After an indulgent period of festive feasting, many pledge to lose weight, exercise more and drink less when January arrives. But NHS medical director Professor Stephen Powis said fads such as diet pills, tea-toxes and appetite suppressants could at best be a waste of money and at worst pose a risk to our health.

He said: Its always a good time to try to get in shape, and new years resolutions are a great time to make a change, but the reality is theres a slim chance of success with diet pills and detox teas and people could end up doing more harm than good. Making new year goals and shifting a few excess pounds after Christmas can be a good idea but is much easier to maintain when done gradually and safely. Products claiming to help people lose weight quickly while reducing appetite and fatigue can have damaging side effects including diarrhoea, heart problems and even unplanned pregnancies caused by interference with oral contraception.

Prof Powis added: A good rule of thumb is: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Modern fads of detox teas, laxative drinks and appetite suppressant pills also promise the earth but can cost mind and body.

Get-fit-quick solutions can affect the digestive system and cause heart problems, as well as impacting mental health, by driving people towards seeking an idealised but unattainable body image.

The NHSs warning follows calls earlier this year for social media firms to crack down on influential celebrities posting misleading get fit quick" adverts.

READ NOW:High blood pressure: Juice proven to lower your reading[NEWS]

Kim Kardashian West was criticised in 2018 for advertising appetite-suppressing lollipops to more than 100 million followers on Instagram, in a post which was later deleted.

Instagram clamped down on diet and cosmetic surgery posts in September, announcing new rules that will see some hidden from under-18s and others promoting "miraculous" weight loss products removed.

With one in four young people saying their appearance is their top concern, Professor Powis warned that easy availability of quick-fix products online and on the high street including buy one get one free offers could exploit body image anxiety.

There is no doubt that some of us could benefit from shedding a few pounds, with two thirds of UK adults either overweight or obese.

DON'T MISS: Eddie Hall weight loss: Strongman lost five stone - how?[NEWS] Weight loss: One man dropped4stone following diet plan[ANALYSIS] Carole Middleton weight loss: How Kates mother stays slim[VIDEO]

The most recent Health Survey for England found that just 28 per cent of adults and 18 per cent of children ate five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day in 2018.

More than half of adults (56 per cent) were found to be at increased, high, or very high risk of chronic disease due to their waist circumference and BMI.

However, Prof Powis stressed the importance of losing weight safely using the tried and tested methods which have worked for generations: eating well and exercising often.

He added: Alongside cutting-edge treatments and improved access to care, the NHS Long Term Plan is helping people to stay in control of their own health, including the revolutionary Diabetes Prevention Programme which helps people to lose weight safely, while NHS.uk has helpful tips, including a 12-week weight loss plan, alongside recommended apps to help boost fitness.

The British Nutrition Foundation also urged people to ditch the January diet and keep healthy eating simple.

The foundations science director Sara Stanner said: Although many of us start the year with the best intentions to get healthy, in reality, following a complicated diet plan can often just be too time-consuming, and too expensive to keep up.

To make New Years healthy eating pledges last, you need to ditch the January diet, and take a step back to consider the basics of healthy eating.

For quick and simple healthy options, Stanner recommended stocking up on certain canned and frozen foods which can help you put together a balanced dish in a hurry.

She said: Despite frequent media attention around the importance of clean eating, healthy food doesnt have to mean expensive ingredients and cooking absolutely everything from scratch.

The term processed foods covers a wide range of different foods with varying nutritional qualities.

While some are not healthy choices, others, like canned pulses or frozen vegetables, can be part of a healthy diet, and can help you to cook balanced meals, even when youre in a hurry.

Cost can be a large barrier when it comes to improving your diet, but with some savvy shopping, healthy eating doesnt need to break the bank.

Economy ranges are usually great value, and nutritionally there is often little difference between them and the standard or branded versions.

View original post here:
Britons warned AGAINST fad diets by top doc and NHS director Slim chance of success! - Express

It is very beneficial to keep your brain sharp and focused. You should check out our best brain health tips by clicking here.

While you might have heard years ago that humans only use about 10 percent of their brains, this has since been proven incorrect. In fact, most of the brain is active most of the time.

Our goal should be to keep our brain healthy and happy to keep it in good working order. We are here to help you with the best brain health tips, so you can keep your brain healthy for more years.

Continue reading this article as we go over important brain health tips.

1. Dont Underestimate Sleep

There has been a trend over the past few years that pushed people toward sleeping as little as possible. Stories about CEOs that woke up at 4 AM with only a few hours of sleep were showcased as being the smartest and most well functioning people in the business world.

More people are beginning to see the importance of sleep and how it plays into our brain function. Lack of sleep is no longer a badge of honor, but people are now noticing they can get more done on a good nights rest.

The brain doesnt go off when you sleep, but its hard at work making sure everything we learned throughout the day is neatly organized in our brains.

