Quantum computing is an emerging area within the information sciences revolving around the concept of quantum bits (qubits). A major obstacle is the extreme fragility of these qubits due to interactions with their environment that destroy their quantumness. This phenomenon, known as decoherence, is of fundamental interest. There are many competing candidates for qubits, including superconducting circuits, quantum optical cavities, ultracold atoms and spin...
Tag Archives: molecular
Sex speeds adaptation by altering the dynamics of molecular evolution
Sex and recombination are pervasive throughout nature despite their substantial costs. Understanding the evolutionary forces that maintain these phenomena is a central challenge in biology. One longstanding hypothesis argues that sex is beneficial because recombination speeds adaptation. Theory has proposed several distinct population genetic mechanisms that could underlie this advantage. For example, sex can promote the fixation of beneficial mutations either by alleviating interference...
Genomic analyses identify molecular subtypes of pancreatic cancer
Integrated genomic analysis of 456 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas identified 32 recurrently mutated genes that aggregate into 10 pathways: KRAS, TGF-β, WNT, NOTCH, ROBO/SLIT signalling, G1/S transition, SWI-SNF, chromatin modification, DNA repair and RNA processing. Expression analysis defined 4 subtypes: (1) squamous; (2) pancreatic progenitor; (3) immunogenic; and (4) aberrantly differentiated endocrine exocrine (ADEX) that correlate with histopathological characteristics. Squamous tumours are enriched for TP53...
Non-destructive state detection for quantum logic spectroscopy of molecular ions
Precision laser spectroscopy of cold and trapped molecular ions is a powerful tool in fundamental physics—used, for example, in determining fundamental constants, testing for their possible variation in the laboratory, and searching for a possible electric dipole moment of the electron. However, the absence of cycling transitions in molecules poses a challenge for direct laser cooling of the ions, and for controlling and detecting...
Non-destructive state detection for quantum logic spectroscopy of molecular ions
Precision laser spectroscopy of cold and trapped molecular ions is a powerful tool in fundamental physics—used, for example, in determining fundamental constants, testing for their possible variation in the laboratory, and searching for a possible electric dipole moment of the electron. However, the absence of cycling transitions in molecules poses a challenge for direct laser cooling of the ions, and for controlling and detecting...
For new wearable, monitoring health at the molecular level is no sweat
To get a detailed work up on your health, soon all you might have to do is work up a little sweat. A new wearable device that soaks in tiny volumes of perspiration from your brow or wrist can track multiple molecules leaking out of you in real-time, researchers report in Nature. The device could one day provide...