One of the goals of theSuperconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Centeris to build a beyond-state-of-the-art quantum computer based on superconducting technologies.The center also will develop new quantum sensors, which could lead to the discovery of the nature of dark matter and other elusive subatomic particles.

The U.S. Department of Energys Fermilab has been selected to lead one of five national centers to bring about transformational advances in quantum information science as a part of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative, announced the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy today.

The initiative provides the newSuperconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Centerfunding with the goal of building and deploying a beyond-state-of-the-art quantum computer based on superconducting technologies. The center also will develop new quantum sensors, which could lead to the discovery of the nature of dark matter and other elusive subatomic particles. Total planned DOE funding for the center is $115 million over five years, with $15 million in fiscal year 2020 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. SQMS will also receive an additional $8 million in matching contributions from center partners.

The SQMS Center is part of a $625 million federal program to facilitate and foster quantum innovation in the United States. The 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act called for a long-term, large-scale commitment of U.S. scientific and technological resources to quantum science.

The revolutionary leaps in quantum computing and sensing that SQMS aims for will be enabled by a unique multidisciplinary collaboration that includes 20 partners national laboratories, academic institutions and industry. The collaboration brings together world-leading expertise in all key aspects: from identifying qubits quality limitations at the nanometer scale to fabrication and scale-up capabilities into multiqubit quantum computers to the exploration of new applications enabled by quantum computers and sensors.

The breadth of the SQMS physics, materials science, device fabrication and characterization technology combined with the expertise in large-scale integration capabilities by the SQMS Center is unprecedented for superconducting quantum science and technology, said SQMS Deputy Director James Sauls of Northwestern University. As part of the network of National QIS Research centers, SQMS will contribute to U.S. leadership in quantum science for the years to come.

SQMS researchers are developing long-coherence-time qubits based on Rigetti Computings state-of-the-art quantum processors. Image: Rigetti Computing

At the heart of SQMS research will be solving one of the most pressing problems in quantum information science: the length of time that a qubit, the basic element of a quantum computer, can maintain information, also called quantum coherence. Understanding and mitigating sources of decoherence that limit performance of quantum devices is critical to engineering in next-generation quantum computers and sensors.

Unless we address and overcome the issue of quantum system decoherence, we will not be able to build quantum computers that solve new complex and important problems. The same applies to quantum sensors with the range of sensitivity needed to address long-standing questions in many fields of science, said SQMS Center Director Anna Grassellino of Fermilab. Overcoming this crucial limitation would allow us to have a great impact in the life sciences, biology, medicine, and national security, and enable measurements of incomparable precision and sensitivity in basic science.

The SQMS Centers ambitious goals in computing and sensing are driven by Fermilabs achievement of world-leading coherence times in components called superconducting cavities, which were developed for particle accelerators used in Fermilabs particle physics experiments. Researchers have expanded the use of Fermilab cavities into the quantum regime.

We have the most coherent by a factor of more than 200 3-D superconducting cavities in the world, which will be turned into quantum processors with unprecedented performance by combining them with Rigettis state-of-the-art planar structures, said Fermilab scientist Alexander Romanenko, SQMS technology thrust leader and Fermilab SRF program manager. This long coherence would not only enable qubits to be long-lived, but it would also allow them to be all connected to each other, opening qualitatively new opportunities for applications.

The SQMS Centers goals in computing and sensing are driven by Fermilabs achievement of world-leading coherence times in components called superconducting cavities, which were developed for particle accelerators used in Fermilabs particle physics experiments. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

To advance the coherence even further, SQMS collaborators will launch a materials-science investigation of unprecedented scale to gain insights into the fundamental limiting mechanisms of cavities and qubits, working to understand the quantum properties of superconductors and other materials used at the nanoscale and in the microwave regime.

Now is the time to harness the strengths of the DOE laboratories and partners to identify the underlying mechanisms limiting quantum devices in order to push their performance to the next level for quantum computing and sensing applications, said SQMS Chief Engineer Matt Kramer, Ames Laboratory.

Northwestern University, Ames Laboratory, Fermilab, Rigetti Computing, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and several universities are partnering to contribute world-class materials science and superconductivity expertise to target sources of decoherence.

SQMS partner Rigetti Computing will provide crucial state-of-the-art qubit fabrication and full stack quantum computing capabilities required for building the SQMS quantum computer.

By partnering with world-class experts, our work will translate ground-breaking science into scalable superconducting quantum computing systems and commercialize capabilities that will further the energy, economic and national security interests of the United States, said Rigetti Computing CEO Chad Rigetti.

SQMS will also partner with the NASA Ames Research Center quantum group, led by SQMS Chief Scientist Eleanor Rieffel. Their strengths in quantum algorithms, programming and simulation will be crucial to use the quantum processors developed by the SQMS Center.

The Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics has been successfully collaborating with Fermilab for more than 40 years and is excited to be a member of the extraordinary SQMS team, said INFN President Antonio Zoccoli. With its strong know-how in detector development, cryogenics and environmental measurements, including the Gran Sasso national laboratories, the largest underground laboratory in the world devoted to fundamental physics, INFN looks forward to exciting joint progress in fundamental physics and in quantum science and technology.

Fermilab is excited to host this National Quantum Information Science Research Center and work with this extraordinary network of collaborators, said Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer. This initiative aligns with Fermilab and its mission. It will help us answer important particle physics questions, and, at the same time, we will contribute to advancements in quantum information science with our strengths in particle accelerator technologies, such as superconducting radio-frequency devices and cryogenics.

We are thankful and honored to have this unique opportunity to be a national center for advancing quantum science and technology, Grassellino said. We have a focused mission: build something revolutionary. This center brings together the right expertise and motivation to accomplish that mission.

The Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center at Fermilab is supported by the DOE Office of Science.

Fermilab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.

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Fermilab to lead $115 million National Quantum Information Science Research Center to build revolutionary quantum computer with Rigetti Computing,...

