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⚛️ Microsoft unveils million-qubit quantum chip, world’s first two-way brain-computer interface, France sets fusion record

Plus: 2024 YR4 ‘city-killer’ asteroid's Earth collision risk jumps to 3.1%

Microsoft has unveiled Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum processor built using topological core architecture. This innovative design utilizes a completely new type of material for quantum processors.

The company plans to develop a fault-tolerant prototype (FTP) of a scalable quantum computer over the next few years, a press release shared with Interesting Engineering said.

Quantum computing is touted to revolutionize our computational capabilities and help us solve problems that the world faces today. Using quantum properties, the information storage units or qubits used in these computers can compute at scales unimaginable for even the fastest supercomputers available today. Let's take a closer look at this Must Read.

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Microsoft’s advances in this area are a quantum leap since the quasiparticles used in its quantum processors have existed in theory for nearly a century.

The material known as topological superconductor or topoconductor is a new state of matter that is neither solid nor liquid nor in a gaseous state. Microsoft designed this material by layering indium arsenide, a semiconductor, and aluminum, a superconductor, atom-by-atom.

When cooled to temperatures near absolute zero and tuned with magnetic fields, the material forms topological superconducting nanowires with Majorana Zero Modes (MZM) at the ends.

Chinese scientists have developed the world’s first two-way adaptive brain-computer interface (BCI). According to the new study, the system boosts efficiency 100-fold compared to traditional BCIs.

Researchers from Tianjin University and Tsinghua University claim their innovation could soon be integrated into wearable and portable devices for medical and consumer use.

This system allows both the brain and machine to learn from each other, unlike conventional BCIs that only decode brain signals.

France has set a new milestone in fusion energy, sustaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes.

The record-breaking achievement occured at the WEST Tokamak reactor, operated by the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA).

CEA’s WEST Tokamak achieved a record 1,337-second plasma run—beating China’s 1,066-second benchmark by 25% and shattering the 10-second baseline.

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