.

“It’s similar to what can be observed when two rays of light run into interference,” del Barco said. “Once they run into the interference you can expect darkness.”

Controlling quantum tunneling shifts could help create the quantum logic gates necessary to create quantum computers. It is believed that among the different existing proposals to obtain a practical quantum computer, the spin (magnetic moment) of solid-state devices is the most promising one.

“And this is the case of our molecular magnets,” del Barco said. “Of course, this is far from real life yet, but is an important step in the way. We still must do more research and a lot of people are already trying to figure this out, including us. It’s absolutely invigorating.”

Co-authors of the paper are Christopher Ramsey from UCF, Stephen Hill from the University of Florida and Sonali J. Shah, Christopher C. Beedle and David N. Hendrickson from the University of California at La Jolla.

Del Barco, who is a native of Spain, began teaching at UCF in 2005. He got a Ph. d degree from the University of Barcelona before moving onto New York University where he worked with Andrew Kent, a well-known quantum physicist.

It was the warm weather and the dynamic of UCF that drew him and his family to UCF. Aside from teaching physics and working on research, Del Barco is a published writer. He penned a science fiction novel that has been published in Spain by Editorial Equipo–Sirius. He collaborates with scientists from around the world including researchers in Spain, Hong Kong and across the United States.

The University of Michigan’s COM-BAT most definitely isn’t the first mechanical animal to get its inspirations from the bat, but it’s probably the best equipped to play a vital role in modern day warfare. A select group of Wolverines have been blessed with a $10 million grant from the US Army in order to concoct a “six-inch robotic spy plane modeled after a bat [that] would gather data from sights, sounds and smells in urban combat zones and transmit information back to a soldier in real time.” Purportedly, the critter will eventually boast a bevy of sensors, miniature microphones and detectors for picking up nuclear radiation and poisonous gases. Even more interesting, creators are hoping to implement “energy scavenging,” which would enable the bat to stay charged from wind / solar energy along with vibrations and “other sources.” So much for being nocturnal, eh?

Ah, after long last, HTC’s first UMPC, the Shift, is finally making its debut in the US. The early results are in: the keyboard and the Sprint EV-DO are good, but the $1,500 price tag might be a bit heavy to swallow — especially considering our European counterparts are paying about $400 less, and we also get to tack on another $60 per month for the 3G.

We’ve been hearing about the HTC Dream (likely not pictured above) for what seems like an eternity on a tech timeline. Now “a person close to the situation” tells InfoWorld that the Dream is indeed HTC’s Android phone. Remember, HTC is widely expected to be the first from the gate with a retail phone featuring Google’s open source OS. The Dream is said to measure 3-inches wide by 5-inches long and feature a full QWERTY keypad that “either slides out or swivels.” Right, exactly what Forbes told us 5 months ago. Still, it’s always a good sign when the rumor mongers align. Whatever happens, we certainly expect the first Android phone to be exceptionally spec’d as a showcase of the OS’ power and possibilities to come.

Samsung’s no stranger to automated floor sucking creatures, but the latest from the outfit is looking to give your Roomba a real run for its money. The Hauzen VC-RE70V sports a fairly attractive shell along with a built-in camera to “see” where it’s going; better still, it can reportedly snap pictures of rooms as it goes in order to build a map of your domicile in its “brain” and keep things quick on subsequent cleanings. Just like your Automower, this thing will also automatically move to its recharging station when it feels weak, giving you one less reason to even roll out of bed the day the in-laws are set to arrive.

Granted, the Nova P22 is probably small enough for the vast majority of folks, but if you weren’t feeling the aforementioned machine for whatever reason, here’s another option. The NOVA LITE Mini 2L measures in at 9.09- x 7.24- x 2.00-inches and weighs just a few raisins more than the X300 (3.3-pounds for those taking notes). Apparently, this box was designed to simply “meet everyday computing needs” while keeping noise to a minimum, and ASUS has three lovely flavors for you to choose from. Packed within, you’ll find up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB / 160GB hard drive, a DVD burner, Ethernet, WiFi (on select models), built-in speakers, four USB 2.0 ports, DVI / VGA and audio in / out connectors. No word on a price, release date or any of that pertinent information, unfortunately.