NASHUA, N.H. -Until the 21st Century, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computers were largely the stuff of science fiction, although quantum theory and quantum mechanics had been around for about a century. A century of great controversy, largely because Albert Einstein rejected quantum theory as originally formulated, leading to his famous statement, God does not play dice with the universe.

Today, however, the debate over quantum computing is largely about when not if these kinds of devices will come into full operation. Meanwhile, other forms of quantum technology, such as sensors, already are finding their way into military and civilian applications.

Quantum technology will be as transformational in the 21st Century as harnessing electricity was in the 19th, Michael J. Biercuk, founder and CEO of Q-CTRL Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia, and professor of Quantum Physics & Quantum Technologies at the University of Sydney, told the U.S. Office of Naval Research in a January 2019 presentation.

On that, there is virtually universal agreement. But when and how remains undetermined.

For example, asked how and when quantum computing eventually may be applied to high-performance embedded computing (HPEC), Tatjana Curcic, program manager for Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices (ONISQ) of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., says its an open question.

Until just recently, quantum computing stood on its own, but as of a few years ago people are looking more and more into hybrid approaches, Curcic says. Im not aware of much work on actually getting quantum computing into HPEC architecture, however. Its definitely not mainstream, probably because its too early.

As to how quantum computing eventually may influence the development, scale, and use of AI, she adds:

Thats another open question. Quantum machine learning is a very active research area, but is quite new. A lot of people are working on that, but its not clear at this time what the results will be. The interface between classical data, which AI is primarily involved with, and quantum computing is still a technical challenge.

Quantum information processing

According to DARPAs ONISQ webpage, the program aims to exploit quantum information processing before fully fault-tolerant quantum computers are realized.This quantum computer based on superconducting qubits is inserted into a dilution refrigerator and cooled to a temperature less than 1 Kelvin. It was built at IBM Research in Zurich.

This effort will pursue a hybrid concept that combines intermediate-sized quantum devices with classical systems to solve a particularly challenging set of problems known as combinatorial optimization. ONISQ seeks to demonstrate the quantitative advantage of quantum information processing by leapfrogging the performance of classical-only systems in solving optimization challenges, the agency states. ONISQ researchers will be tasked with developing quantum systems that are scalable to hundreds or thousands of qubits with longer coherence times and improved noise control.

Researchers will also be required to efficiently implement a quantum optimization algorithm on noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices, optimizing allocation of quantum and classical resources. Benchmarking will also be part of the program, with researchers making a quantitative comparison of classical and quantum approaches. In addition, the program will identify classes of problems in combinatorial optimization where quantum information processing is likely to have the biggest impact. It will also seek to develop methods for extending quantum advantage on limited size processors to large combinatorial optimization problems via techniques such as problem decomposition.

The U.S. government has been the leader in quantum computing research since the founding of the field, but that too is beginning to change.

In the mid-90s, NSA [the U.S. National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md.] decided to begin on an open academic effort to see if such a thing could be developed. All that research has been conducted by universities for the most part, with a few outliers, such as IBM, says Q-CTRLs Biercuk. In the past five years, there has been a shift toward industry-led development, often in cooperation with academic efforts. Microsoft has partnered with universities all over the world and Google bought a university program. Today many of the biggest hardware developments are coming from the commercial sector.

Quantum computing remains in deep space research, but there are hardware demonstrations all over the world. In the next five years, we expect the performance of these machines to be agented to the point where we believe they will demonstrate a quantum advantage for the first time. For now, however, quantum computing has no advantages over standard computing technology. quantum computers are research demonstrators and do not solve any computing problems at all. Right now, there is no reason to use quantum computers except to be ready when they are truly available.

AI and quantum computing

Nonetheless, the race to develop and deploy AI and quantum computing is global, with the worlds leading military powers seeing them along with other breakthrough technologies like hypersonics making the first to successfully deploy as dominant as the U.S. was following the first detonations of atomic bombs. That is especially true for autonomous mobile platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), interfacing with those vehicles onboard HPEC.

Of the two, AI is the closest to deployment, but also the most controversial. A growing number of the worlds leading scientists, including the late Stephen Hawking, warn real-world AI could easily duplicate the actions of the fictional Skynet in the Terminator movie series. Launched with total control over the U.S. nuclear arsenal, Skynet became sentient and decided the human race was a dangerous infestation that needed to be destroyed.

The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it will take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldnt compete and would be superseded. Stephen Hawking (2014)

Such dangers have been recognized at least as far back as the publication of Isaac Asimovs short story, Runabout, in 1942, which included his Three Laws of Robotics, designed to control otherwise autonomous robots. In the story, the laws were set down in 2058:

First Law A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Whether it would be possible to embed and ensure unbreakable compliance with such laws in an AI system is unknown. But limited degrees of AI, known as machine learning, already are in widespread use by the military and advanced stages of the technology, such as deep learning, almost certainly will be deployed by one or more nations as they become available. More than 50 nations already are actively researching battlefield robots.

Military quantum computing

AI-HPEC would give UAVs, next-generation cruise missiles, and even maneuverable ballistic missiles the ability to alter course to new targets at any point after launch, recognize counter measures, avoid, and misdirect or even destroy them.

Quantum computing, on the other hand, is seen by some as providing little, if any, advantage over traditional computer technologies, by many as requiring cooling and size, weight and power (SWaP) improvements not possible with current technologies to make it applicable to mobile platforms and by most as being little more than a research tool for perhaps decades to come.

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block to a mobile platform-based quantum computing is cooling it currently requires a cooling unit, at near absolute zero, the Military trusted computing experts are considering new generations of quantum computing for creating nearly unbreakable encryption for super-secure defense applications.size of a refrigerator to handle a fractional piece of quantum computing.