2. Take Time to Exercise

Exercise is good for much more than your physical body. Exercise helps your brain health and even makes you feel better emotionally.

As long as youre using good form and paying attention to any doctors orders, exercise is a free way to get many benefits for your brain and body without any adverse side effects.

Exercise helps your brain cells grow as well as helps with the connections between brain cells. The growth factors put off through exercise helps your brain in ways we understand but also in ways we have no idea about yet that may be even more powerful.

3. Stimulate Your Mind

Scientists spend years studying rodent behavior to learn how the brain works. One of the things they have discovered is that mental stimulation is key.

When you use your brain on different activities, you are going to stimulate new connections between nerve cells. The brain can even generate new cells when doing brainy activities.

Doing brainy activities can help you hedge against future brain cell loss, so to say these activities are important is an understatement.

4. Improve Your Diet

Eating well is one of the most important things you can do for your brain health. Vegetables should be in your diet when you want to help your brain health, so even if you dont love vegetables, you need to find a way to get these in your diet.

Oily fish are also helpful for the brain because of the omega-3 fatty acids that help with improved memory and overall brain function.

5. Manage Your Stress Levels

Stress will keep you from being able to learn because it prioritizes immediate information and gives you a shorter attention span.

When we try to learn and perform tasks under stress, we are not giving our work the best of our abilities, and we are hurting our brain health.

Learning what works for your stress management is essential if you want to have your brain working at its highest capacity and being able to maintain and even gain health.

Some people choose to medicate to help with stress levels, but there are natural means of managing stress if you dont want to use medication.

6. Learn Something New

If youre constantly doing the same things, your brain health can decrease. Keeping yourself busy learning new things will allow your brain to be at its best health.

Whether youre learning a new hobby, language, or skill, any new learning will help your brain. Even learning something small can help with your brain health, so dont be afraid to choose to go a different route to work, learn how to play a video game, or something similar.

7. Avoid Toxins

We come in contact with enough toxins we dont mean to come in contact with, but putting toxins in our bodies is anything but helpful.

Do you drink a lot of alcohol, or do you use tobacco? Taking these toxins in your body can affect your brain badly, and youll notice that your mood is off, your memory is decreasing, and you lack in cognition.

8. Develop Strong Relationships

Having strong relationships with different types of people challenges you to be more creative. Not only will you have to be creative to learn how to communicate with different people, but you are going to learn things you wouldnt have otherwise learned.

Learning through conversations with your friends and family is a good way to gain information and perspective.

9. Meditate

Our brains are constantly on, and oftentimes, we are fighting against them with our own agenda. Meditation is a great way to allow our brains to have some time to themselves.

Mindfulness and meditation help our mental and physical health. Research is now supporting that meditation improves concentration and memory.

Brain Health Tips for the Win

Now you know these important brain health tips and can keep your brain healthy for years to come.

Do you want to learn more about health, wellness, and other important topics? Our site is full of articles that can help you as youre working to keep your health and wellness on track.

Browse our site to find other health-related articles that can help you in your goals, drop a bookmark, and come back again soon.

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9 Brain Health Tips That Can Help You Stay Sharp and Focused - Thrive Global

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Millennials (born 1980-2000) are the largest and most educated generation. But, they are also the most unhealthy.

Despite the fact that many millennials are all about their yoga boutique trends, green juices, and meditation memberships, they are in worse health than their older counterparts, Generation X (born 1965-19790).

The wellness trend isnt translating into actually being healthy, according to research.

A study conducted by Blue Cross Blue Shield estimates that without intervention, millennials could see mortality rates increase to 40% more than Gen-Zers of the same age.

So, what are the health issues causing this rapid decline and concern for the future?

Millennials behavioral health is becoming a widespread concern. Rates of major depression have increased by 31%, rates of psychotic conditions have increased by 15%, and rates of substance use have risen 10%. The unfortunate truth here is that overall health appears to be worse for female millennials compared to their male counterparts, especially in regards to major depression, Type 2 diabetes, and endocrine conditions.

It doesnt stop here, though. Depression, anxiety, and loneliness are on the rise for millennials, and all generations.

Given that millennials make up the majority of the workforce, their overall health will largely impact the entire economys health. Unhealthy employees are less productive, and their lower health levels could cost millennials more than $4,500 per year (or $375/month). When you consider that millennials spend on average $4,300 per year on entertainment and apparel alone, that reduction in expendable cash will hurt the economy.

Now that you understand how serious this really is, its time to consider what you can do today to improve your health.

1. Reduce your screen time.

There is no secret that millennials are some of the most connected people online today, and yet 30% have reported always or often feeling lonely while 27% say they have no close friends. This loneliness is in large part due to social media, according to a study by Penn State, which found a strong correlation between increased time spent on social media and decreased well-being.

