Legal Perils and Protections for Online Consumers are Rapidly Evolving
Consumers don’t expect that clicking “Agree” to an online agreement with a food delivery service or cable network could result in the loss of some fundamental legal rights, and yet that’s what’s happening. We explore the often bewildering nature of lengthy user agreements that few can read or understand, and what’s being done (or not done) to protect online customers.
Latest Telescopes Bring a Surprisingly Different Early Universe Into Focus. What’s Next, After Discoveries of the Oldest Galaxy and ‘Little Red Dots’?
Combined data from the JWST and Chandra X-ray Observatory reveal an early universe that’s not what we thought it was. With the discovery of a black hole drawing in matter from the oldest galaxy 40 times faster than what we thought was possible, to the “little red dots” of galaxies far more compact than what we have seen, what other surprises lie ahead with more powerful telescopes now coming online?
Negative Time: Another Curious Wrinkle in the Always Surprising Quantum Universe
Can time run in reverse? How could light defy the resistance of particles it encounters, energizing them without losing any of its own energy, and seem to exit a cloud of atoms before entering? Experiments confirm the surprising results, raising more questions about the curious the quantum universe and, possibly, new methods for maintaining stable quantum circuits.
The Fascinating History of the Computer, from ENIAC, Vacuum Tubes and Transistors, to Microchips
We trace computing history from ENIAC, the first computer in 1947, from vacuum tubes to transistors, to the development of microchips that put far greater computing power in our our phones than the giant ENIAC had. With the world at the brink of a quantum computing revolution, what lessons can we draw from our computing history to shape the best possible future with our next technological leap ?
Editorial Perspectives
Blog
A Five-Year-Old’s Challenge to Free-Speech Absolutism
By accepting no limits to what they say, free-speech absolutists who broadcast their views with the power and global reach of technology fail to consider the effects of their words on children. Without life experience, kids are defenceless against lies and vulgarities spread far and wide by powerful or popular people. Every adult's responsibility is to protect the children, and it's time that children be brought into the free speech debate.
Blog
Trust is Fragile: Google’s Antitrust Loss and the Global Windows Failure in July are Warnings to AI Investors About the Future Value of Trust
The recent antitrust case lost by Google and another antitrust action now being heard, together with the global failure of Microsoft Windows from faulty code in third-party software highlight our reliance on AI. They also underscore the extent that AI's future value, currently trading for trillions of dollars daily, depends on the trust of its human users.
Blog
The Real and Present Dangers of Reducing Four-Dimensional Living to Two-Dimensional Screen Projections
Much is lost in the reduction of life as we live it, in four dimensions, to a two-dimensional screen. Influence is easily projected from social media platforms onto the length and width of a screen where depth and time are easily manipulated, and the polarization of opinions is a global threat of stereotyping. We owe it to the world's children to preserve real four-dimensional life, which will in the long run be good for corporate profits too.
In Focus
Major Advances in Quantum Memory Make Quantum Networks Increasingly Probable. What Comes Next?
Major advances are being made in creating a quantum memory capable of storing the massive volumes of data that a fully-functioning quantum computer will produce. It will remove a major barrier to the networking of quantum computers, the next step in multiplying the power of the machines. How soon can the infrastructure be developed, and under what rules will the network operate?
From Stellar Clusters to Cosmic Horizons: Telescopes are Mapping the Edge of the Observable Universe
Mapping astronomical regions gives new insights into the role of massive, dying stars in stellar evolution. With telescopes like Hubble and JWST, we can study distant supernovae and understand how old stars shape new ones. However, the finite speed of light and the universe’s expansion limit our view, leaving vast regions beyond reach and raising questions about what lies beyond our cosmic horizon.
Who Is Pulling the Strings? Human Agency and Manipulation of Opinions on the Road to the Quantum Era
Predictive models of public opinion, when employed for legitimate purposes, help policymakers, researchers, and the public to understand societal needs. While electoral polls can provide insights to guide campaigns and policymakers with transparency, manipulation using AI has been, and can be, used to advance hidden agendas. Given quantum computing’s potential for calculating probabilities in vast datasets exponentially quicker, could the developing technology either improve or undermine the integrity of democratic processes?
Podcasts and Webcasts
Dr. Adio Dinika on The Human Data Workers Who Make AI Possible
Dr. Federico Carollo on the Intriguing Present and Future Potential of Time Crystals
Twesh Upadhyaya on the Frontiers of Quantum Thermodynamics
The Quantum Record is a non-profit journal of philosophy, science, technology, and time.
The potential of the future is in the human mind and heart, and in the common ground that we all share on the road to tomorrow. Promoting reflection, discussion, and imagination, The Quantum Record highlights the good work of good people and aims to join many perspectives in shaping the best possible time to come.
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Latest Quantum Computing
Major Advances in Quantum Memory Make Quantum Networks Increasingly Probable. What Comes Next?
Major advances are being made in creating a quantum memory capable of storing the massive volumes of data that a fully-functioning quantum computer will produce. It will remove a major barrier to the networking of quantum computers, the next step in multiplying the power of the machines. How soon can the infrastructure be developed, and under what rules will the network operate?
