tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229733572024-03-17T12:00:31.403-04:00Sabine Hossenfelder: BackreactionCan we understand the universe? Read my blog to find out what we know, may one day know, and will probably never know.Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger2321125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-3300003420128629522024-03-17T12:00:00.001-04:002024-03-17T12:00:00.233-04:00Q-Day: When Quantum Computers Will Decode National SecretsSome recent headlines have been touting that Q-Day is coming potentially as soon as 2025. What is Q-Day? It’s the day when quantum computers will be able to crack the current encryption protocols that we use on the internet. How big of a threat is Q-Day really? And is it really coming next year? Let’s have a look.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-32996270670213840012024-03-16T12:00:00.001-04:002024-03-16T12:00:00.148-04:00Maths is about to revolutionize privacyIn this video I want to explain the idea behind homomorphic encryption that is a super neat application of what is admittedly rather obscure maths. The implications for data privacy and with that also scientific research are enormous. And it's not in the far future either, several companies are bringing out microchips ideally suited to deal with homomorphic encryption this year.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70026570090197559332024-03-15T12:00:00.001-04:002024-03-15T12:00:00.129-04:00Credentials against Deepfakes: How will it work?Some major news outlets are about to release a feature known as “Content Credentials” to try and combat the spread of deepfakes. What are “Content Credentials”? Will it really stop deepfakes of Biden and Trump dancing together from spreading? Let’s have a look.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-62492561724824363462024-03-14T12:00:00.001-04:002024-03-14T12:00:00.131-04:00We need to start climate engineering soonClimate engineering is the cheapest way to get us out of this unfolding climate disaster, but how do we do it? Two new papers have recently been released - one discussing the need to start stratospheric aerosol injections soon and the other introducing a new method of climate engineering. What are the pros and cons of stratospheric aerosol injections? What is this new method? Let’s have a look.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7993196293948083932024-03-13T12:00:00.001-04:002024-03-13T12:00:00.258-04:00D-wave reports stunning success with quantum simulationThe quantum computing company D-Wave has reported that they’ve managed to complete a calculation that would have taken a conventional computer millions of years in fractions of a second. How did they achieve this impressive feat? What’s behind the scepticism over D-Wave’s machine?
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-45135075407951964342024-03-12T12:00:00.004-04:002024-03-13T02:44:21.148-04:00Three Physics Mysteries Solved At Once: Postquantum GravityFor the first time in 4 decades, physicists have found a new approach to solving a problem which is almost a century old: How to combine quantum physics with gravity. I told you about this new approach, called “Postquantum Gravity” from Johnathan Oppenheim briefly before Christmas. He and his collaborators are now saying that their idea also explains dark matter and dark energy.
This video Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-30914601321986214902024-03-11T12:00:00.003-04:002024-03-11T12:00:00.242-04:00I just found out what .ai meansDo you know what the website ending .ai stands for? Well, it's not Artificial Intelligence, let me tell you that much. And then there is the story of the Tokelau, a tiny island in the pacific ocean, which became unwitting host for millions of scam and phishing websites. It's a world wild web, indeed.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-77155769394815857332024-03-10T12:00:00.001-04:002024-03-10T12:00:00.246-04:00Exploding stars made of dark matter could heat up universe85% of the universe is dark matter, astrophysicists say. You already knew this of course. But did you also know that scientists are now saying that some of this dark matter might form stars, the so-called axion stars. And that these stars may explode? What are axion stars? Is this plausible? How could we find out whether it's correct? Let’s have a look.