To combat this loneliness, dedicate time away from your social media in order to work on building face-to-face connections. Personal interaction is something so many people crave, yet dont actively seek out. According to the BlueZone studies, the healthiest regions of the world, researchers found that among diet, exercise and adequate sleep, a sense of community was what kept these people so healthy. Dont limit it to people just your age! Build relationships with your grandparents, and dont forget your younger family members.

Many young professionals live far away from their immediate family, which makes it all the more important to establish new relationships and a sense of community. Start to attend meetup groups, join a community-focused gym or become a member of a networking group that meets regularly.

If stepping away completely from social media sounds too difficult, or perhaps it is a necessity for your business, simply take note of how you use it on a daily basis. The way you use social media largely affects the impact it has on your mental well-being.

Additional data has shown that people who generate a connected community online are less likely to associate with depression and anxiety as opposed to someone who has high usage on a wide variety of platforms with a broad audience. What this means is, in order to get the most out of social media, create a niche community that you connect with, as opposed to scrolling through random sites and strangers profiles. The key here is quality over quantity.

2. Visit your doctor.

Preventative health matters. This is something that hasnt seemed to catch on with millennials considering that two-thirds of them report not going to a doctor until they are sick or in need of urgent care.

Im no health expert, but I can confidently state that there are some great advantages to visiting a doctor annually, even if you dont feel ill. They can perform blood work, check your blood pressure, run an MRT test to learn what causes allergies and inflammation specific to you. An overall exam today goes far beyond listening to your breathing with a stethoscope. You might have been running around all year without taking the time to notice a small mole changing color or that your heart was literally skipping beats.

A doctors check-up will help you catch signs and symptoms before they become something more serious. Schedule out annual recurring dermatology, gynecology, and optometry appointments. There are many illnesses, such as cervical cancer, that if caught early can be easily treated, but if left untested turn serious.

3. Consider your health before your finances.

Open enrollment for health insurance started last month (November) and that has meant many people are considering which health care plan to get, or whether they should enroll at all.

It might be tempting to forgo health care given the recent changes in 2019, especially if you dont have a serious illness. Health insurance plans can be expensive. In fact, the average monthly cost for an individual was $547 in 2018. You might be thinking about all the great things you could do with that money instead.

So why pay a monthly fee for something you wont use? Well, consider that an ER visit without insurance will run you anywhere from $150 upwards of $3,000 and in some instan

ces reach $20,000 depending on the severity. A recent study unveiled that 66% of all bankruptcies are tied to medical issues, either from the exorbitant cost for care or for the time out of work due to illness. Already, your insurance plan would be worth that one visit.

Realize that you are the most important thing you can invest in, not your house, not your social media profile... you. If your physical isnt working, you cannot perform on a mental level.

Being healthy is the greatest gift and most rewarding investment you can give yourself.

Link:
Millennials: The Most Unhealthy Generation At Work - Forbes

Eddie Hall is the former Worlds Strongest Man, best known for his record-holding 500kg deadlift in 2016 and winning the title of Worlds Strongest Man in 2017. After announcing his retirement from the strongman competition, the 31-year-old has since slimmed down by an incredible five stone, citing health fears as his motivation - how did he do it?

Today, Eddie appears on ITVs The Chase Celebrity Special, hosted by Bradley Walsh, alongside Dani Harmer, Chemmy Alcott and Alex Horn, going up against the Chasers.

Previously, it was reported that Eddie had chosen to go on a weight loss journey, citing health fears as his motivation, in order to drop five stone.

The decision to overhaul his lifestyle comes as no surprise after he cast light on the grueling daily routine he put his body through during his quest to become the strongest man in the world.

In 2017, the strongman released a tell-all book, titled Strongman: My Story, where he recalled the weeks leading up to setting the world record and recalled how it put his relationship with his family under strain.

He wrote in 2017: Being a foul-mouthed history-making cheeky behemoth does come at a cost.

Ever since agreeing to do the lift I have had to virtually ignore my wife and kids and, over the last six months, I have spent no more than a few hours in their company.

That in itself has obviously been a massive sacrifice for all of us but, in truth, its just the tip of the iceberg.

"My daily routine has been to eat, sleep, train, recover and repeat and in addition to a couple of short but extremely severe bouts of depression, which I think were triggered by stress and isolation, I have gradually become less mobile.

Eddie went on to explain why it was critical for him to follow the strict regime.

He added: In order to lift such a massive weight I had to put on an extra 15kg in weight and right now I am just over 31 stone.

My God, its been hard though.

I have suffered all kinds of pain over the years, but preparing for this has been a different kind of Hell and even now I am in a very, very dark place.

After winning the title in 2017, the athlete became concerned about his health and decided to slim down.

He said: When I won the worlds strongest man at 29, I was 31st 7lb, thats what I had to be the strongest man on the planet.

I had a few health implications, working with blood doctors and nutritionists I got a bit worried.

So, how did Eddie Hall lose weight?

