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The worlds first uncrackable security system has been developed by researchers in Scotland, it has been claimed.

Computer scientists have long feared the arrival of quantum computing would allow encrypted data to be easily decoded by hackers.

But a global team,including scientists from the University of St Andrews, say they have achieved perfect secrecy by creating a chip which effectively generates a one-time-only key every time data is sent through it.

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Its the equivalent of standing talking to someone using two paper-cups attached by string, said Professor Andrea Di Falco of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the university. If you scrunched up the cups when speaking it would mask the sound, but each time it would be scrunched differently so it could never be hacked.

This new technique is absolutely unbreakable.

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Scientists in Scotland help develop worlds first encryption system that is unbreakable by hackers - The Independent

Googles Sycamore quantum processor. Erik Lucero, Research Scientist and Lead Production Quantum Hardware

Multiply 1,048,589 by 1,048,601, and youll get 1,099,551,473,989. Does this blow your mind? It should, maybe! That 13-digit prime number is the largest-ever prime number to be factored by a quantum computer, one of a series of quantum computing-related breakthroughs (or at least claimed breakthroughs) achieved over the last few months of the decade.

An IBM computer factored this very large prime number about two months after Google announcedthat it had achieved quantum supremacya clunky term for the claim, disputed by its rivals including IBM as well as others, that Google has a quantum machine that performed some math normal computers simply cannot.

SEE ALSO: 5G Coverage May Set Back Accurate Weather Forecasts By 30 Years

An arcane field still existing mostly in the theoretical, quantum computers have done enough recently and are commanding enough very real public and private resources to be deserving of your attentionnot the least of which is because if and when the Chinese government becomes master of all your personal data, sometime in the next decade, it will be because a quantum computer cracked the encryption.

Building the quantum computer, it is said, breathlessly, is a race to be won, as important as being the first in space (though, ask the Soviet Union how that worked out) or fielding the first workable atomic weapon (seems to be going OK for the U.S.).

And so here is a postwritten in terms as clear and simple as this human could mustersumming up these recent advances and repeating other experts predictions that the 2020s appear to be the decade when quantum computers begin to contribute to your life, by both making slight improvements to your map app, and powering artificial intelligence robust and savvy enough to be a real-life Skynet.

First, the requisite introduction to the concept. Normal computers, such as the device you are using to access and display this content, process information in a binary. Everything is either a one, or a zero, or a series of ones and zeroes. On, or off. But what if the zero was simultaneously also a one? (Please exit here for your requisite digression into quantum physics and mechanics.)

The idea that a value can be a zero, or a one, or both at the same time is the quantum principle of superposition. Each superposition is a quantum bit, or qubit. The ability to process qubits is what allows a quantum computer to perform functions a binary computer simply cannot, like computations involving 500-digit numbers. To do so quickly and on demand might allow for highly efficient traffic flow. It could also render current encryption keys mere speedbumps for a computer able to replicate them in an instant.

An artists rendition of Googles Sycamore quantum processor mounted in a cryostat. Forest Stearns, Google AI Quantum Artist in Residence

Why hasnt this been mastered already, whats holding quantum computers back? Particles like photons only exist in quantum states if they are either compressed very, very small or made very, very coldwith analog engineering techniques. What quantum computers do exist are thus resource-intensive. Googles, for example, involves metals cooled (the verb is inadequate) to 460 degrees below zero, to a state in which particles behave in an erratic and random fashion akin to a quantum state.

And as Subhash Kak, the regents professor of electrical and computer engineering at Oklahoma State University and an expert in the field,recently wrote, the power of a quantum computer can be gauged by how many quantum bits, or qubits, it can process. The machines built by Google, Microsoft, Intel, IBM and possibly the Chinese all have less than 100 qubits,he wrote. (In Googles case, the company claims to have created a quantum state of 53 qubits.)