A lot of work has been done and things are being touted as operational, but the most important thing to understand is this isnt some simple physical thing you throw in suddenly and it works. That makes it harder to call it deployable youre not going to strap a quantum computing to a handheld device. A lot of solutions are still trying to deal with cryogenics and how do you deal with deployment of cryo, says Tammy Carter, senior product manager for GPGPUs and software products at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions in Ashburn, Va.

AI is now a technology in deployment. Machine learning is pretty much in use worldwide, Carter says. Were in a migration of figuring out how to use it with the systems we have. quantum computing will require a lot of engineering work and demand may not be great enough to push the effort. From a cryogenically cooled electronics perspective, I dont think there is any insurmountable problem. It absolutely can be done, its just a matter of decision making to do it, prioritization to get it done. These are not easily deployed technologies, but certainly can be deployed.

Given its current and expected near-term limitations, research has increased on the development of hybrid systems.

The longer term reality is a hybrid approach, with the quantum system not going mobile any time soon, says Brian Kirby, physicist in the Army Research Laboratory Computational & Informational Sciences Directorate in Adelphi, Md. Its a mistake to forecast a timeline, but Im not sure putting a quantum computing on such systems would be valuable. Having the quantum computing in a fixed location and linked to the mobile platform makes more sense, for now at least. There can be multiple quantum computers throughout the country; while individually they may have trouble solving some problems, networking them would be more secure and able to solve larger problems.

Broadly, however, quantum computing cant do anything a practical home computer cant do, but can potentially solve certain problems more efficiently, Kirby continues. So youre looking at potential speed-up, but there is no problem a quantum computing can solve a normal computer cant. Beyond the basics of code-breaking and quantum simulations affecting material design, right now we cant necessarily predict military applications.

Raising concerns

In some ways similar to AI, quantum computing raises nearly as many concerns as it does expectations, especially in the area of security. The latest Thales Data Threat Report says 72 percent of surveyed security experts worldwide believe quantum computing will have a negative impact on data security within the next five years.

At the same time, quantum computing is forecast to offer more robust cryptography and security solutions. For HPEC, that duality is significant: quantum computing can make it more difficult to break the security of mobile platforms, while simultaneously making it easier to do just that.

Quantum computers that can run Shors algorithm [leveraging quantum properties to factor very large numbers efficiently] are expected to become available in the next decade. These algorithms can be used to break conventional digital signature schemes (e.g. RSA or ECDSA), which are widely used in embedded systems today. This puts these systems at risk when they are used in safety-relevant long-term applications, such as automotive systems or critical infrastructures. To mitigate this risk, classical digital signature schemes used must be replaced by schemes secure against quantum computing-based attacks, according to the August 2019 proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Availability, Reliability & Securitys Post-Quantum Cryptography in Embedded Systems report.

The security question is not quite so clean-cut as armor/anti-armor, but there is a developing bifurcation between defensive and offensive applications. On the defense side, deployed quantum systems are looked at to provide encoded communications. Experts say it seems likely the level of activity in China about quantum communications, which has been a major focus for years, runs up against the development of quantum computing in the U.S. The two aspects are not clearly one-against-one, but the two moving independently.

Googles quantum supremacy demonstration has led to a rush on finding algorithms robust against quantum attack. On the quantum communications side, the development of attacks on such systems has been underway for years, leading to a whole field of research based on identifying and exploiting quantum attacks.

Quantum computing could also help develop revolutionary AI systems. Recent efforts have demonstrated a strong and unexpected link between quantum computation and artificial neural networks, potentially portending new approaches to machine learning. Such advances could lead to vastly improved pattern recognition, which in turn would permit far better machine-based target identification. For example, the hidden submarine in our vast oceans may become less-hidden in a world with AI-empowered quantum computers, particularly if they are combined with vast data sets acquired through powerful quantum-enabled sensors, according to Q-CTRLs Biercuk.

Even the relatively mundane near-term development of new quantum-enhanced clocks may impact security, beyond just making GPS devices more accurate, Biercuk continues. Quantum-enabled clocks are so sensitive that they can discern minor gravitational anomalies from a distance. They thus could be deployed by military personnel to detect underground, hardened structures, submarines or hidden weapons systems. Given their potential for remote sensing, advanced clocks may become a key embedded technology for tomorrows warfighter.

Warfighter capabilities

The early applications of quantum computing, while not embedded on mobile platforms, are expected to enhance warfighter capabilities significantly.

Jim Clark, director of quantum hardware at Intel Corp. in Santa Clara, Calif., shows one of the companys quantum processors.There is a high likelihood quantum computing will impact ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], solving logistics problems more quickly. But so much of this is in the basic research stage. While we know the types of problems and general application space, optimization problems will be some of the first where we will see advantages from quantum computing, says Sara Gamble, quantum information sciences program manager at ARL.

Biercuk says he agrees: Were not really sure there is a role for quantum computing in embedded computing just yet. quantum computing is right now very large systems embedded in mainframes, with access by the cloud. You can envision embedded computing accessing quantum computing via the cloud, but they are not likely to be very small, agile processors you would embed in a SWAP-constrained environment.

But there are many aspects of quantum technology beyond quantum computing; the combination of quantum sensors could allow much better detection in the field, Biercuk continues. The biggest potential impact comes in the areas of GPS denial, which has become one of the biggest risk factors identified in every blueprint around the world. quantum computing plays directly into this to perform dead reckoning navigation in GPS denial areas.

DARPAs Curcic also says the full power of quantum computing is still decades away, but believes ONISQ has the potential to help speed its development.

The main two approaches industry is using is superconducting quantum computing and trapped ions. We use both of those, plus cold atoms [Rydberg atoms]. We are very excited about ONISQ and seeing if we can get anything useful over classical computing. Four teams are doing hardware development with those three approaches, she says.

Because these are noisy systems, its very difficult to determine if there will be any advantages. The hope is we can address the optimization problem faster than today, which is what were working on with ONISQ. Optimization problems are everywhere, so even a small improvement would be valuable.