Hall revealed he cut back on carbohydrates in a bid to shape up and managed to drop around five stone.

I cut my carbs out and over the last two years I lost a total of 30kg, or five stone, and I feel a lot better for it and am enjoying my life better for it.

Hall previously revealed to Express.co.uk that he used swimming, among other cardio exercises to shed the weight and get back into a slimmer shape.

He said earlier this year: What I do now is Ive thrown in a couple of boxing sessions a week.

I do a land-based training session, I do a swimming session, and then I bought a push-bike as well so Im doing a lot of cycling.

Ive probably piled on about five or six hours a week in cardio on top of my weight training.

Ive got a six pack and Im quite happy to stay at this, until I get a bit older [in his late 40s and 50s] when maybe Ill have to reduce the weight a little bit more.

As well as including cardio exercise to burn off the weight, Hall reduced his daily calorie intake from the whopping 10,000 calories he was used to.

He explained removing unhealthy carbs can be the best way for dieters to get into shape.

The best tip I have would be cut the carbs a little bit, they are the source of all health and obesity problems in this country, Eddie claimed.

That was the easiest thing I did, up my proteins and fats and cut the carbs a little bit and it worked for me first hand.

Read the rest here:
Eddie Hall weight loss: Strongman lost five stone by cutting this one food out of diet - Express

As we continue through the holiday season, it is good to remember that experiencing the holiday blues can be normal especially after the Christmas season is over. There is so much excitement around the holidays, and after all of the anticipation, it feels like Christmas Day flies by in the blink of an eye. It is common to feel down after the holidays, but there are some self-care strategies you can use to combat it.

Self-care is defined as the deliberate engagement in an activity that promotes your own mental, emotional and physical wellness. Below are a few viable self-care tactics to use as we continue through the holiday season.

Spend time in nature

During winter, it can be hard to find the motivation or even the means to get outside as a result of cold, ice and snow but there are other ways to stay in touch with nature through the season. For instance, listening to nature sounds on your computer, such as the sounds of chirping birds or a running creek, can have a positive effect on your mood. Other ideas for incorporating the outdoors into your daily life include keeping plants in your home or office, displaying pictures of nature in your home or office, or even creating a personal sandbox full of texturized items that remind you of the outdoors.

Mindfulness

Another way to promote self-care is practicing mindfulness. A useful and more readily available mindfulness technique is the grounding technique that taps into the five senses. For instance, this could be spending a few extra minutes noticing the way your coffee looks, tastes, smells, feels and sounds as you drink it on your way to work. The primary goal is to remain present in the moment.

Acudetox

Acudetox (auricular acupuncture) is a method of self-care that is rooted in Chinese medicine. There are five specific points in the ear that are needled, each point corresponding to a different emotion and a different part of the body. Sessions generally last about 45 minutes, during which individuals are able to sit quietly without having to speak or listen. Some people draw, journal, sleep, meditate, pray or whatever quiet activity is preferable. Acudetox is proven to be effective for anxiety, cravings (drugs, alcohol, nicotine) and insomnia, as well as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Region Ten offers Acudetox free to the public from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday at 800 Preston Ave.

Saying no

It seems easier said than done sometimes, especially when there is a holiday event around every corner and just not enough time. But it is important to remember that it is OK to say no. Setting limits with family and friends is completely acceptable. Checking in with yourself and knowing when you are feeling overwhelmed is a great skill to learn, and it only gets better with practice.

Be kind to yourself

Finally, as we approach a new year, we are inevitably approaching resolution season. This is the time of year when people promise to diet, exercise, quit smoking, etc. Resolutions tend to carry an all-or-nothing ideology, as in, If I dont lose the weight, Ive failed. Instead of setting resolutions, try setting intentions for yourself. For instance, set an intention to practice patience with others, or to be open to new experiences. The reality is that we are all doing the best we can, so, please, be kind to yourself.

Additionally, if you or someone you know is struggling to the point that theres a concern about safety, please contact Region Ten Emergency Services at (434) 972-1800.

Colleen Hoover is an engagement specialist with Region Tens BOOST Wellness Program.

More:
Vital Signs: Commit to self-care during the winter months - The Daily Progress

Victoria Beckhams opening up about her eating and drinking habits.

The former member of the Spice Girls, who heads up her own eponymous luxury label, shared what her diet includes in a YouTube video published on Dec. 11, 2019, where she answered the most Googled questions about herself.

The designer who shares four children with her longtime husband, David Beckham, offered up details about her diet in the five-minute video. Answering the first question, What is Victoria Beckhams diet? the 45-year-old shared whats included in her meals. While she reaches for fresh foods that are packed with good-for-you nutrients she admitted to making room for a treat or two.

Beckham called her diet healthy, saying [it includes] lots of fresh fish, fresh vegetables, fruit, [and] lots of water to keep hydrated. When shes not guzzling water like other celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez who is known to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, the former pop star drinks lots of tequila and lots of red wine.

