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QuoteQuantum mechanics is so odd that even the visionary genius who described the secrets of the Universe seemed to dismiss certain aspects as eerie.

"Spooky action at a distance" is how Albert Einstein described quantum entanglement, a weird connection between particles that classical physics cannot explain.

From our classical perspective, it seems to allow instantaneous communication, thereby breaking the speed of light and garnering Einstein's ire.

For example, if we flipped two quantum-entangled coins and one landed heads up, we could know for sure whether the second coin would instantly land tails up – even if one were flipped on Earth and the other on Mars.

That's because measuring one instantly reveals the state of the other, a correlation with no classical explanation.

This spooky synchronization is a basis for quantum computing, with untold potential for machine learning, pharmaceutical design, digital communications, and other essential applications.

Now, physicists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and the Technical University of Munich in Germany have achieved a breakthrough by experimentally confirming a 20-year-old entanglement theory, providing a prototype for scaling up quantum computing processes.

Not too dissimilar from hosing down an irascible chihuahua, the researchers used a 'quantum bath' of light particles to entangle isolated qubits (quantum bits), the functional units of quantum computers.

[. . .]

This quantum bath method offers a fully autonomous way to synchronize distant qubits by subjecting them both to low-energy microwaves, yielding a "stationary," applicable version of entanglement, rather than one that fluctuates in its properties like a pendulum.

"In this work, we aimed to overcome this mismatch between the readily available and the practically useful forms of entanglement," explains Alejandro Andrés-Juanes, a physicist at ISTA and the study's first author.

"By stabilizing the entangled states remotely, our approach is fully autonomous and requires no active control or measurement."

Importantly, this scheme can be applied over "arbitrary distances," ostensibly farther than the 50 centimeters (20 inches) of cable that separated the qubits from the entanglement-inducing photons in this experiment.

Additionally, a single correlated (entangled) photon source can be manipulated to generate many entangled pairs.

[ Continues . . .]

The paper is open access.

"Distributing Stationary Qubit Entanglement through a Nonlocal Squeezed Reservoir" | Physical Review X

QuoteAbstract:

The distribution of entanglement across distant qubits is a central challenge for the operation of scalable quantum computers and large-scale quantum networks. Existing approaches rely on deterministic state transfer, or probabilistic protocols that require active control or measurements and postselection.

Here, we demonstrate a fundamentally different, fully autonomous process, where two remote qubits are entangled through their coupling to a quantum-correlated photonic reservoir. In our experiment, a Josephson parametric converter produces a Gaussian, continuous-variable entangled state of propagating microwave fields that drives two spatially separated superconducting transmon qubits into a stationary, discrete-variable entangled state.

We also show how qubit tomography unlocks a direct and sensitive verification of two-mode squeezing in the microwave domain. These results establish networks of qubits interfaced with distributed continuous-variable entangled states as a powerful platform for foundational studies and quantum-technology applications.

Science / Cyclical Catastrophes?

Last post by Recusant - July 28, 2026, 06:04:57 AM

This is intriguing. Of course there are already recognized long-term (Milankovich) cycles in the life of our planet. Analysis of various data have produced hints that there may be one or more other long cycles. One hypothesis has to do with the undulation of the solar system in relation to the galactic plane.

"Earth's Greatest Catastrophes Seem to Follow a Mysterious 27-Million-Year Pulse" | ScienceAlert

QuoteMass extinctions. Giant volcanic eruptions. Oceans suddenly deprived of oxygen.

At first glance, Earth's biggest geological disasters seem to have little in common beyond their sheer scale.

But for decades, scientists have wondered whether these seemingly unrelated events might actually follow a hidden rhythm stretching back hundreds of millions of years.

The possibility that Earth's geological history follows a long-term rhythm has been debated for decades.

The idea dates back to studies published in the 1980s, when researchers first proposed that mass extinctions and other major geological events might recur at regular intervals. Earlier studies identified similar periodic patterns, but the idea has remained controversial.

Now, an analysis published in Evolving Earth revisits that evidence using updated geological timescales and statistical methods.

The analysis concludes that the evidence for a roughly 27.5-million-year geological cycle has continued to strengthen, suggesting many of Earth's largest upheavals may be linked by long-term processes rather than representing isolated catastrophes.

Drawing on previously published geological datasets, New York University geologist Michael Rampino re-examined 89 major geological events spanning the past 260 million years using updated geological ages and statistical analyses.

The dataset includes marine mass extinctions, oceanic anoxic events, continental flood-basalt eruptions, sea-level fluctuations, terrestrial tetrapod extinctions, changes in seafloor spreading rates, and pulses of intraplate volcanism.

Together, these records reveal a dominant periodicity of approximately 27.5 million years, alongside a weaker cycle of around 8.9 million years.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"The temporal characteristics of the geologic record: Global correlations and similar multi-million-year cycles of major geologic events with potential internal-Earth versus astronomical pacing" | Evolving Earth

QuoteAbstract:

Compilations of the latest updated high-precision radio-isotopic ages for a number of major geologic events of the last few hundred-million years, including aspects of global tectonics in the ocean basins and on continents, fluctuations in sea levels and resulting sedimentation patterns, pulses of active volcanism, variations in ocean/atmospheric composition and climatic changes, biodiversity, and mass-extinction events, are found to be closely temporally correlated at high statistical confidence levels. Furthermore, several methods of spectral analysis of the improved age data support the finding that these correlated events exhibit a common, statistically significant underlying multi-million-year cycle (or cycles) in the range of ∼26 to 36 My. Shorter cycles and harmonics from ∼6.4 to ∼13 My (especially at ∼9 My), and longer cycles (multiples) of ∼56 to 65-My, ∼93 My, ∼140 to 187-My, and ∼240 to 270-My, are also indicated statistically for some of these events.

