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[1/2] Horizon Quantum Computing Chief Science Officer Si-Hui Tan and Chief Executive Officer Joe Fitzsimons sit in front of their white board in Singapore in this handout photo taken November 2021. Courtesy Horizon Quantum Computing/Handout via REUTERSOAKLAND, Calif March 31 (Reuters) - Singapore-based software startup Horizon Quantum Computing on Friday said it raised $18.1 million to expand its engineering team and speed up product development. The company, founded in 2018, created a programming language called Helium for quantum computers, designed to make it easier to tackle complex problems. Quantum computers, based on quantum physics, could potentially perform some calculations millions of times faster than the current fastest super computers. Horizon Quantum Computing said it is also planning to open its first European offices in Ireland, where it is building its new engineering center.

☆ Giant 'holes' dozens of times the size of our planet are appearing on the sun. Here's how they could affect Earth.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Two huge coronal holes, dozen of times the size of the Earth, have appeared on the sun. These coronal holes can spew solar winds at 1.8 million mph toward our planet, which can cause stunning auroras and disrupt satellites. Coronal holes aren't actually holes in the sunA coronal hole rotates across the face of the sun, streaming solar wind towards Earth, February 1, 2017. Coronal holes happen in the "corona," the atmosphere of the sun, and can only be seen in UV or X-ray light. We could see this month's coronal holes again next monthThe coronal hole came into view as the sun rotated.

☆ An 'ultramassive' black hole has been discovered that's 33 billion times the mass of the sun
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

They estimate this black hole is 30 billion times bigger than our sun. That would make it one of the biggest black holes ever discovered. This black hole may remain one of the biggest holes ever discovered because physicists think black holes can't grow much bigger than that, Nightingale said. The technique could unveil 'inactive' black holesThe discovery of this black hole pushes back the limits of cosmology, Nightingale told the BBC. "How do you form a black hole this big in just 13 billion years of the universe's existence?"

☆ The solar system was hit with a gamma-ray burst so bright, it blinded scientists' equipment in space
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Chris Panella | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Our solar system was hit by a gamma-ray burst so bright, it blinded space equipment and telescopes. A gamma-ray burst that recently hit our solar system was so bright, it temporarily blinded gamma-ray instruments in space, according to a NASA release. Scientists say the gamma-ray burst (GRB), the most powerful type of explosion in the universe, was 70 times brighter than any previously recorded event. What is a gamma-ray burst? Because it blinded space instruments, they couldn't accurately record it, so scientists weren't sure how bright the burst was when it first reached our planet.

Entrepreneur Luke Iseman said the sulfur dioxide in the balloons would deflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere, a controversial climate strategy known as solar geoengineering. The Mexican government told Reuters it is now actively drafting “new regulations and standards” to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country. While the Mexican government announced its intention to ban solar geoengineering in January, its current actions and plans to discuss geoengineering bans with other countries have not been previously reported. GLOBAL GEOENGINEERING BANClimate policy experts said Mexico is in a position to help set the rules for future geoengineering research. David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University who has dedicated much of his research to solar geoengineering, called Iseman's launch a "stunt."

☆ A second giant 'hole' has appeared on the sun, and it could send 1.8 million mph solar winds towards Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

These 'holes' can send 1.8 million mph solar winds towards Earth. As this first 'hole' begins rotating away from us, a new giant coronal hole — about 18 to 20 Earths' across — has come into view. Coronal holes release solar winds into space which can damage satellites and reveal stunning auroras if they reach the Earth. The 'hole' is positioned close to the sun's equatorThe coronal hole came into view as the sun rotated. The solar winds can blast very fast solar winds, with speeds of more than 800 kilometers per second, Verscharen said.

☆ Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, prophet of the rise of the PC, dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Noel Randewich | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SAN FRANCISCO, March 24 (Reuters) - Intel Corp (INTC.O) co-founder Gordon Moore, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry whose "Moore's Law" predicted a steady rise in computing power for decades, died Friday at the age of 94, the company announced. Intel and Moore's family philanthropic foundation said he died surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii. In recent years, Intel rivals such as Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) have contended that Moore's Law no longer holds as improvements in chip manufacturing have slowed down. He went to work at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory where he met future Intel cofounder Robert Noyce. In 1968, Moore and Noyce left Fairchild to start the memory chip company soon to be named Intel, an abbreviation of Integrated Electronics.

☆ Congress sat back and let trucks become heavier, taller, and deadlier. Now pedestrian fatalities are at a 40-year high.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

As trucks get bigger and bigger, so do the blind zones in the front and to the side of the cars. He didn't expect to find that an M1 Abrams battle tank had better a sightline than some everyday trucks. Due to the shape of the hood, a modern truck's blind zone can extend to more than a dozen feet out in front of the vehicle. According to NHTSA data, there were 240 estimated nonoccupant deaths by forward-moving vehicles in the United States in 2016. The legislation was never brought to a vote, but Blumenthal told Insider he had plans to reintroduce the act this session of Congress.