Watch Beckham answer other FAQs about herself in the video below:

While Beckham once told Vogue shed skip meals to fit into a tight dress later, as a mom she makes a point to go without food while eating with her family. She told Glamour shes adopted a positive attitude toward food.

You realize they notice everything, Beckham said. I would never sit down with my kids and skip a meal. You need to show little people how to be healthy and happy with who they are, she explained.

When shes not enjoying healthy meals with the occasional glass of red wine or tequila or working, Beckham can be found on the treadmill watching TV. The designer starts her mornings off with exercise by doing a mix of uphill fast walking, jogging, running, she told Womens Health. Thats the only time I watch TV boxsets, documentaries so I look forward to that, Beckham said.

After cardio, shes not done. Beckham continues with strength training.

She continues for at least another hour on other aspects of training. Beckham does 30-minutes legs, 30-minutes arms, toning and conditioning, then loads of planks and that kind of thing for my core, the designer said.

After her intense gym session is over, Beckham goes on with the rest of her day whether that means dropping her kids off at school, heading to the office, or traveling. While the time she spends in the gym might seem excessive to some, the mother and business owner works especially hard in the gym because she asks a lot of her body.

I expect a lot from my body Im 44, Ive got four kids, I work a lot, I travel, she told the publication at the time. For me to do all that, I have to eat healthily and work out.

Read more:
Victoria Beckham Says Her Diet Includes 'Lots of Tequila and Lots of Red Wine' - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

More than 5,600 people and more than 1,000 volunteers took part in the Christmas Congress organised by the local diocese. Almost 500 people with leprosy (Hansens Disease) were examined and received drugs for free. For Bishop Nguyen Van De, even with different faiths, humans have a common Creator and a paradise. Dec 29, 2019

By Ngoc Lan For Catholics in the Diocese of Thi Bnh, in the coastal province with the same name in northern Vietnam, the Christmas season provided an opportunity to renew their commitment to disabled people and people on the margins of society.

The local Church has been doing this via a number of initiatives that offer material and spiritual support, comfort, moments of sharing and medical assistance.

For the 18th consecutive year, the Diocese and its bishop, Mgr Phwro (Peter) Nguyen Van De, organised a Christmas Congress for the disabled on 14-16 December at the Bishoprics General House (Nha Chung) with the participation of over 5,600 disabled people and more than 1,000 volunteers.

In addition to Thai Binh, participants came from 100 social units or centres in other northern provinces like Nam Dinh, Hung Yen, Ninh Bnh, Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh and Hai Duong.

On the first day, the medical staff (Catholic and non-Catholic doctors and nurses) provided free medical examinations and medicines to more than 500 leprosy patients. The volunteers came from H Noi, Ho Chi Minh City (Si Gn) and Thi Bnh, as well as the Diocese of Incheon, South Korea.

Mgr Mario Michiaki Yamanouchi, Bishop of Saitama (Japan), took part in the outreach. Children and young people from the local Diocese got patients involved in recreational, cultural and sporting activities over the other two days.

The latter culminated in a Mass celebrated by Mgr Nguyen Van De on 15 December, attended by other bishops, priests, religious and seminarians.

During the service, the assembled congregation recited a special prayer for those who are sick, disabled and suffering. Unlike other years, the faithful were able to listen to some "lessons on the Word of God given by the prelates.

In particular, Mgr Giuse (Joseph) Chau Ngoc Tri, Bishop of Cao Bang-Lang Son, stressed the importance God gave to humanity by sending his Son to earth.

Mgr Yamanouchi said he was very happy to attend the event organised by the local diocese. I wish Thai Binh and Saitama become more united in fraternal spirit.

Bishop Nguyen Van De summed up the experience of the Congress, saying: "We have been together, sharing joys and sorrows, preparing to celebrate Christmas.

We invite you, as well as those who do not have the same belief, to share Christmas, for we have a common paradise, a common Creator, a common earth and a common atmosphere whose air we breathe.

We have a lot in common. There are joys and sorrows in life. We also have parents and ancestors, as well as happiness, sadness and injustice in our life. So let us hope to have a peaceful and happy life.

Finally, he noted, Jesus came to earth to love and save us. You, brothers and sisters, should strongly believe that.--Asia News

Visit link:

Christmas in Thai Binh: medicine and spiritual support for more than 5,000 people with disabilities and leprosy - Malaysian Christian News

The smallest scale events have giant consequences. And no field of science demonstrates that better than quantum physics, which explores the strange behaviors of mostly very small things. In 2019, quantum experiments went to new and even stranger places and practical quantum computing inched ever closer to reality, despite some controversies. These were the most important and surprising quantum events of 2019.