Beyond todays capabilities

As to how quantum computing and AI may impact future warfare, especially through HPEC, she adds: I have no doubt quantum computing will be revolutionary and well be able to do things beyond todays capabilities. The possibilities are pretty much endless, but what they are is not crystal clear at this point. Its very difficult, with great certainly, to predict what quantum computing will be able to do. Well just have to build and try. Thats why today is such an exciting time.

Curtiss Wrights Carter says he believes quantum computing and AI will be closely linked with HPEC in the future, once current limitations with both are resolved.

AI itself is based on a lot of math being done in parallel for probability answers, similar to modeling the neurons in the brain highly interconnected nodes and interdependent math calculations. Imagine a small device trying to recognize handwriting, Carter says. You run every pixel of that through lots and lots of math, combining and mixing, cutting some, amplifying others, until you get a 98 percent answer at the other end. quantum computing could help with that and researchers are looking at how you would do that, using a different level of parallel math.

How quantum computing will be applied to HPEC will be the big trick, how to get that deployed. Imagine were a SIGINT [signals intelligence] platform land, air or sea there are a lot of challenges, such as picking the right signal out of the air, which is not particularly easy, Carter continues. Once you achieve pattern recognition, you want to do code breaking to get that encrypted traffic immediately. Getting that on a deployed platform could be useful; otherwise you bring your data back to a quantum computing in a building, but that means you dont get the results immediately.

The technology research underway today is expected to show progress toward making quantum computing more applicable to military needs, but it is unlikely to produce major results quickly, especially in the area of HPEC.

Trapped ions and superconducting circuits still require a lot of infrastructure to make them work. Some teams are working on that problem, but the systems still remain room-sized. The idea of quantum computing being like an integrated circuit you just put on a circuit board were a very long way from that, Biercuk says. The systems are getting smaller, more compact, but there is a very long way to go to deployable, embeddable systems. Position, navigation and timing systems are being reduced and can be easily deployed on aircraft. Thats probably where the technology will remain in the next 20 years; but, eventually, with new technology development, quantum computing may be reduced to more mobile sizes.

The next 10 years are about achieving quantum advantage with the systems available now or iterations. Despite the acceleration we have seen, there are things that are just hard and require a lot of creativity, Biercuk continues. Were shrinking the hardware, but that hardware still may not be relevant to any deployable system. In 20 years, we may have machines that can do the work required, but in that time we may only be able to shrink them to a size that can fit on an aircraft carrier local code-breaking engines. To miniaturize this technology to put it on, say, a body-carried system, we just dont have any technology basis to claim we will get there even in 20 years. Thats open to creativity and discovery.

Even with all of the research underway worldwide, one question remains dominant.

The general challenge is it is not clear what we will use quantum computing for, notes Rad Balu, a computer scientist in ARLs Computational & Informational Sciences Directorate.

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The future of artificial intelligence and quantum computing - Military & Aerospace Electronics

Maintaining qubits stable will be the pivot to realizing the potential of quantum computing, and now researchers have managed to discover a new obstacle to this stability: natural radiation.

Natural or background radiation is produced by various sources, both natural and artificial. Cosmic rays produce natural radiation, for instance, and so do concrete buildings. It is surrounding us all the time, and so this poses something of an issue for future quantum computers.

After numerous experiments that modified the level of natural radiation around qubits, physicists could establish that this background noise does indeed push qubits off balance in a way that hinders them from operating properly.

Our study is the first to show clearly that low-level ionizing radiation in the environment degrades the performance of superconducting qubits,says physicist John Orrell, from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). These findings suggest that radiation shielding will be necessary to attain long-sought performance in quantum computers of this design.

Natural radiation is under no circumstance the most important or the only menace to qubit stability, which is basically known as coherence; everything from temperature variations to electromagnetic fields is able to mess with the qubit.

However, scientists say if were to attain a future where quantum computers are performing most of our advanced computing needs, then this hindrance from natural radiation is going to have to be addressed.

After the team that carried out the study was faced with issues regarding superconducting qubit decoherence, it decided to examine the possible problem with natural radiation. They discovered it breaks up a main quantum binding known as theCooper pairof electrons.

The radiation breaks apart matched pairs of electrons that typically carry electric current without resistance in a superconductor,says physicist Brent VanDevender, from PNNL. The resistance of those unpaired electrons destroys the delicately prepared state of a qubit.

Regular computers can be distorted by the same issues that impact qubits, but quantum states are a lot more delicate and sensitive. One of the reasons that we dont have authentic full-scale quantum computers at the moment is that theres no way yet to keep qubits stable for more than a few milliseconds at a time.

If we can develop on that, the benefits when it comes to computing power could be gigantic: while classical computer bits can only be set as 1 or 0, qubits can be set as 1,0, or both at the same time, a state known assuperposition.

Researchers have managed to get it happening, but only for a very short period, and in an extremely controlled setting. The good news, however, is that scientists like those at PNNL are dedicated to the challenge of discovering how to make quantum computers a reality, and with the new finding, we know a bit more about what weve to overcome.

Practical quantum computing with these devices will not be possible unless we address the radiation issue,says VanDevender. Without mitigation, radiation will limit the coherence time of superconducting qubits to a few milliseconds, which is insufficient for practical quantum computing.

A paper detailing the research has been published in the journalNature.

Known for her passion for writing, Paula contributes to both Science and Health niches here at Dual Dove.

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Researchers Found Another Impediment for Quantum Computers to Overcome - Dual Dove

Overview:

Quantum cryptographyis a new method for secret communications that provides the assurance of security of digital data. Quantum cryptography is primarily based on the usage of individual particles/waves of light (photon) and their essential quantum properties for the development of an unbreakable cryptosystem, primarily because it is impossible to measure the quantum state of any system without disturbing that system.