It’s been a while since the HP dv2000 laptop made its original appearance, and it looks like HP’s giving the newest version a new model number as well as a slight redesign — say bonjour to the dv3000. Based around an oh-so-hip 13.3-inch display, the overall look of the machine is basically the same as the older model, but it’s slightly smaller. Inside, you’re looking at a 2.5GHz T9300 Penryn Core 2 Duo, GeForce Go 8400M graphics with HDMI out, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB disk, VGA webcam, a dual-layer burner, and an unusual combo USB / eSATA port that we’d like to take a closer look at. Not a bad piece of kit for $1,399 — too bad it’s only coming out in Asia around May.

Oh yeah, we’ve seen homegrown Xbox 360 joysticks that we would love to wrap our digits around, but ShaolinDrunkard’s latest creation is almost too pretty to touch — almost. The Xbox 360 Classic Led joystick sports the prototypical stick / button layout, but also includes that iconic green swirl and a smattering of lovely LEDs to really get the oohs and ahhs flowing. The handmade oak chassis isn’t too shabby, either, and as much as we’d love to see these being offered up to those with more dollars than creative genius, we’ve all ideas this is a one-of-a-kind. Tap the read link for a few more pics

Well, would you buy a Dell phone? Exactly.

Dell have also recently acquired Alienware, the trendiest tech company in the world, an expert in Video, Gaming, and Audio, and a company crying out for a mobile phone.

So here are the first pictures of the Alienware mobile phone!

• Classic Alienware eye catching design
• Large screen with high resolution
• Superb video gaming capability
• Fantastic Audio
• Built on the Google Android platform

It’s well known that Dell want to enter the mobile phone market. Rivals such as Apple, Hewlett Packard and Asus already have mobile divisions, and last year Dell poached Motorola executive Ron Garriques to run their new global consumer group.

But so far their efforts have come unstuck, the uninspiring Axim PDA handset was dropped mid 2007, and Strategy Analytics Director Neil Mawson gave the following verdict “It makes sense for Dell to have a high-profile entry back into the market because its last effort with PDAs pretty much flopped.”

Why was this? The increasingly dull associations with the Dell brand? Maybe they should change their name to Dull. One thing for sure is there wasn’t exactly much of a stir when the last batch of handhelds were introduced. 

The brand did get a shot in the arm however in 2006 when Dell acquired Alienware, the mega-stylish American laptops and desktops manufacturer, known for their expertise in video, audio and gaming.

Alienware are famous for their eye catching designs and innovative technology, only last month they launched the ultimate in video gaming experience, a giant curved monitor that fills the entire of the gamer’s peripheral vision. Conclusion, Alienware cool, Dell not cool.

The argument for an Alienware mobile phone is overwhelming. It would have the striking design to make an impression in a mobile market dominated by fashion phones, it would instantly be the coolest phone on the market thanks to the popularity of the Alienware brand, it would have the marketing muscle of Dell behind it to push it beyond its established niche and into the mainstream, and it would be the mobile gamer’s dream, just as video gaming on mobile phones is starting to enter the picture.

To add to the excitement there have been rumours recently that Dell and Google are on the point of making a surprise announcement at the 3GSM World Mobile Congress with speculation growing over an iPhone-challenging mobile device.

The first wave of phones built on the Google Android Open Development Project are due this summer, what price an early announcement of a real Google phone to sink our teeth into

Onkyo is loved by Japanese customers for its amazing product line-up. While this is not the first time for Onkyo to launch an HD audio computer, this new version, the APX-2, has been released in partnership with SOTEC, the Japanese PC manufacturer.

Our PC is sold in Japan through Sotec’s distribution channel. It’s been given a Core 2 Duo T5500 @ 1.66GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 500GB of HDD stick together with a digital audio amplifier. The very same amplifier found on the Onkyo PCI-200 audio card.

In order to minimize the effect of vibration and noise emminated by other components, Onkyo worked hard to ensure the APX-2 is as silent as possible. The HDD is stored in a Super Floating HDD Unit, a kind of noise cancellation box (22dB max). Onkyo also bypassed Vista’s volume mixer function and installed Pure Direct Audio Path (PDAP) in order to avoid audio lost due to Vista’s poor HD audio support.

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