If one quantum news item from 2019 makes the history books, it will probably be a big announcement that came from Google: The tech company announced that it had achieved "quantum supremacy." That's a fancy way of saying that Google had built a computer that could perform certain tasks faster than any classical computer could. (The category of classical computers includes any machine that relies on regular old 1s and 0s, such as the device you're using to read this article.)

Google's quantum supremacy claim, if borne out, would mark an inflection point in the history of computing. Quantum computers rely on strange small-scale physical effects like entanglement, as well as certain basic uncertainties in the nano-universe, to perform their calculations. In theory, that quality gives these machines certain advantages over classical computers. They can easily break classical encryption schemes, send perfectly encrypted messages, run some simulations faster than classical computers can and generally solve hard problems very easily. The difficulty is that no one's ever made a quantum computer fast enough to take advantage of those theoretical advantages or at least no one had, until Google's feat this year.

Not everyone buys the tech company's supremacy claim though. Subhash Kak, a quantum skeptic and researcher at Oklahoma State University, laid out several of the reasons in this article for Live Science.

Read more about Google's achievement of quantum supremacy.

Another 2019 quantum inflection point came from the world of weights and measures. The standard kilogram, the physical object that defined the unit of mass for all measurements, had long been a 130-year-old, platinum-iridium cylinder weighing 2.2 lbs. and sitting in a room in France. That changed this year.

The old kilo was pretty good, barely changing mass over the decades. But the new kilo is perfect: Based on the fundamental relationship between mass and energy, as well as a quirk in the behavior of energy at quantum scales, physicists were able to arrive at a definition of the kilogram that won't change at all between this year and the end of the universe.

Read more about the perfect kilogram.

A team of physicists designed a quantum experiment that showed that facts actually change depending on your perspective on the situation. Physicists performed a sort of "coin toss" using photons in a tiny quantum computer, finding that the results were different at different detectors, depending on their perspectives.

"We show that, in the micro-world of atoms and particles that is governed by the strange rules of quantum mechanics, two different observers are entitled to their own facts," the experimentalists wrote in an article for Live Science. "In other words, according to our best theory of the building blocks of nature itself, facts can actually be subjective."

Read more about the lack of objective reality.

For the first time, physicists made a photograph of the phenomenon Albert Einstein described as "spooky action at a distance," in which two particles remain physically linked despite being separated across distances. This feature of the quantum world had long been experimentally verified, but this was the first time anyone got to see it.

Read more about the unforgettable image of entanglement.

In some ways the conceptual opposite of entanglement, quantum superposition is enables a single object to be in two (or more) places at once, a consequence of matter existing as both particles and waves. Typically, this is achieved with tiny particles like electrons.

But in a 2019 experiment, physicists managed to pull off superposition at the largest scale ever: using hulking, 2,000-atom molecules from the world of medical science known as "oligo-tetraphenylporphyrins enriched with fluoroalkylsulfanyl chains."

Read about the macro-scale achievement of superposition.

Under normal circumstances, heat can cross a vacuum in only one manner: in the form of radiation. (That's what you're feeling when the sun's rays cross space to beat on your face on a summer day.) Otherwise, in standard physical models, heat moves in two manners: First, energized particles can knock into other particles and transfer their energy. (Wrap your hands around a warm cup of tea to feel this effect.) Second, a warm fluid can displace a colder fluid. (That's what happens when you turn the heater on in your car, flooding the interior with warm air.) So without radiation, heat can't cross a vacuum.

But quantum physics, as usual, breaks the rules. In a 2019 experiment, physicists took advantage of the fact that at the quantum scale, vacuums aren't truly empty. Instead, they're full of tiny, random fluctuations that pop into and out of existence. At a small enough scale, the researchers found, heat can cross a vacuum by jumping from one fluctuation to the next across the apparently empty space.

Read more about heat leaping across the quantum vacuum of space.

This next finding is far from an experimentally verified discovery, and it's even well outside the realm of traditional quantum physics. But researchers working with quantum gravity a theoretical construct designed to unify the worlds of quantum mechanics and Einstein's general relativity showed that under certain circumstances an event might cause an effect that occurred earlier in time.

Certain very heavy objects can influence the flow of time in their immediate vicinity due to general relativity. We know this is true. And quantum superposition dictates that objects can be in multiple places at once. Put a very heavy object (like a big planet) in a state of quantum superposition, the researchers wrote, and you can design oddball scenarios where cause and effect take place in the wrong order.

Read more about cause and effect reversing.

Physicists have long known about a strange effect known as "quantum tunneling," in which particles seem to pass through seemingly impassable barriers. It's not because they're so small that they find holes, though. In 2019, an experiment showed how this really happens.

Quantum physics says that particles are also waves, and you can think of those waves as probability projections for the location of the particle. But they're still waves. Smash a wave against a barrier in the ocean, and it will lose some energy, but a smaller wave will appear on the other side. A similar effect occurs in the quantum world, the researchers found. And as long as there's a bit of probability wave left on the far side of the barrier, the particle has a chance of making it through the obstruction, tunneling through a space where it seems it should not fit.