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It is hypothetically possible that other particles could be used, but photons offer all the necessary qualities needed, the their behavior is comparatively understandable, and they are the information carriers in optical fiber cables, the most promising medium for very high-bandwidth communications.

Quantum computing majorly focuses on the growing computer technology that is built on the platform of quantum theory which provides the description about the nature and behavior of energy and matter at quantum level. The fame of quantum mechanics in cryptography is growing because they are being used extensively in the encryption of information. Quantum cryptography allows the transmission of the most critical data at the most secured level, which in turn, propels the growth of the quantum computing market. Quantum computing has got a huge array of applications.

Market Analysis:

According to Infoholic Research, the Global Quantum cryptography Market is expected to reach $1.53 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of around 26.13% during the forecast period. The market is experiencing growth due to the increase in the data security and privacy concerns. In addition, with the growth in the adoption of cloud storage and computing technologies is driving the market forward. However, low customer awareness about quantum cryptography is hindering the market growth. The rising demands for security solutions across different verticals is expected to create lucrative opportunities for the market.

Market Segmentation Analysis:

The report provides a wide-ranging evaluation of the market. It provides in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and supportable projections and assumptions about the market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions based on the vendors portfolio, blogs, whitepapers, and vendor presentations. Thus, the research report serves every side of the market and is segmented based on regional markets, type, applications, and end-users.

Countries and Vertical Analysis:

The report contains an in-depth analysis of the vendor profiles, which include financial health, business units, key business priorities, SWOT, strategy, and views; and competitive landscape. The prominent vendors covered in the report include ID Quantique, MagiQ Technologies, Nucrypt, Infineon Technologies, Qutools, QuintenssenceLabs, Crypta Labs, PQ Solutions, and Qubitekk and others. The vendors have been identified based on the portfolio, geographical presence, marketing & distribution channels, revenue generation, and significant investments in R&D.

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Competitive Analysis

The report covers and analyzes the global intelligent apps market. Various strategies, such as joint ventures, partnerships,collaborations, and contracts, have been considered. In addition, as customers are in search of better solutions, there is expected to be a rising number of strategic partnerships for better product development. There is likely to be an increase in the number of mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships during the forecast period.

Companies such as Nucrypt, Crypta Labs, Qutools, and Magiq Technologies are the key players in the global Quantum Cryptography market. Nucrypt has developed technologies for emerging applications in metrology and communication. The company has also produced and manufactured electronic and optical pulsers. In addition, Crypta Labs deals in application security for devices. The company deals in Quantum Random Number Generator products and solutions and Internet of Things (IoT). The major sectors the company is looking at are transport, military and medical.

The report includes the complete insight of the industry, and aims to provide an opportunity for the emerging and established players to understand the market trends, current scenario, initiatives taken by the government, and the latest technologies related to the market. In addition, it helps the venture capitalists in understanding the companies better and to take informed decisions.

Regional Analysis

The Americas held the largest chunk of market share in 2017 and is expected to dominate the quantum cryptography market during the forecast period. The region has always been a hub for high investments in research and development (R&D) activities, thus contributing to the development of new technologies. The growing concerns for the security of IT infrastructure and complex data in America have directed the enterprises in this region to adopt quantum cryptography and reliable authentication solutions.

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Benefits

The report provides an in-depth analysis of the global intelligent apps market aiming to reduce the time to market the products and services, reduce operational cost, improve accuracy, and operational performance. With the help of quantum cryptography, various organizations can secure their crucial information, and increase productivity and efficiency. In addition, the solutions are proven to be reliable and improve scalability. The report discusses the types, applications, and regions related to this market. Further, the report provides details about the major challenges impacting the market growth.

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Quantum Cryptography Market Research Analysis Including Growth Factors, Types And Application By Regions From 2024 - Kentucky Journal 24

The University of WisconsinMadison solidified its standing as a leader in the field of quantum information science when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the White House announced the Q-NEXT collaboration as a funded Quantum Information Science Research Center through the National Quantum Initiative Act. The five-year, $115 million collaboration was one of five Centers announced today.

Q-NEXT, a next-generation quantum science and engineering collaboration led by the DOEs Argonne National Laboratory, brings together nearly 100 world-class researchers from three national laboratories, 10 universities including UWMadison, and 10 leading U.S. technology companies to develop the science and technology to control and distribute quantum information.

The main goals for Q-NEXT are first to deliver quantum interconnects to find ways to quantum mechanically connect distant objects, says Mark Eriksson, the John Bardeen Professor of Physics at UWMadison and a Q-NEXT thrust lead. And next, to establish a national resource to both develop and provide pristine materials for quantum science and technology.

Q-NEXT will focus on three core quantum technologies:

Eriksson is leading the Materials and Integration thrust, one of six Q-NEXT focus areas that features researchers from across the collaboration. This thrust aims to: develop high-coherence materials, including for silicon and superconducting qubits, which is an essential component of preserving entanglement; develop a silicon-based optical quantum memory, which is important in developing a quantum repeater; and improve color-center quantum bits, which are used in both communication and sensing.

One of the key goals in Materials and Integration is to not just improve the materials but also to improve how you integrate those materials together so that in the end, quantum devices maintain coherence and preserve entanglement, Eriksson says. The integration part of the name is really important. You may have a material that on its own is really good at preserving coherence, yet you only make something useful when you integrate materials together.

Six other UWMadison and Wisconsin Quantum Institute faculty members are Q-NEXT investigators: physics professors Victor Brar, Shimon Kolkowitz, Robert McDermott, and Mark Saffman, electrical and computer engineering professor Mikhail Kats, and chemistry professor Randall Goldsmith. UWMadison researchers are involved in five of the six research thrusts.

Im excited about Q-NEXT because of the connections and collaborations it provides to national labs, other universities, and industry partners, Eriksson says. When youre talking about research, its those connections that often lead to the breakthroughs.