This video comes with a quiz:
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-51168983261567276262024-03-09T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-09T11:00:00.236-05:00Whatever happened to string theory?String theory was a beautiful idea, the best contender for a theory of everything that we have seen so far. Thousands of physicists spend decades trying to work it out. But it didn’t quite go according to plan. String theory became extremely controversial during what's been dubbed the “String Wars” about 20 years ago. Then it kind of disappeared. What happened? What were the string wars? And whatSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-61338082152186147712024-03-08T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-08T11:00:00.178-05:00Heat Pumps Finally Make Sense -- MaybeMost buildings across the globe are heated with gas and oil despite heat pumps being a much more energy-efficient alternative. While some countries have been keen on adopting them, others have been slow on the uptake. Why have some countries been hesitant to push the technology? Could a new upgrade to heat pumps make them a more viable heating option? Let’s have a look.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-65653153341891988702024-03-07T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-07T11:00:00.130-05:00Yes, AI will become sentient
A brief comment on this week's news about Claude 3 supposedly showing self-awareness.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-45996490486797614122024-03-06T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-06T11:00:00.131-05:00Compact Disks make Comeback: Memory could Exceed PetabytesMemory storage technology has come a long way from compact disks. Or has it? In a recent paper, scientists report they were able to fit petabytes of memory onto a compact disk using new laser technologies and advanced material design. Is this the future of data storage? Let’s have a look.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35111595202470084302024-03-05T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-05T11:00:00.135-05:00Anti-matter for space-travel?I got some questions the other week about an article in business insider that says it’s possible to power rockets with anti-matter and the only thing that’s preventing us from doing it is: cost. Really? The business insider writes about anti-matter. Should you buy stocks? Let’s have a look.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55106559274818640032024-03-04T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-04T11:00:00.250-05:00Scientists warn of AI collapseWe’ve all become used to AI-generated art in the form of text, images, audio, and even videos. Despite its prevalence, scientists are warning that AI creativity may soon die. Why is that? What does this mean for the future of AI? And will human creativity be in demand after all? Let’s have a look.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-48116111915482728262024-03-03T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-03T11:00:00.141-05:00New approach to quantum computing could soon beat IBMPhysicists have shattered previous limits of the new technology of "atoms in tweezers". They have collected more than 1000 atoms that could save as qubits, hinting at a scalable future for the technology. This breakthrough, challenges the currently more dominant qubit methods and signals a significant step towards commercially viable quantum computing.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87061155751991448532024-03-02T11:00:00.002-05:002024-03-02T11:00:00.351-05:00Black holes might be dark stars with layers: New solution foundDo black holes even exist? You might think the evidence is overwhelming. But in a new paper, physicists have shown that Einstein's theories allow another option, it's that black holes might be layers of shells with dark energy inside. I had a look, and here's what I learned.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-79613523497560911842024-03-01T11:00:00.001-05:002024-03-01T11:00:00.140-05:00Astrophysicists keep finding things that “shouldn’t exist”. I think I know why.You have probably seen headlines in the past years about lots of things out there in the cosmos that, according to astrophysicists "shouldn't exist". Why is this happening? In this video I want to offer my explanation and why I predict a continuation of such headlines unless astrophysicists consolidate their data and take predictions more seriously.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-37926369560312900872024-02-29T11:00:00.002-05:002024-02-29T11:00:00.141-05:00First quantum measurement of gravity: What does it mean?You may have seen recent headlines saying something about the first measurement of gravity in the quantum realm or such. Have they now measured quantum gravity? I had a look at the paper.
This video comes with a quiz:
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35614333651074710092024-02-28T11:00:00.001-05:002024-02-28T11:00:00.136-05:00Accurate predictions don't matter, climate scientists tell meA few climate scientists have reacted to my previous video about climate sensitivity. In this video, I elaborate on my thoughts regarding the IPCC's projections and why it worries me how they are dealing with the uncertainty of the climate model outputs.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-13945625281948256242024-02-27T11:00:00.001-05:002024-02-27T11:00:00.143-05:00Test of controversial quantum inertia propulsion didn't go as plannedThe Quantum Drive, based on the idea of Quantized Inertia, was supposed to be tested aboard a satellite two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the company who built the satellite lost contact with it before the test could be conducted. While experimental test is still missing, I want to explain why I don't think this quantum drive is going to drive anything and why people pour money into nonsense like Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87770835790713259122024-02-26T11:00:00.001-05:002024-02-26T11:00:00.133-05:00Revise the textbooks: New type of magnetism confirmedI recently saw press releases saying that physicists had found a new, third type of magnetism called altermagnetism. But didn't we already have three? What's different about this new one? I had a look at the paper.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-12071356843744558772024-02-25T11:00:00.000-05:002024-02-25T11:00:00.136-05:00Do we create reality with our minds?Do we create reality with our minds? I got this question on twitter the other day and after rolling my eyes about it for some while, I decided it’s actually a good question. You might think the answer is obviously “no”. But it’s not that simple. Let me explain.
Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39153619755708645342024-02-24T11:00:00.001-05:002024-02-24T11:00:00.135-05:00Violating Energy Conservation to Explain Dark Energy
I got quite a few questions about a paper that supposedly revolutionizes our understanding of the universe by throwing out energy conservation. The questions came in two varieties. Can you do that, isn’t energy always conserved? And isn’t energy conservation violated anyway? I thought it would be interesting to clear this up because I think the idea isn’t remotely as crazy as it sounds. Let’s Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-33593123514287661612024-02-23T11:00:00.001-05:002024-02-23T11:00:00.136-05:00Hydrogen might self-renew, reservoir found in FranceSeveral recent discoveries of naturally occurring hydrogen reservoirs underground (the so-called "white hydrogen") have prompted the whole world to start searching for more of the stuf. Even though this seems like a gamechanger for the hydrogen economy, I am still sceptical of its viability economically, energetically, and environmentally.
This video comes with a quiz which you can take Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-37794279255896558542024-02-22T11:00:00.001-05:002024-02-22T11:00:00.145-05:00Bad News for Quantum Computing: Another Advantage GoneSometimes people ask me why I’m now doing science news. It’s so that you can fully appreciate the drama of scientific discovery, in which one result contradicts a previous one and the next one finds a flaw in this other one. I think the entertainment-value of science is greatly underappreciated.
And quantum computing is without doubt one of the most dramatic areas at the moment. One the one Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com0