Read more about the amazing quantum tunneling effect.

This was a big year for ultra-high-pressure physics. And one of the boldest claims came from a French laboratory, which announced that it had created a holy grail substance for materials science: metallic hydrogen. Under high enough pressures, such as those thought to exist at the core of Jupiter, single-proton hydrogen atoms are thought to act as an alkali metal. But no one had ever managed to generate pressures high enough to demonstrate the effect in a lab before. This year, the team said they'd seen it at 425 gigapascals (4.2 million times Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level). Not everyone buys that claim, however.

Read more about metallic hydrogen.

Zap a mass of supercooled atoms with a magnetic field, and you'll see "quantum fireworks": jets of atoms firing off in apparently random directions. Researchers suspected there might be a pattern in the fireworks, but it wasn't obvious just from looking. With the aid of a computer, though, researchers discovered a shape to the fireworks effect: a quantum turtle. No one's yet sure why it takes that shape, however.

Read more about the quantum turtle.

Time's supposed to move in only one direction: forward. Spill some milk on the ground, and there's no way to perfectly dry out the dirt and return that same clean milk back into the cup. A spreading quantum wave function doesn't unspread.

Except in this case, it did. Using a tiny, two-qubit quantum computer, physicists were able to write an algorithm that could return every ripple of a wave to the particle that created it unwinding the event and effectively turning back the arrow of time.

Read more about reversing time's arrow.

A nice feature of quantum computers, which rely on superpositions rather than 1s and 0s, is their ability to play out multiple calculations at once. That advantage is on full display in a new quantum prediction engine developed in 2019. Simulating a series of connected events, the researchers behind the engine were able to encode 16 possible futures into a single photon in their engine. Now that's multitasking!

Read more about the 16 possible futures.

Originally published on Live Science.

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The 12 Most Important and Stunning Quantum Experiments of 2019 - Livescience.com

As 2019 winds to a close, the journey towards fully realised quantum computing continues: physicists have been able to demonstrate quantum teleportation between two computer chips for the first time.

Put simply, this breakthrough means that information was passed between the chips not by physical electronic connections, but through quantum entanglement by linking two particles across a gap using the principles of quantum physics.

We don't yet understand everything about quantum entanglement (it's the same phenomenon Albert Einstein famously called "spooky action"), but being able to use it to send information between computer chips is significant, even if so far we're confined to a tightly controlled lab environment.

"We were able to demonstrate a high-quality entanglement link across two chips in the lab, where photons on either chip share a single quantum state," explains quantum physicist Dan Llewellynfrom the University of Bristol in the UK.

"Each chip was then fully programmed to perform a range of demonstrations which utilise the entanglement."

Hypothetically, quantum entanglement can work over any distance. Two particles get inextricably linked together, which means looking at one tells us something about the other, wherever it is (in this case, on a separate computer chip).

To achieve their result, the team generated pairs of entangled photons, encoding quantum information in a way that ensured low levels of interference and high levels of accuracy. Up to four qubits the quantum equivalent of classical computing bits were linked together.

"The flagship demonstration was a two-chip teleportation experiment, whereby the individual quantum state of a particle is transmitted across the two chips after a quantum measurement is performed," says Llewellyn.

"This measurement utilises the strange behaviour of quantum physics, which simultaneously collapses the entanglement link and transfers the particle state to another particle already on the receiver chip."

The researchers were then able to run experiments in which the fidelity reached 91 percent as in, almost all the information was accurately transmitted and logged.

Scientists are learning more and more about how quantum entanglement works, but for now it's very hard to control. It's not something you can install inside a laptop: you need a lot of bulky, expensive scientific equipment to get it working.

But the hope is that advances in the lab, such as this one, might one day lead to advances in computing that everyone can take advantage of super-powerful processing power and a next-level internet with built-in hacking protections.

The low data loss and high stability of the teleportation, as well as the high level of control that the scientists were able to get over their experiments, are all promising signs in terms of follow-up research.

It's also a useful study for efforts to get quantum physics working with the silicon chip (Si-chip) tech used in today's computers, and the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) techniques used to make those chips.

"In the future, a single Si-chip integration of quantum photonic devices and classical electronic controls will open the door for fully chip-based CMOS-compatible quantum communication and information processing networks," says quantum physicist Jianwei Wang, from Peking University in China.

The research has been published in Nature Physics.

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Physicists Just Achieved The First-Ever Quantum Teleportation Between Computer Chips - ScienceAlert

Advancing technology requires regulators to act quickly to develop standards and defenses against cyberattacks.

After a false-start in September, Google provided the first peer-reviewed evidence of quantum supremacy a month later in the prestigious journal Nature. The announcement was the latest crescendo in the development of quantum computersemerging technologies that can efficiently solve complicated computational problems with hardware that takes advantage of quantum mechanics.