☆ Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, author of ‘Moore’s Law’ that helped drive computer revolution, dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry whose “Moore’s Law” predicted a steady rise in computing power for decades, died Friday at the age of 94, the company announced. Intel (INTC) and Moore’s family philanthropic foundation said he died surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii. It’s been a phenomenal ride.”In recent years, Intel rivals such as Nvidia (NVDA) have contended that Moore’s Law no longer holds as improvements in chip manufacturing have slowed down. He went to work at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory where he met future Intel cofounder Robert Noyce. In 1968, Moore and Noyce left Fairchild to start the memory chip company soon to be named Intel, an abbreviation of Integrated Electronics.

☆ A nuclear physicist describes 7 things you probably didn't know about radioactive fallout from a nuclear bomb
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Adam Barnes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Fallout can stay in the atmosphere for yearsExplosion of Nuclear Device "Seminole" on Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean on June 6, 1956. CORBIS/Corbis via Getty ImagesNuclear blasts create dangerous fallout — residual radioactive material that travels high into the air, cools into dust, and eventually settles back to the ground, poisoning it in the process. Most fallout from a nuclear blast takes anywhere from one day to a week to return to the ground, said Zaijing Sun, a nuclear physicist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. But some fallout gets kicked so high into the atmosphere, as much as 50 miles up, it can remain for several months to years before falling back to the surface, Sun added. Sun works as part of the Health, Environment, and Radiation Detection research group at UNLV that studies radioactive waste management, as well as applications of radiology and nuclear physics for medical uses.

☆ Scientists explain alien comet 'Oumuamua's strange acceleration
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A new study has offered a more sober explanation - that 'Oumuamua's speed-up was due to the release of hydrogen gas as the comet warmed up in the sunlight. "The key finding is that 'Oumuamua may have started as a water-rich icy planetesimal broadly similar to solar system comets. "We don't know its place of origin but it was probably traveling through interstellar space for less than 100 million years. It had a reddish color consistent with the colors of many small bodies in the solar system. A second interstellar object, the comet 2I/Borisov, was discovered visiting our solar system in 2019.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a video of a tornado churning on the sun. The fiery formation of boiling solar plasma grew to an estimated height of 14 Earths. SDO/NASAThe magnetic structure that caused this tornado is actually a lot bigger than what we're seeing. As these move around the sun, they create magnetic fields that erupt through the solar surface. The sun is getting more activeA video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the massive hole in the sun's atmosphere.

Christopher Willard | Walt Disney Television | Getty ImagesOn the advantage of being an underdog: I grew my business in a man's world. There were no businesses in New York City, especially in real estate, that were owned by women. There weren't any women role models, and the men weren't very forthcoming [with advice]. When I was just starting out, I went to a community business event and none of the men would even talk to me. On why she likes to partner with women in business: Women are more willing to listen [than men], and they're not as cocky they'll be an instant success.

☆ The sun is getting more active than it has for a decade — and it could lead to power outages, grounded flights, and stunning auroras
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

That motion, called convection, is what creates strong magnetic fields at the poles and smaller, local magnetic fields at the surface of the sun. That instability causes havoc in the magnetic fields at the surface of the sun, which become much more active. NASA/Solar Dynamics ObservatoryAs the magnetic fields become more confused, bigger sun spots can appear on the surface of the sun. As the sun's local magnetic fields get more tangled and crash into each other, they can explode. "The aurora oval that sits up over the northern and southern poles is a result of currents flowing in the Earth's atmosphere," Owens said.

☆ Google opens Bard A.I. for testing by users in U.S. and UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

After months of public chatter about emerging chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, Google is opening its Bard AI platform to a limited number of users. The company is officially allowing people in the U.S. and U.K. to sign up for its generative AI product at bard.google.com. The post, titled "Try Bard and share your feedback," was authored by Sissie Hsiao, product vice president, and Eli Collins, research vice president. We've learned a lot so far by testing Bard, and the next critical step in improving it is to get feedback from more people." Google expects the testing phase to help it understand how often people engage with Bard.

☆ How these 3 sisters grew up to become highly successful CEOs and a doctor: 'It's helpful to realize the world is often wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Believing in yourself has immeasurable value, says Anne Wojcicki. "It's helpful for people to realize the world is often wrong," she tells CNBC Make It. "When you're swimming upstream, it's hard and you're going to have people telling you it's a bad idea or you're not capable," Anne says. Many of those close relationships remain: Anne says she and her two sisters all still "have the same friends from early elementary school." 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do's and don'ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

Quantum computers, based on quantum physics, have the potential one day to complete some calculations millions of times faster than the most powerful supercomputer today. One challenge is that quantum processors with quantum bits, or qubits, often need to be stored at very cold temperatures near zero Kelvin, or -273.15 Celsius. On the other hand, classical computers operate in more moderate temperatures. SEEQC has also built its quantum computer this way and is now trying to modify it with its new chips. Today's superconducting quantum computers have hundreds of qubits, but some estimate thousands, or even a million could be needed to create a quantum computer to run useful algorithms.