The potential impacts of Q-NEXT research include the creation ofa first-ever National Quantum Devices Databasethat will promote the development and fabrication of next generation quantum devices as well as the development of the components and systems that enable quantum communications across distances ranging from microns to kilometers.

This funding helps ensure that the Q-NEXT collaboration will lead the way in future developments in quantum science and engineering, says Steve Ackerman, UWMadison vice chancellor for research and graduate education. Q-NEXT is the epitome of the Wisconsin Idea as we work together to transfer new quantum technologies to the marketplace and support U.S. economic competitiveness in this growing field.

Read more here:

Q-NEXT collaboration awarded National Quantum Initiative funding - University of Wisconsin-Madison

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The Drake equation is one of the more famous reckonings in science. It calculates the likelihood that we are not alone in the universe by estimating the number of other intelligent civilizations in our galaxy that might exist now.

Some of the terms in this equation are well known or becoming better understood, such as the number of stars in our galaxy and the proportion that have planets in the habitable zone. But others are unknown, such as the proportion of planets that develop intelligent life; and some may never be known such as the proportion that destroy themselves before they can be discovered.

Nevertheless, the Drake equation allows scientists to place important bounds on the numbers of intelligent civilizations that might be out there.

However, there is another sense in which humanity could be linked with an alien intelligenceour world may just be a simulation inside a massively powerful supercomputer run by such a species. Indeed, various scientists, philosophers and visionaries have said that the probability of such a scenario could be close to one. In other words, we probably are living in a simulation.

The accuracy of these claims is somewhat controversial. So a better way to determine the probability that we live in a simulation would be much appreciated.

Enter Alexandre Bibeau-Delisle and Gilles Brassard at the University of Montreal in Canada. These researchers have derived a Drake-like equation that calculates the chances that we live in a computer simulation. And the results throw up some counterintuitive ideas that are likely to change the way we think about simulations, how we might determine whether we are in one and whether we could ever escape.

Bibeau-Delisle and Brassard begin with a fundamental estimate of the computing power available to create a simulation. They say, for example, that a kilogram of matter, fully exploited for computation, could perform 10^50 operations per second.

By comparison, the human brain, which is also kilogram-sized, performs up to 10^16 operations per second. It may thus be possible for a single computer the mass of a human brain to simulate the real-time evolution of 1.4 10^25 virtual brains, they say.

In our society, a significant number of computers already simulate entire civilizations, in games such as Civilization VI, Hearts of Iron IV, Humankind and so. So it may be reasonable to assume that in a sufficiently advanced civilization, individuals will be able to run games that simulate societies like ours, populated with sentient conscious beings.

So an interesting question is this: of all the sentient beings in existence, what fraction are likely to be simulations? To derive the answer, Bibeau-Delisle and Brassard start with the total number of real sentient beings NRe, multiply that by the fraction with access to the necessary computing power fCiv; multiply this by the fraction of that power that is devoted to simulating consciousness fDed (because these beings are likely to be using their computer for other purposes too); and then multiply this by the number of brains they could simulate Rcal.

The resulting equation is this, where fSim is the fraction of simulated brains:

Here RCal is the huge number of brains that fully exploited matter should be able to simulate.

The sheer size of this number, ~10^25, pushes Bibeau-Delisle and Brassard towards an inescapable conclusion. It is mathematically inescapable from [the above] equation and the colossal scale of RCal that fSim 1 unless fCiv fDed 0, they say.

So there are two possible outcomes. Either we live in a simulation or a vanishingly small proportion of advanced computing power is devoted to simulating brains.

Its not hard to imagine why the second option might be true. A society of beings similar to us (but with a much greater technological development) could indeed decide it is not very ethical to simulate beings with enough precision to make them conscious while fooling them and keeping them cut-off from the real world, say Bibeau-Delisle and Brassard.

Another possibility is that advanced civilizations never get to the stage where their technology is powerful enough to perform these kinds of computations. Perhaps they destroy themselves through war or disease or climate change long before then. There is no way of knowing.

But suppose we are in a simulation. Bibeau-Delisle and Brassard ask whether we might escape while somehow hiding our intentions from our overlords. They assume that the simulating technology will be quantum in nature. If quantum phenomena are as difficult to compute on classical systems as we believe them to be, a simulation containing our world would most probably run on quantum computing power, they say.

This raises the possibility that it may be possible to detect our alien overlords since they cannot measure the quantum nature of our world without revealing their presence. Quantum cryptography uses the same principle; indeed, Brassard is one of the pioneers of this technology.

That would seem to make it possible for us to make encrypted plans that are hidden from the overlords, such as secretly transferring ourselves into our own simulations.

However, the overlords have a way to foil this. All they need to do is to rewire their simulation to make it look as if we are able to hide information, even though they are aware of it all the time. If the simulators are particularly angry at our attempted escape, they could also send us to a simulated hell, in which case we would at least have the confirmation we were truly living inside a simulation and our paranoia was not unjustified...conclude Bibeau-Delisle and Brassard, with their tongues firmly in their cheeks.

In that sense, we are the ultimate laboratory guinea pigs: forever trapped and forever fooled by the evil genius of our omnipotent masters.

Time for another game of Civilization VI.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/2008.09275 : Probability and Consequences of Living Inside a Computer Simulation

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This Equation Calculates The Chances We Live In A Computer Simulation - Discover Magazine

Earlier this year, a Japanese supercomputer built on Arm-based Fujitsu A64FX processors snatched the crown of worlds fastest machine, blowing incumbent leader IBM Summit out of the water.

Fugaku, as the machine is known, achieved 415.5 petaFLOPS by the popular High Performance Linpack (HPL) benchmark, which is almost three times the score of the IBM machine (148.5 petaFLOPS).

It also topped the rankings for Graph 500, HPL-AI and HPCH workloads - a feat never before achieved in the world of high performance computing (HPC).

