Fractals are intricate patterns that repeat endlessly at different scales, and are found throughout nature in examples like snowflakes and river networks. Recent research shows that fractal patterns are also found in quantum materials, in our biological brains, and in artificial neural networks. Breakthroughs in many scientific fields are bringing us closer to solving the mysteries and potentially vast potential of fractal patterns.
We look at six emerging ethical concerns for the potential power of quantum computing. While the technological breakthrough that enables its widespread use and applications might be years away – or just around the corner – we set out an historical perspective to frame the discussion on ethics that is best begun sooner rather than later.
Scientists are exploring the intriguing connections of consciousness to quantum mechanics and mathematics. Does consciousness exist at the level of the quantum, and if it does how does it operate – and can we be consciousness of consciousness itself?
Error correction is a major challenge in connecting qubits, the unit of information in quantum computers. In a recent breakthrough, Harvard-led scientists have created the first-ever quantum circuit with error-correcting logical qubits, opening the potential for large-scale processing.
Technology has now taken us to the boundary of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, where space and time end. Will it lead to new discoveries in quantum mechanics? And if we find what lies beyond, how would that change our understanding of cause and effect in time?
Physicists continue to search for a single mathematical framework that will describe the whole universe. Could a new approach to the long-pursued ‘Theory of Everything’ reveal secrets from black holes and even allow time travel?