To achieve useful computational performance,according to Kak, you probably need machines with hundreds of thousands of qubits. And what qubits a quantum computer can offer are notoriously unstable and prone to error. They need many of the hard-won fixes and advancements that saw binary computers morph from room-sized monstrosities spitting out punch cards to iPhones.

How fast will that happencan it happen?

Skeptics, doubters, and haters might note that Google first pledged to achieve quantum supremacy (defined as the point in time at which quantum computers are outperforming binary computers) by the end of 2017meaning its achievement was almost two full years behind schedule, and meaning other quantum claims, like Dario Gil of IBMs pledge that quantum computers will be useful for commercial and scientific advantage sometime next year, may also be dismissed or at least subject to deserved skepticism.

Dario Gil, director of IBM Research, stands in front of IBMs Q System One quantum computer on October 18, 2019. Misha Friedman/Getty Images

And those of us who can think only in binary may also find confusion in the dispute between quantum rivals. The calculation performed by Googles Sycamore quantum computer in 200 seconds, the company claimed, would take a normal binary supercomputer 10,000 years to solve. Not so, according to IBM, which asserted that the calculation could be done by a binary computer in two and a half days. Either way, as The New York Times wrote, quantum supremacy is still a very arcane experiment that cant necessarily be applied to other things. Googles breakthrough might be the last achievement for a while.

But everybody is tryingincluding the U.S. government, which is using your money to do it. Commercial spending on quantum computing research is estimated to reach hundreds of millions of dollars sometime in the next decade. A year ago, spooked and shamed by what appeared to be an unanswered flurry of quantum progress in China, Congress dedicated $1.2 billion to the National Quantum Initiative Act, money specifically intended to boost American-based quantum computing projects. According to Bloomberg, China may have already spent 10 times that.

If you walk away with nothing else, know that quantum computer spending is very real, even if the potential is theoretical.

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The Quantum Computing Decade Is ComingHeres Why You Should Care - Observer

The next decade promises to offer both incredible opportunity and challenge for all of us. Technologies like artificial intelligence (and its close friend, machine learning) will no longer be considered new but will instead be at the heart of some huge disruptive changes that will run right through our society. In particular, AI will start to enable the automation of many things that were previously deemed too complex or even too human.

Well see these changes at work traditional professions like accountancy, lawyers and others will, over time, see significant portions of what they do be taken over by virtual robots. Vocations such as lorry drivers, taxi drivers and even chefs may disappear as machines are introduced to perform the same function but with more consistent results and less risk.

Well also see these changes at home as AI will bring a host of new changes to how we live. AI will help us speak any language to anyone in the world, it will help us discover and create new content and maybe even help us decide what food to eat and when we should rest (and for how long!) in order to help us live lives that are not just more healthy, but more productive and of course more fun.

Well (hopefully) see these changes at school and in education too when we finally realise that in the 21st century, simply knowing stuff is no longer enough. Instead we might seek to use AI to build personalised learning schemes that tailor learning for every unique student such that they can reach their true potential regardless of their background, ability to learn or particular strengths and weaknesses. This could also mean the end of exams and tests as we know it as we move away from the unnecessary stress and futility of a single measure of knowledge taken at a single moment in time to a world of continuous assessment, where the system is able to measure progress as a by-product of the work that the student does every single day.

As for the technology itself, its going to continue to get quicker, cheaper, more powerful and smaller. Your huge smartphone may not be so huge by the time we get to 2030, in fact it may not be a phone at all but instead a small implant that you have inserted under your skin, just like the one we use today for our pets

Well also see the introduction of new game changing technologies like Quantum Computing. Dont be fooled, this is not just another computer but faster, the power and potential Quantum Computing offers us is almost unimaginable. Todays quantum computers are limited, complex machines that require an extreme environment in which to run, (most early quantum computers need to run at -273 degrees centigrade so dont think youre going to see one in your office or your home any time soon. But they are important because of the scale at which they operate. In simple terms, the power of todays quantum computers is measured at around 50 cubits (a cubit is a quantum computers measure of power, a bit like the digital equivalent of horse power), scientists believe that when we can get Quantum computers to 500 cubits, those computers will be able to answer as many questions as there are atoms in the world and at the same time! This is a kind of computational power that we cant even begin to imagine.