Modern supercomputers are now edging ever-closer to the landmark figure of one exaFLOPS (equal to 1,000 petaFLOPS), commonly described as the exascale barrier. In fact, Fugaku itself can already achieve one exaFLOPS, but only in lower precision modes.

The consensus among the experts we spoke to is that a single machine will breach the exascale barrier within the next 6 - 24 months, unlocking a wealth of possibilities in the fields of medical research, climate forecasting, cybersecurity and more.

But what is an exaFLOPS? And what will it mean to break the exascale milestone, pursued doggedly for more than a decade?

To understand what it means to achieve exascale computing, its important to first understand what is meant by FLOPS, which stands for floating point operations per second.

A floating point operation is any mathematical calculation (i.e. addition, subtraction, multiplication or division) that involves a number containing a decimal (e.g. 3.0 - a floating point number), as opposed to a number without a decimal (e.g. 3 - a binary integer). Calculations involving decimals are typically more complex and therefore take longer to solve.

An exascale computer can perform 10^18 (one quintillion/100,000,000,000,000,000) of these mathematical calculations every second.

For context, to equal the number of calculations an exascale computer can process in a single second, an individual would have to perform one sum every second for 31,688,765,000 years.

The PC Im using right now, meanwhile, is able to reach 147 billion FLOPS (or 0.00000014723 exaFLOPS), outperforming the fastest supercomputer of 1993, the Intel Paragon (143.4 billion FLOPS).

This both underscores how far computing has come in the last three decades and puts into perspective the extreme performance levels attained by the leading supercomputers today.

The key to building a machine capable of reaching one exaFLOPS is optimization at the processing, storage and software layers.

The hardware must be small and powerful enough to pack together and reach the necessary speeds, the storage capacious and fast enough to serve up the data and the software scalable and programmable enough to make full use of the hardware.

For example, there comes a point at which adding more processors to a supercomputer will no longer affect its speed, because the application is not sufficiently optimized. The only way governments and private businesses will realize a full return on HPC hardware investment is through an equivalent investment in software.

Organizations such as the Exascale Computing Project (EPC) the ExCALIBUR programme are interested in solving precisely this problem. Those involved claim a renewed focus on algorithm and application development is required in order to harness the full power and scope of exascale.

Achieving the delicate balance between software and hardware, in an energy efficient manner and avoiding an impractically low mean time between failures (MTBF) score (the time that elapses before a system breaks down under strain) is the challenge facing the HPC industry.

15 years ago as we started the discussion on exascale, we hypothesized that it would need to be done in 20 mega-watts (MW); later that was changed to 40 MW. With Fugaku, we see that we are about halfway to a 64-bit exaFLOPS at the 40 MW power envelope, which shows that an exaFLOPS is in reach today, explained Brent Gorda, Senior Director HPC at UK-based chip manufacturer Arm.

We could hit an exaFLOPS now with sufficient funding to build and run a system. [But] the size of the system is likely to be such that MTBF is measured in single digit number-of-days based on todays technologies and the number of components necessary to reach these levels of performance.

When it comes to building a machine capable of breaching the exascale barrier, there are a number of other factors at play, beyond technological feasibility. An exascale computer can only come into being once an equilibrium has been reached at the intersection of technology, economics and politics.

One could in theory build an exascale system today by packing in enough CPUs, GPUs and DPUs. But what about economic viability? said Gilad Shainer of NVIDIA Mellanox, the firm behind the Infiniband technology (the fabric that links the various hardware components) found in seven of the ten fastest supercomputers.

Improvements in computing technologies, silicon processing, more efficient use of power and so on all help to increase efficiency and make exascale computing an economic objective as opposed to a sort of sporting achievement.

According to Paul Calleja, who heads up computing research at the University of Cambridge and is working with Dell on the Open Exascale Lab, Fugaku is an excellent example of what is theoretically possible today, but is also impractical by virtually any other metric.

If you look back at Japanese supercomputers, historically theres only ever been one of them made. They have beautifully exquisite architectures, but theyre so stupidly expensive and proprietary that no one else could afford one, he told TechRadar Pro.

[Japanese organizations] like these really large technology demonstrators, which are very useful in industry because it shows the direction of travel and pushes advancements, but those kinds of advancements are very expensive and not sustainable, scalable or replicable.

So, in this sense, there are two separate exascale landmarks; the theoretical barrier, which will likely be met first by a machine of Fugakus ilk (a technological demonstrator), and the practical barrier, which will see exascale computing deployed en masse.

Geopolitical factors will also play a role in how quickly the exascale barrier is breached. Researchers and engineers might focus exclusively on the technological feat, but the institutions and governments funding HPC research are likely motivated by different considerations.

Exascale computing is not just about reaching theoretical targets, it is about creating the ability to tackle problems that have been previously intractable, said Andy Grant, Vice President HPC & Big Data at IT services firm Atos, influential in the fields of HPC and quantum computing.

Those that are developing exascale technologies are not doing it merely to have the fastest supercomputer in the world, but to maintain international competitiveness, security and defence.

In Japan, their new machine is roughly 2.8x more powerful than the now-second place system. In broad terms, that will enable Japanese researchers to address problems that are 2.8x more complex. In the context of international competitiveness, that creates a significant advantage.

In years gone by, rival nations fought it out in the trenches or competed to see who could place the first human on the moon. But computing may well become the frontier at which the next arms race takes place; supremacy in the field of HPC might prove just as politically important as military strength.

Once exascale computers become an established resource - available for businesses, scientists and academics to draw upon - a wealth of possibilities will be unlocked across a wide variety of sectors.

HPC could prove revelatory in the fields of clinical medicine and genomics, for example, which require vast amounts of compute power to conduct molecular modelling, simulate interactions between compounds and sequence genomes.

