Monthly Archives: June 2017

China, Research, Science, Technology

A quantum leap in the pursuit of a secure and new type of internet

QUANTUM SCIENCE

Quantum

China’s quantum satellite, Micius. The satellite has beamed entangled particles of light to ground stations more than 700 miles apart.

Scientists have taken a major step towards building a global quantum internet by beaming “entangled” particles of light from a satellite to ground stations more than 700 miles apart.

The feat paves the way for a new kind of internet which draws on the curious ability for subatomic particles to be connected to one another despite being far apart and even on opposite sides of the planet.

Researchers believe that by linking particles together in this way, encrypted information could be sent from place to place across a quantum network with no danger of it being decrypted and read by others, as can be done on the existing internet.

Jian-Wei Pan, who led the research at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei in China, said the demonstration was a moment he had been dreaming of since 2003. “Many people thought it was a crazy idea, because it was very challenging,” he said.

The work obliterates the previous world record for sending pairs of photons that are connected to one another by a strange rule of quantum physics first spotted by Einstein. Until now, the farthest researchers had ever sent entangled photons stood at a mere 65 miles, less than one tenth of the distance achieved in the satellite experiment.

“It’s a first step, and a major step, toward creating a global quantum network,” said Pan. “All the previous methods are limited to about 100km so can only work within a city.”

The experiment relied on the world’s first quantum-enabled spacecraft: a Chinese satellite called Micius. As it soared over China, the satellite created pairs of photons with properties that were linked through quantum entanglement. It then beamed these simultaneously to ground stations in Delingha, Lijiang and Nanshan. Each pair of particles travelled up to 1,240 miles before they reached their destinations. Details of the study are published in Science.

Pan said that the kind of cryptography used to keep data safe today relies on complex mathematics which can often be defeated by hackers. “If a future quantum network is established, the security is ensured by the laws of physics, which are unconditionally secure,” he said. “It will be beneficial for all human beings.”

Martin Stevens, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, said he was impressed with the work. “These types of experiments are not easy to do, even within the controlled confines of a laboratory environment. Doing them between two remote ground locations and a satellite flying overhead at a speed of thousands of kilometres per hour is mind-bogglingly difficult.”

In 2015, Stevens sent entangled photons down a 65-mile length of optical fibre. That is good enough for quantum communications between neighbouring towns, but it cannot work for much greater distances, because the signal is gradually lost the more optic fibre it travels down. The advantage of using a satellite is that the particles of light travel through space for much of their journey.

Anton Zeilinger at the Vienna Centre for Quantum Science also praised the work. “It’s an important step towards a worldwide quantum network. If you envisage a quantum network, the question is how to cover large distances and that cannot be done with glass fibres on the ground. You have to go into space, because in glass fibres you lose the signal. It’s very important to show that it works with satellites, so I’m very excited by this.”

Zeilinger is working with Pan on an intercontinental quantum network and hopes to have results to report before the end of the year.

Standard
Arts, Drama

Whodunnit: The Body In The Study

THE CASE OF COLONEL HERBERT

Sleuth

Issue No. 2 in the Whodunnit series. Colonel Herbert has been found dead in his study. Use your inner sleuth to establish who the murderer was from the case notes compiled.

When Colonel Herbert was found dead in his study one morning with a knife through his neck, suspicion fell on members of the household. There were no signs of forced entry anywhere in the building, and no public impropriety on the Colonel’s part to make enemies. As police scrutiny intensified, the Colonel’s sister Vivienne consulted her friend, Mary Miller, who had an almost obsessive interest in mystery stories and made a hobby of deduction.

“The thing is, my dear,” Vivienne said, “the police are quite right to be looking at the household. William was a pillar of the community, but in private he was positively beastly. We were all terrified of him, and he would fly into the most violent rage over the tiniest thing. He saw off every suitor I ever had, even one or two I was quite fond of. If the culprit isn’t found, I fear that I might end up spending my twilight years in prison.”

It was therefore agreed that Miss Miller should talk to the entire household, one at a time, about the fatal evening.

“We’ll have to start with you, Vivienne,” Mary said.

“Me?” Vivienne looked shocked.

“Who else?”

“Of course,” she sighed.

“Wonderful. Please do have a seat. Tea? No? Very well. So, what transpired?”

“Well, you know most of it. My brother was in his study on Monday night, taking care of some paperwork. I left him to it, and went to bed at around ten o’clock. Sophia, the maid, went into the study to tidy a little after seven the following morning. That’s when she discovered the body. She shrieked persistently enough to wake the whole place up. The police said that he must have died before midnight.”