☆ Chip startup QuantWare wants to become the Intel of quantum computing. Check out the redacted 9-slide pitch deck it used to raise $6.3 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dutch startup QuantWare has just raised 6 million euros (around $6.3 million). A Dutch startup that wants to become the "Intel of quantum computing" just raised 6 million euros (around $6.3 million) in fresh funds. Quantum computers use quantum physics to store data, run calculations, and essentially solve problems. By focusing on one element – the processing chip – QuantWare sees itself becoming the go-to provider for quantum computers, as Intel was for classical computers. Quantum computers store information in "qubits," which can be stored in two states at the same time: 0 and 1.

☆ Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's 'Master Plan 3,' hinted at new cars, and confirmed the company's push into Mexico during Tesla's first-ever Investor Day
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk debuted his "master plan" during Tesla's first-ever Investor Day presentation. The factory will be located "near Monterrey," according to Musk, who reiterated that Tesla plans to expand production at all of its factories. The news was confirmed during Tesla's first-ever Investor Day at the company's Austin Gigafactory, where Musk unveiled Tesla's "third master plan." In the past, Musk has said Tesla eventually plans to sell an electric car for about $25,000. Musk initially unveiled the truck in 2019 and has since pushed back the production timing 3 times, according to Reuters.

☆ Studies show how asteroid-bashing spacecraft was 'phenomenally successful'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] This image depicts NASA's DART spacecraft and its two long solar panels over the spot where it impacted asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022. "The DART test was phenomenally successful. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided on Sept. 26 at about 14,000 miles per hour (22,530 kph) into Dimorphos, an asteroid about 490 feet (150 meters) in diameter, roughly 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth. Finally, the spacecraft bus - the box between the solar panels - hit between these two boulders," Daly said. The research also clarified details such as the precise location of the impact and the angle of impact.

☆ Intel releases software platform for quantum computing developers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The platform, called Intel Quantum SDK, would for now allow those algorithms to run on a simulated quantum computing system, said Anne Matsuura, Intel Labs' head of quantum applications and architecture. Quantum computing is based on quantum physics and in theory can perform calculations quicker than conventional computers. Matsuura said developers can use the long-established programming language C++ to build quantum algorithms, making it more accessible for people without quantum computing expertise. "The Intel Quantum SDK helps programmers get ready for future large-scale commercial quantum computers," Matsuura said in a statement. Qubits, or quantum bits, are the basic unit of quantum computing.

☆ How an AI breakthrough from Alphabet's DeepMind 'changed scientific history' and could lead to new cures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"AlphaFold has sparked a wave of innovation by showing people what's possible," said Chris Bahl, the chief scientist at AI Proteins, a Boston startup using AlphaFold to help develop drugs. "AlphaFold, amazing as it, is just the beginning," Demis Hassabis, the CEO of DeepMind, said on a podcast last year. AlphaFold2 was built with far more biological and physics knowledge of proteins, Jumper said. Next uses will be 'progressively harder' as DeepMind stays secretive on its future workJohn Jumper, a senior staff research scientist at DeepMind who helped develop AlphaFold. "But AI will also continue to progress rapidly, and the folks at DeepMind are very good, so I'm optimistic."

☆ The sun is about to get more active than it has for a decade — and it could lead to power outages, grounded flights, and stunning auroras
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

That motion, called convection, is what creates strong magnetic fields at the poles and smaller, local magnetic fields at the surface of the sun. That instability causes havoc in the magnetic fields at the surface of the sun, which become much more active. As the sun's local magnetic fields get more tangled and crash into each other, they can explode. The worst solar storm we've seen happened in 1859. But as SpaceX and NASA aim to ramp up missions in coming years, they will need to prepare for solar storms.

☆ This SoftBank-backed startup that uses AI to draft legal documents just raised $10 million. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck Robin AI used to land the cash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Robin AI, a legal tech startup that uses AI to read and negotiate contracts, has raised $10 million. A startup that uses AI to make legal contracts simpler to draft and negotiate has raised $10 million in fresh funding. London-based Robin AI, which counts SoftBank among its backers, was founded by former lawyer Richard Robinson and physics PhD James Clough. The startup uses machine learning to review and negotiate legal contracts through a software platform. The startup claimed to have grown its revenues 20x since its previous raise, a $3.3 million funding from SoftBank in December 2021.

☆ This SoftBank-backed startup that uses AI to draft legal documents just raised $10.5 million. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck Robin AI used to land the cash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Robin AI, a legal tech startup that uses AI to read and negotiate contracts, has raised $10.5 million. A startup that uses AI to make legal contracts simpler to draft and negotiate has raised $10.5 million in fresh funding. London-based Robin AI, which counts SoftBank among its backers, was founded by former lawyer Richard Robinson and physics PhD James Clough. The startup uses machine learning to review and negotiate legal contracts through a software platform. The startup claimed to have grown its revenues 20x since its previous raise, a $3.3 million funding from SoftBank in December 2021.

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