Google takes one step closer to achieving quantum supremacy. Scientists use nanobots to kill cancer in mice. And Uber fires back on a study about how much its drivers are paid.
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Trending on Google, is Google’s latest quantum processor, Bristlecone. This chip features 72 qubits, which is a breakthrough in the number of qubits featured on a single chip before. The announcement puts Google researchers ahead of tech firms IBM, Intel, and Microsoft in trying to achieve quantum supremacy. What is quantum supremacy, you ask? It’s the point at which quantum computers are able to achieve calculations that are just not possible with traditional computer components. Bristlecone was presented at yesterday’s American Physical Society meeting. Google wants researchers to system error rates. If Google really does want to demonstrate quantum supremacy, then it will also have to show Bristlecone’s error rate is low enough.
Popular on Reddit, researchers have used nanometre-sized robots to successfully treat cancerous tumours in mice. Researchers from Arizona State University and the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences made nanobots by folding a sheet of DNA. Then they injected them into mice, and the nanobots cut off the blood supply to their tumours. It’s an important study because it shows that using these incredibly tiny robots, it could be possible to complete surgery that a doctor with a scalpel could not. Questions still to be answered about a future of nanobot medicine include whether it’s cost-effective compared to traditional means. Plus, will it work on humans?
Trending on LinkedIn, Uber rejects a study that claims its drivers make an average of $3.37 per hour. The study was conducted by MIT and based on a survey of 1,100 Uber and Lyft drivers. It found that 74 per cent of those surveyed were earning less than minimum wage. That’s after calculating the driver’s vehicle and fuel expenses. Uber challenged the study in a Medium blog post. It pointed to its own surveys showing drivers earned about $20 per hour gross income.
That’s what’s trending today. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.
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