These results support previous findings that major geologic events of various kinds are globally correlated, occur in pulses, and display common underlying periodicities. These potentially inter-related, periodic, geophysical/geological/biological events might be linked to internal Earth dynamics associated with surges in mantle convection and plume initiation, and interactions with subduction, that may modulate plate movements and hotspot activity with an ∼30 My cycle.

On the other hand, the ∼26- to 36-My periodicities detected in the geologic age data are in agreement with a double cycle (∼26 and 33 My) that appears in amplitude variations of the Earth's 2.4- to 9-My orbital eccentricity cycles in the Solar System, and also with known cycles of the Earth's astronomical motions within the Milky Way Galaxy. Several scenarios have been proposed in which these astronomical cycles, interacting with terrestrial processes, might affect the timing of global geological activity. The similarities in the astronomical and geological periodicities point to the prospect of some degree of extra-terrestrial pacing of major geological events, along with the potential for astronomical "tuning" of multi-million-year terrestrial global geologic activity.

Current Events / Re: Water

Last post by billy rubin - July 27, 2026, 06:59:32 PM

Quote from: zorkan on July 27, 2026, 04:33:25 PMkristv.com/news/local-news/in-your-neighborhood/corpus-christi/golf-courses-in-corpus-christi-survive-drought-with-reclaimed-water

"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."

Current Events / Re: Water

Last post by zorkan - July 27, 2026, 04:33:25 PM

Golf courses never run out of water.
Not in Spain, where courses are watered even when public supply is turned off.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/03/extinction-rebellion-plugs-holes-on-10-spanish-golf-courses-in-water-protest

Not even in the severe drought of Britain in 1976 when rivers and reservoirs ran dry.
They obtained water from underground.

kristv.com/news/local-news/in-your-neighborhood/corpus-christi/golf-courses-in-corpus-christi-survive-drought-with-reclaimed-water

Current Events / Re: Water

Last post by billy rubin - July 26, 2026, 11:59:44 AM

it was obamas fault

#10

Current Events / Water

Last post by Recusant - July 26, 2026, 05:35:17 AM

Plenty of science fiction has included the scarcity of water as a component of the imagined future. I'd go so far as to say that it's an established trope in dystopian fiction. With AI data centers slurping up outsized quantities of this vital resource, it seems we're going to get there one way or another. Industries aside from data centers also make ridiculous demands, and it's the local populations that deal with the consequences.

Corpus Christi, Texas is looking to come up against it fairly soon. It seems likely that their predicament won't be an isolated instance. Again with the interesting times. $:-\$

"'Tremendously Grave': The First US City Is on Track to Run Out of Water" | ScienceAlert

QuoteIt seems inconceivable, even if you're aware of the perilous situation that the world's water supplies are in, but a developed coastal city in Texas that more than 300,000 people call home is now in serious danger of running out of water.

The city is Corpus Christi, and difficulties with water scarcity are now coming to a head after years of concerns over shortages.

There are multiple issues combining here, perhaps most importantly the arrival of major industrial developments, off the back of the unlocking of vast oil and gas reserves that came with the shale revolution.

One plastics chemical complex, built in 2022, uses as much water for cooling every day as all the Corpus Christi residents combined.

A planned seawater desalination plant, which was supposed to ease some of the pressure brought on by rising industrial water usage, never materialized, further compounding the problem of supply.

And then there's climate change: Texas has been hit by a series of historical droughts in recent years. It all adds up to a scarcity of water that life and businesses rely on.

"Corpus Christi has come as close to running out of water as practically any city in the United States," says Dylan Baddour, a journalist at Inside Climate News.

"They've rebounded a good bit since the beginning of this year, but they have about one year of water in storage right now, which would already be considered an emergency for any city."

While rainfall during 2026 has eased the pressure somewhat, reservoir levels are still precariously low, and it's not clear how much longer the situation can go on for.

The desalination plant plans haven't been completely abandoned.

There's still a proposal on the table to build a huge facility for removing salt and impurities from seawater, which would produce an estimated 378 million liters (100 million gallons) of water a day (twice as much as the biggest desalination plant currently in the US, in San Diego).

However, the plant has been discussed since 2017, and efforts to move forward with it are being caught up in red tape and questions over funding. The bill for the facility is reportedly in the region of $6 billion.

"There were years of fumbling around, of folks trying to get something on the books, other people seeking to stop it, and all the while, water was running out," says Arcelia Martin, also a journalist at Inside Climate News.

Other options being explored are groundwater wells drilled deep underground – already supplying 12 million gallons a day – but these solutions are also vulnerable to drought. Plans to use wastewater for industrial cooling purposes are also being explored, with supplies set to go online this year.

[. . .]

Emergency measures might include rolling 'water blackouts', where water is only available for some parts of the day, for example. However, that's not really a solution for industrial uses – these refineries and plants would have to be shut down, bringing subsequent knock-on effects on the economy and communities.

[Continues . . .]

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