Oh and robots too. These wont be the industrial robots youre used to seeing, they might not even be the science fiction looking robots (you know, the ones that start as friends and then take over the world). These robots are going to be not just our friends, theyll be a part of our families. Its already started. If you have a smart speaker at home, youve got an early ancestor of something that will end up becoming your own personal C3PO, not just there to help you but there to provide companionship and friendship while you go about your busy lives.

But all this wont be without some risks.

Massive parts of our current labour market will be challenged by the rise of the machines. Our kids will continue to lack the skills theyre going to need to thrive and we adults are going to struggle to make sense of it all at home and at work.

The machines wont be perfect either, seeing as theyre created by humans, they end up with some human problems as a result, algorithmic bias will be one of the defining challenges of 2020 and beyond and its going to take a lot of human effort to get all of us to a point where we can trust our lives to the algorithms alone.

The good news in all of this is that the end result is still ultimately down to us humans. The real answer to what 2020 will hold for technology and how it affects us in our everyday lives will continue to be all about how we humans choose to use it. Im hopeful for a new era in 2020, one where we turn the corner in our relationship with technology and look not for dystopia, but instead we seek to ensure everyone has the right skills and ambition to build the utopia we deserve. To get there we need to teach our kids (and ourselves!) to break free of the technology that traps and disconnects us, an instead use the same technology to elevate what we could achieve not by replacing us, but by freeing us to do all of the amazing things that the technology alone cannot do. The best future awaits those that can combine the best of technological capability with the best of human ability.

Dave Coplin is former Chief Envisioning Officer for Microsoft UK, he has written two books, worked all over the world with organisations, individuals and governments all with the goal of demystifying technology and championing it as a positive transformation in our society.

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2020 and beyond: Tech trends and human outcomes - Accountancy Age

IBM Corp. said today its teaming up with the University of Tokyo to create a new Japan-IBM Quantum Partnershipthat will focus on advancing the adoption of quantum computers in order to benefit science, industry and society.

IBM said the partnership would have three areas of focus, including the development of quantum applications for industry and the development of quantum computing hardware, with an aim to advance the state of quantum science and education.

The initiative will also see an IBM Q System One(pictured) installed at one of the companys facilities in Japan. The system was launched in January and is said to be the worlds first-ever circuit-based commercial quantum computer.

There are currently two such machines in operation one in the U.S. and one in Germany. Once the system is installed in Japan, IBM and University of Tokyo researchers intend to use it to aid their research into quantum algorithms and practical quantum applications.

IBM and the University of Tokyo also plan to create a quantum system technology center focused on developing and testing new quantum hardware.University of Tokyo President Makoto Gonokami said in a statement that his institution would place a much higher priority on quantum programming going forward.

Quantum computing is one of the most crucial technologies in the coming decades, which is why we are setting up this broad partnership framework with IBM, Gonokami said. We expect this effort to further strengthen Japans quantum research and development activities and build world-class talent.

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IBM partners with the University of Tokyo on quantum computing initiative - SiliconANGLE News

Its not easy to say that any particular space or astronomy development was the most important in a given year. But if we had to choose some highlights, wed opt for these unforgettable events and findings.

You probably know the broad outline of the story: 66 million years ago, a giant meteorite landed in what is now the Gulf of Mexico, and ended the dinosaurs. This year, various teams of scientists, working independently, helped fill in the picture of exactly what happened on that fateful day.

The biggest discovery was a site in North Dakota that preserved a jumble of fossilized fish and plant life that may have been thrown together by a tsunami on the very day of the meteorite strike. Closer to the impact site, scientists also cataloged a geological timeline of disasters that befell Earth that day. And researchers detailed evidence found in Europe that the Chicxulub event acidified the ocean in a flash, extinguishing much of Earths ocean life at the time.

