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Simulators and the weird world
of quantum chaos

Imagine trying to untangle a giant bowl of spaghetti but each noodle is doing its own dance — twisting and looping in ways that defy common sense. That’s kind of what physicists face when they study complex quantum systems.

But now scientists have built a 69-qubit quantum simulator that can handle the tangle.

This simulator, made with tiny superconducting circuits called qubits, kind of like super-sensitive switches, is special because it combines two types of quantum tricks: analog (smooth and continuous) and digital (step-by-step and precise).

Together, they let researchers peek into the strange behaviors of quantum systems — things that regular computers just can’t handle.

They watched energy ripple and spread through their system. They measured entanglement — that spooky quantum link where particles stay connected no matter how far apart they are — and saw hints of rare phase transitions. These transitions are when quantum systems flip from one state to another, like water freezing into ice.

Notably, the team spotted signs of a famous but hard-to-see event called the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, catching quantum chaos in action.

These kinds of quantum simulators are like time machines and magnifying glasses rolled into one. They let scientists explore questions that have stumped physics for decades — like how quantum materials behave, how energy moves and even how the universe itself might tick.

And this is just the beginning.

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From bling to bank

As the global value of gold climbs and you wonder what to do with the loot in your jewelry box, wonder no more — just take it to the ATM on the corner.

Shanghai recently launched an ATM that lets people sell their gold for cash within 30 minutes. The machine can weigh your jewelry, coins or bullion — the accepted currencies — and convert it to cash based on real-time Shanghai exchange rates.

The machine, at Global Harbor shopping mall, is part of Shenzhen Kinghood Group, globally known for its Smart Gold Stores, and is based on the same concept.

The company in 2019 rolled out the first prototype of its Smart Gold Store, packed with high-tech features like precision electronic scales that work with international measurement units and a universal detector that’s accurate to 0.01 percent.

If you’re in Shanghai and have, say, a gold bracelet to sell, your experience might look something like this:

  • Follow the touchscreen instructions and place your bracelet into the deposit tray. The bracelet weighs in on the high-precision scale at 15 grams, and the purity is measured at 91.6 percent (confirmed using the universal detector).
  • You confirm you are happy to proceed with the transaction.
  • The ATM melts your bracelet at approximately 1,200 degrees Celsius, allowing for more accurate purity verification valuation.
  • The machine checks the real-time market price and, based on pure 25 karat gold price of 458 yuan per gram and a commission deduction of 3 percent, you will receive 6,663.90 yuan or U.S. $932.95. This will be transferred to your linked account within 30 minutes.

By September 2024, Kinghood had rolled the machines out in 40 cities across China. While it does not have machines outside China, the company says it intends to expand internationally.

In the interim, the company in July 2024 introduced its international version of the Smart Gold Store at the Jewelry and Gem World Hong Kong event with all of the bells and whistles of the current model plus advanced hardware that is compatible with major global measurement units. It supports mobile phone registration in over 200 countries, multi-currency and real-time live-market pricing from global trading platforms.

“The introduction of smart gold ATMs primarily serves a recycling function from a business perspective,” says Xu Weixin, a member of the Shanghai Gold Association. “This reflects the fact that, with rising gold prices, the value of gold held by the public has increased significantly, leading to a stronger desire to cash out. There is still strong upward momentum for gold, mainly driven by central banks and institutional investors accelerating their gold purchases.”

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Simple language tests can spot
early signs of rare dementia

A team in Brazil has figured out which language tasks are most helpful for spotting primary progressive aphasia (PPA) — a condition where people slowly lose their ability to speak and understand language, even though their memory might still be OK at first.

Using a toolkit called the MTL-BR Battery, the researchers tested 29 people with PPA and compared them to 58 healthy individuals. They found that people with PPA struggled the most with understanding phrases, telling stories, coming up with words in a category (like animals) and doing simple math.

This matters because PPA, a dementia-related syndrome characterized by progressive language deterioration, can be tricky to diagnose early.

By focusing on a few key tasks, doctors and speech therapists can catch it sooner and start helping patients faster.

Think of it like narrowing down the best clues in a mystery — these language tasks are the ones worth following.

The study was published in PLoS ONE.

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It’s a fight for your right to not
eat meat

New research focused on meat-alternative consumers in the European market reveals that while many admire their dedication to environmental protection and health, they attract strong negative emotions as well.

Fear and contempt, sometimes leading to aggression, are among the strong emotions vegetarians conjure up from their meat-eating counterparts, according to the study published in Food Quality and Preference.

The study was conducted across four European countries and used the BIAS Map framework, revealing seriously conflicting social perception that may be a key factor limiting the widespread adoption of plant-based diets.

Also highlighted was the impact social dynamics have on shaping these attitudes. People with an advanced need for social affiliation responded more positively to individuals who balanced both traditional meat and plant-based alternatives, while those with a high need for status viewed exclusive meat-alternative consumers with increased envy and anger.

This suggests that grand-scale social perceptions coupled with taste and affordability may need to be adopted in marketing strategies for plant-based foods.

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Nothing but the tooth

For thousands of years, humans have been using unusual material to replace lost teeth. Ancient Egyptians used seashell pieces, ivory and animal bone. Many years later, lost teeth were often replaced by those of human donors.

Today dental implants embedded in titanium are the widely preferred method of tooth replacement, but it might not be long before scientists are growing new teeth for you from your own cells.

Researchers at King’s College London have created an innovative method to accomplish just this.

Watch: Beyond Implants: Growing Teeth With Science

“Fillings aren’t the best solution for repairing teeth,” says Xuechen Zhang of King’s College Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences. “Over time, they will weaken tooth structure, have a limited lifespan, and can lead to further decay or sensitivity. Implants require invasive surgery and a good combination of implants and alveolar bone. Both solutions are artificial and don’t fully restore natural tooth function, potentially leading to long-term complications.”

IMAGE: Tooth implant  CREDIT: Shutterstock

The King’s College team, partnered with Imperial College, was successful in re-creating the extracellular matrix — the environment around the cells in the body. The matrix is a complicated network of molecules that fills the spaces between cells. One of its functions is cell signaling.

Upon introducing a specialized material, the team determined that the cells were able to send signals to each other to begin the process of forming a new tooth — in the lab.
The next phase is to figure out a way to put these teeth into action.

Watch: Flossing for Immunity: The New Frontier in Vaccination

The team has a few ideas on how to accomplish this.

“We could transplant the young tooth cells at the location of the missing tooth and let them grow inside the mouth. Alternatively, we could create the whole tooth in the lab before placing it in the patient’s mouth. For both options, we need to start the very early tooth-development process in the lab,” Xuechen says.

According to Grand View Research, the global dental implants market was worth an estimated U.S.$6.7 billion in 2024 and expects a compound annual growth rate of 8 percent over the next five years.

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