What’s on the Horizon for Error-Free Quantum Computing, Expected Within Five Years?
In the race to eliminate errors in quantum computer circuits, Quantinuum’s September announcement of plans to develop a fully fault-tolerant machine by 2029 raises the bar for competitors. With rapid progress in error reduction being made, we survey the latest in differing quantum computer designs and some of the first applications for a fully functioning machine, possibly even improving controversial large language model technology.
Deep Underground Lab Studies Effects of Cosmic Rays on Quantum Bits
Located 2 kilometres below ground near Sudbury, Canada, SNOLAB is the world’s deepest underground facility studying interactions of cosmic rays and radiation with bits of quantum information (qubits). In the “clean” lab shielding experiments from cosmic radiation experienced on the Earth’s surface, researchers aim to reduce errors in qubit connections and advance more reliable and efficient quantum computers.
Featured Science News
The Big Ring: Is the Newly Found Cosmic Megastructure the End for the Cosmological Principle?
The discovery of a colossal ring-shaped structure in space, known as the Big Ring, challenges the cosmological principle, a foundational concept in astrophysics. This finding reinforces questions about the completeness of current cosmological models and hints at the need for a potential overhaul of our understanding of the evolution of the universe.
Latest Philosophy of Technology
Legal Perils and Protections for Online Consumers are Rapidly Evolving
Consumers don’t expect that clicking “Agree” to an online agreement with a food delivery service or cable network could result in the loss of some fundamental legal rights, and yet that’s what’s happening. We explore the often bewildering nature of lengthy user agreements that few can read or understand, and what’s being done (or not done) to protect online customers.
Who Is Pulling the Strings? Human Agency and Manipulation of Opinions on the Road to the Quantum Era
Predictive models of public opinion, when employed for legitimate purposes, help policymakers, researchers, and the public to understand societal needs. While electoral polls can provide insights to guide campaigns and policymakers with transparency, manipulation using AI has been, and can be, used to advance hidden agendas. Given quantum computing’s potential for calculating probabilities in vast datasets exponentially quicker, could the developing technology either improve or undermine the integrity of democratic processes?
Quantum Computing in Finance: Will Humans or Machines Have the Final Say in Setting Future Values?
Major financial players like Goldman Sachs are investing heavily in quantum computing to reduce risk in single trades, but could widespread adoption of quantum algorithms for calculating derivatives values cause “herding” and destabilize a market with over $700 trillion at risk? When algorithmic trading already dominates the markets, we explore the pros and cons of quantum computing’s speed in Monte Carlo simulations that drive current values, and the potential outcomes when unexpected events like the 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers rock the derivatives markets with years-long consequences.
Latest Technology Over Time
The Fascinating History of the Computer, from ENIAC, Vacuum Tubes and Transistors, to Microchips
We trace computing history from ENIAC, the first computer in 1947, from vacuum tubes to transistors, to the development of microchips that put far greater computing power in our our phones than the giant ENIAC had. With the world at the brink of a quantum computing revolution, what lessons can we draw from our computing history to shape the best possible future with our next technological leap ?
Ancient Roman Concrete: A Technology Ahead of Its Time
The Colosseum and Pantheon stand witness to the knowledge and skill behind ancient Roman concrete-making technology. We look at the history of concrete from then to now, and take you into the Pantheon to explore the marvels that ancient Romans accomplished with concrete.
The Mystery of the Ancient Roman Dodecahedrons
What was the purpose of these curious dodecahedrons, discovered in the northern parts of the ancient Roman Empire? Why does no record exist to explain their use and manufacture? We review the intriguing possibilities, but more detective work is needed to uncover the truth of this ancient technology.
Latest Science News
Latest Telescopes Bring a Surprisingly Different Early Universe Into Focus. What’s Next, After Discoveries of the Oldest Galaxy and ‘Little Red Dots’?
Combined data from the JWST and Chandra X-ray Observatory reveal an early universe that’s not what we thought it was. With the discovery of a black hole drawing in matter from the oldest galaxy 40 times faster than what we thought was possible, to the “little red dots” of galaxies far more compact than what we have seen, what other surprises lie ahead with more powerful telescopes now coming online?
Negative Time: Another Curious Wrinkle in the Always Surprising Quantum Universe
Can time run in reverse? How could light defy the resistance of particles it encounters, energizing them without losing any of its own energy, and seem to exit a cloud of atoms before entering? Experiments confirm the surprising results, raising more questions about the curious the quantum universe and, possibly, new methods for maintaining stable quantum circuits.
From Stellar Clusters to Cosmic Horizons: Telescopes are Mapping the Edge of the Observable Universe
Mapping astronomical regions gives new insights into the role of massive, dying stars in stellar evolution. With telescopes like Hubble and JWST, we can study distant supernovae and understand how old stars shape new ones. However, the finite speed of light and the universe’s expansion limit our view, leaving vast regions beyond reach and raising questions about what lies beyond our cosmic horizon.