An exhaustive analysis of hundreds of bird species in the United States and Canada contained a warning: The majority of bird species are in decline, many by huge numbers. The likely culprits? Habitat loss and pesticides.

This year we met a new extinct human relative, Homo luzonensis. It was discovered in a cave on Luzon Island in the Philippines, and adds further complexity to the story of human evolution.

It really does. Clive Wynne, a psychologist specializing in dog behavior, contends that what makes your furry friend special is not its intellect but its ability to bond with you. And not just with you. The dogs ability to bond across species with sheep, goats, even (horrors!) cats makes them an evolutionary success story.

Your cat may or may not like-like you. But it is strongly bonded to you, and in an unfamiliar situation, when it feels threatened, it is likely to turn to you for comfort.

Almond milk is over. Oat milk is canceled. Whats in? Spider milk. Burying beetle milk. Great white shark milk. Flamingo milk. Which raises the question: what exactly is milk? Not all experts agree, but some scientists say that if a substance is synthesized or highly modified by a parent, and the offsprings life depends on it, thats milk. Now excuse us while we put out cookies and pink flamingo milk for Santa.

At home, Russia, like the United States and other countries around the world, has embraced the promise of 5G, the next generation of cellphone technology. But in the U.S., RT America, the broadcast network run by the Russian government, has been warning American viewers that the telecommunications technology will kill and disable children. Many alarming claims about 5G technology are linked to bad, debunked science. The U.S. intelligence agencies describe RT America as the Kremlins principal international propaganda outlet. The network has taken aim at fracking, vaccination and even the U.S. electoral process; now it has applied its playbook to cellphones.

Thirteen species of salmon and steelhead trout are considered threatened or endangered in the Northwests Columbia basin region. Wild Chinook salmon could disappear within the next 20 years, according to one Forest Service expert. The fish are a keystone food source for other species, and an endangered population of orcas may be starving for lack of enough wild salmon to eat. Many scientists favor removing dams on some rivers to save the orcas and the fish. But the idea faces resistance from government agencies that manage the rivers.

A video of salmon traveling through a long tube went viral in 2019. You probably watched it. But the Whooshh cannon its actual name is a serious tool that conservationists are testing not only to help fish migrate, but to contain invasive carp that foul North American waterways. If it doesnt work, scientists have other ideas, like koi herpes.

Robert Ballard, the ocean explorer who found the wreck of the Titanic, set his sights on solving the enigma of Amelia Earharts fate. Following an irresistible hint, his crew headed to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, spending weeks searching for her crashed plane by air, land and sea. They returned empty-handed, but with one bit of solace: A blurry clue from an old picture, which had driven years of speculation about Earharts final resting place, can probably be dismissed for good.

The North Pole is at the very top of the world, right? Actually, the planets magnetic north is a considerable distance from 90 degrees north, and it moves around. Lately it has moved more than expected, requiring scientists to update the World Magnetic Model a year earlier than planned. The tinkering ensures that modern navigation tools will continue to function properly, but it is a reminder of the geoscience mysteries deep beneath Earths surface.

When does life end and death begin? Scientists seem to have blurred that line when they managed to restore cellular activity in brains removed from slaughtered pigs. Although the pig brains did not exhibit any higher functions, some cells regained metabolic activity. The research is preliminary, but it upends standard medical thinking about the brain and raises more than a few metaphysical conundrums.

Happy 150th birthday to the Periodic Table of Elements! As scientists celebrated Dmitri Mendeleevs enduring array of chemical elements this year, some also wondered whether there might be a better way to organize the stuff of the universe. A New and Improved Table could come in handy: As more superheavy elements are discovered, their behaviors could challenge the integrity of Mendeleevs memorable chart.

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What We Learned in Science News 2019 - The New York Times