Peter Robinson

Recommended reading by the site author: Peter Robinson’s new book, ‘When The Music’s Over’. The new DCI Banks novel.

Next came the maid, Sophie. “It was horrible, ma’am. The Colonel was still in his study when I went up before eleven. I could see the light under his door. Miss Herbert was already asleep, I could hear her, on account of my room being below hers. Next morning, I got up at the usual time, five-thirty, did the fires, cleaned the kitchen floor, and started on the rounds. I opened the study door and there he was, dead as a fish. I slammed the door shut and screamed my head off. I couldn’t bring myself to go into the room. Mr Hunt was the first to get to me.”

Hunt was the family butler. “I returned from seeing Cook home at nine forty-five that evening. Miss Herbert went to bed shortly afterwards, and the maid wasn’t much later. I went to my bed after she’d retired. I looked in on the Colonel before doing so, to ensure he had no further needs for the evening. I was breakfasting the following morning when I heard the screams. I discovered the maid in considerable distress outside the study. Cook arrived a moment behind me, so while she consoled the girl, I opened the door to investigate. I understood her distress as soon as I put the light on. Colonel Herbert was quite dead, having vented a lot of blood. The carpet is completely ruined, I’m sad to say.”

The cook, Mrs Palletier, seemed unbothered by events. “I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but womankind is safer without that man walking this earth, let me tell you. I heard Sophie’s screams and made my way to the Colonel’s study. Hunt flicked the lights on, and I heard him gasp a little. The old man was dead as a doorjamb. Personally, I reckon the gardener did him in.”

The gardener, Lou Dotson, was curt about the whole affair. “I was home on Monday, with my wife. When I came in Tuesday, the old buzzard was already dead. I need to get back to the roses.”

With everyone interviewed, Mary called Vivienne back in. She hugged her friend and said, “Good news. I know who killed him.”

Who is the murderer, and what tipped Miss Miller off?

 

© MD 2017: all rights reserved

Standard
Britain, Economic, European Union, Government, Politics, Society

Brexit: The Single Market & Related Options

BREXIT – ACCESS TO MARKETS

Single-Market

Brexit Briefing: The Single Market

AS Brexit negotiations begin to extricate the UK from the European Union, one of the biggest factors ministers will have to contend with is the issue of the single market. The EU has said that Britain will not be allowed to benefit from the free-trade arrangements once it has left the bloc, a major part of why the EU exists for the mutual benefit of constituent members. So, if the UK were forced to leave the single market (very much against its wishes), what could we end up with?

. The Norway Model

MEMBERSHIP of the European Economic Area (EEA) would put Britain alongside Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and is what Remainers mean when they talk about staying in the ‘single market’. It would keep existing trading rules but take Britain out of the Common Agricultural Policy. However, we would also have to swallow EU laws without being able to influence them, accept rulings by European judges and carry on paying into the budget (Norway’s fee is estimated at around 90 per cent of the UK’s per person). Uncontrolled immigration would continue. Unacceptable to Tory Eurosceptics.

. The Swiss Model

A SORT of EEA minus. The Swiss are members of the European Free Trade Association but not the EEA. They have a series of bilateral trade deals with the EU, which cover trade in goods but very little in services such as banking. The Swiss can negotiate trade deals with third countries, but also make a huge financial contribution to the EU. They are inside the passport-free Schengen zone and have to accept free movement. This option is also toxic for Eurosceptics.

. The Ukraine Model

A JANUARY 2016 agreement between the EU and the Ukraine could form the basis for the UK deal. It includes trade market access and co-operation on defence and security but doesn’t require free movement or the application of EU law. However, the UK would also require a deal on financial services.

. PM’s ‘free trade deal’

IN JANUARY, the Prime Minister said she wanted a ‘deep and special partnership’ covering trade and security. At the same time she says – echoing the Leave campaign – that Britain should take back control of its laws, borders and money. That means no acceptance of EU laws, no more free movement and an end to ‘vast contributions’ to the EU budget. Open issues include immigration rules, how much the UK pays to belong to EU agencies such as Europol, the ‘divorce bill’ and what the new trade rules are. The time it takes to implement such a deal could give Mrs May room for manoeuvre.

. No deal

BRITAIN would revert to World Trade Organisation rules – meaning tariffs on some goods and services. Likely to mean no ‘passporting’ rights for the City of London to trade on the continent. It would create a legal and administrative vacuum on the rights of EU nationals in the UK and British ex-pats, the Irish border, security co-operation, and deals on aviation, agriculture and fishing. Chaotic in the short term.

Standard