With data privacy and national security at stake, agile and adaptive regulatory strategies are needed to manage the risks of fast-approaching quantum computers without thwarting their potential benefits.

Although classical computers use binary bits to perform calculations, devices under development, like Googles, use qubits that are not limited to 1s and 0s when they process information. Instead, through phenomena like superposition and entanglement, groups of qubits can have exponentially more power by not merely being on or off, but also being some blend of on and off at the same time. With the right programming and hardware design, quantum computers should be able to work smarter than classical computers when making sense of large datasets.

Demonstrating that a quantum computer can actually solve problems even supercomputers cannot handleso called quantum supremacy (or, preferably, the less violent quantum advantage)has long been an envied goal in the quantum engineering field. But, as the CEO of leading quantum technology firm Rigetti noted, practical quantum devices will create new risks and could lead to unanticipated policy challenges.

Setting risks aside, quantum technologies do promise exciting near-term benefits. Quantum advantage highlights the raw power of these devices to work with big datasets and could be used to advance drug discovery, business analytics, artificial intelligence, traffic control, and more. Although IBM has moved to cast doubt on the achievement, Googles publication claims the team is only one creative algorithm away from valuable near-term applications. The world could almost be at the dawn of an era of quantum computers with day-to-day applications.

But practical quantum computers could also rip through current cybersecurity infrastructure. The abilities of these emerging technologies create significant national security concerns, both in the United States and for other countries investing heavily in quantum technologies, such as China.

Quantum cyberattacks could also put private or sensitive information at risk or expose corporate intellectual property and trade secrets.

To be sure, one developer showing quantum advantage for a single task does not mean the quantum cyberattacks will start tomorrow, so panic should be avoided. But, despite the hype, attaining quantum advantage does signal an approaching time when these attacks could become possible.

Achieving quantum advantage or supremacy is bittersweet, then, given the potential for both benefit and harm. Even though this is the first report of the achievement in the United States, it is not impossible that this goal has been reached elsewhere or will be soon. With this understanding, what should the regulatory and policy responses look like to manage novel risks while still encouraging benefits?

Three strategies can help prepare for the coming wave of quantum computers without undermining innovation, drawing on technical standards and codes of conduct as regulatory tools.

First, private standards will be useful for responding to quantum concerns. These voluntary, technical standards can give government and industry a common language to speak by creating agreed-upon definitions and ways of measuring quantum computers performance capabilities. Technical standards can therefore facilitate policy conversations about how powerful quantum computers really are and what types of risks are realistic and deserve policymakers attention.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE) is currently working on setting standards for terminology and performance metrics in quantum computing. Given the global authority and reputation of IEEE, these standards could become quite influential when adopted and even be helpful for industry. To get ahead of potential quantum cyberattacks, experts from government, industry, academia, and NGOs should participate in standardization efforts to accelerate this work and add different perspectives to make standards more comprehensive and inclusive.

Second, the quantum computing industry itself can be proactive even without government taking the lead. I argue in a recent paper that, to guide responsible development of these powerful new technologies, quantum computing companies could create codes of conduct todetail best practices and principles for the responsible deployment of quantum computing.

Codes of conduct can show that an emerging industry is trying to be responsible and transparent while publicly setting expectations for good behavior. With concerns that quantum computers might be used for nefarious purposes or fall into the wrong hands, the industry should respond by committing to act responsibly through quantum codesand have a chance to help define what responsibility means in this new area as an added benefit.

Finally, the industry should work to support the development of standards for another technology intended to defend from quantum cyberattacks, called post-quantum cryptography. Quantum computers excel at solving problems that require factoring large numbers, which gets right to the heart of current cybersecurity methods. Post-quantum cryptography tries to counter this strength by creating new types of encryption that quantum computers will be less adept at cracking.

Post-quantum methods still must be fully developed, standardized, and then implemented in critical networkscreating a need for policy and governance efforts to facilitate the transition to a post-quantum world. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has begun to work on post-quantum standards, but these efforts will not finish overnight. The potential urgency of practical quantum computers means that work to standardize and advance post-quantum cryptographic methods deserves greater attention and resources from both the public and private sectors, as well as expert groups and non-governmental organizations.

Googles announcement that it has reached quantum advantage or supremacy is a great achievement in the long push to develop pragmatic quantum computers that can benefit society. But even though this announcement does not mean cybersecurity ends tomorrow, the security and privacy risks of quantum computers deserve policymakers prompt attention.

Responding to these challenges with public and private standards and codes of conduct should promote responsibility, security, and growth in the development of emerging quantum technologies.

Walter G. Johnson, a J.D. candidate and research assistant at the Sandra Day OConnor College of Law at Arizona State University, where he also holds a masters degree in science and technology policy.

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Quantum Supremacy and the Regulation of Quantum Technologies - The Regulatory Review