In fact, IBM Summit and a host of other modern supercomputers are being used to identify chemical compounds that could contribute to the fight against coronavirus. The Covid-19 High Performance Computing Consortium assembled 16 supercomputers, accounting for an aggregate of 330 petaFLOPS - but imagine how much more quickly research could be conducted using a fleet of machines capable of reaching 1,000 petaFLOPS on their own.

Artificial intelligence, meanwhile, is another cross-disciplinary domain that will be transformed with the arrival of exascale computing. The ability to analyze ever-larger datasets will improve the ability of AI models to make accurate forecasts (contingent on the quality of data fed into the system) that could be applied to virtually any industry, from cybersecurity to e-commerce, manufacturing, logistics, banking, education and many more.

As explained by Rashid Mansoor, CTO at UK supercomputing startup Hadean, the value of supercomputing lies in the ability to make an accurate projection (of any variety).

The primary purpose of a supercomputer is to compute some real-world phenomenon to provide a prediction. The prediction could be the way proteins interact, the way a disease spreads through the population, how air moves over an aerofoil or electromagnetic fields interact with a spacecraft during re-entry, he told TechRadar Pro.

Raw performance such as the HPL benchmark simply indicates that we can model bigger and more complex systems to a greater degree of accuracy. One thing that the history of computing has shown us is that the demand for computing power is insatiable.

Other commonly cited areas that will benefit significantly from the arrival of exascale include brain mapping, weather and climate forecasting, product design and astronomy, but its also likely that brand new use cases will emerge as well.

The desired workloads and the technology to perform them form a virtuous circle. The faster and more performant the computers, the more complex problems we can solve and the faster the discovery of new problems, explained Shainer.

What we can be sure of is that we will see the continuous needs or ever growing demands for more performance capabilities in order to solve the unsolvable. Once this is solved, we will find the new unsolvable.

By all accounts, the exascale barrier will likely fall within the next two years, but the HPC industry will then turn its attention to the next objective, because the work is never done.

Some might point to quantum computers, which approach problem solving in an entirely different way to classical machines (exploiting symmetries to speed up processing), allowing for far greater scale. However, there are also problems to which quantum computing cannot be applied.

Mid-term (10 year) prospects for quantum computing are starting to shape up, as are other technologies. These will be more specialized where a quantum computer will very likely show up as an application accelerator for problems that relate to logistics first. They wont completely replace the need for current architectures for IT/data processing, explained Gorda.

As Mansoor puts it, on certain problems even a small quantum computer can be exponentially faster than all of the classical computing power on earth combined. Yet on other problems, a quantum computer could be slower than a pocket calculator.

The next logical landmark for traditional computing, then, would be one zettaFLOPS, equal to 1,000 exaFLOPS or 1,000,000 petaFLOPS.

Chinese researchers predicted in 2018 that the first zettascale system will come online in 2035, paving the way for new computing paradigms. The paper itself reads like science fiction, at least for the layman:

To realize these metrics, micro-architectures will evolve to consist of more diverse and heterogeneous components. Many forms of specialized accelerators are likely to co-exist to boost HPC in a joint effort. Enabled by new interconnect materials such as photonic crystal, fully optical interconnecting systems may come into use.

Assuming one exaFLOPS is reached by 2022, 14 years will have elapsed between the creation of the first petascale and first exascale systems. The first terascale machine, meanwhile, was constructed in 1996, 12 years before the petascale barrier was breached.

If this pattern were to continue, the Chinese researchers estimate would look relatively sensible, but there are firm question marks over the validity of zettascale projections.

While experts are confident in their predicted exascale timelines, none would venture a guess at when zettascale might arrive without prefacing their estimate with a long list of caveats.

Is that an interesting subject? Because to be honest with you, its so not obtainable. To imagine how we could go 1000x beyond [one exaFLOPS] is not a conversation anyone could have, unless theyre just making it up, said Calleja, asked about the concept of zettascale.

Others were more willing to theorize, but equally reticent to guess at a specific timeline. According to Grant, the way zettascale machines process information will be unlike any supercomputer in existence today.

[Zettascale systems] will be data-centric, meaning components will move to the data rather than the other way around, as data volumes are likely to be so large that moving data will be too expensive. Regardless, predicting what they might look like is all guesswork for now, he said.

It is also possible that the decentralized model might be the fastest route to achieving zettascale, with millions of less powerful devices working in unison to form a collective supercomputer more powerful than any single machine (as put into practice by the SETI Institute).

As noted by Saurabh Vij, CEO of distributed supercomputing firm Q Blocks, decentralized systems address a number of problems facing the HPC industry today, namely surrounding building and maintenance costs. They are also accessible to a much wider range of users and therefore democratize access to supercomputing resources in a way that is not otherwise possible.

There are benefits to a centralized architecture, but the cost and maintenance barrier overshadows them. [Centralized systems] also alienate a large base of customer groups that could benefit, he said.

We think a better way is to connect distributed nodes together in a reliable and secure manner. It wouldnt be too aggressive to say that, 5 years from now, your smartphone could be part of a giant distributed supercomputer, making money for you while you sleep by solving computational problems for industry, he added.

However, incentivizing network nodes to remain active for a long period is challenging and a high rate of turnover can lead to reliability issues. Network latency and capacity problems would also need to be addressed before distributed supercomputing can rise to prominence.

Ultimately, the difficulty in making firm predictions about zettascale lies in the massive chasm that separates present day workloads and HPC architectures from those that might exist in the future. From a contemporary perspective, its fruitless to imagine what might be made possible by a computer so powerful.

We might imagine zettascale machines will be used to process workloads similar to those tackled by modern supercomputers, only more quickly. But its possible - even likely - the arrival of zettascale computing will open doors that do not and cannot exist today, so extraordinary is the leap.

In a future in which computers are 2,000+ times as fast as the most powerful machine today, philosophical and ethical debate surrounding the intelligence of man versus machine are bound to be played out in greater detail - and with greater consequence.

It is impossible to directly compare the workings of a human brain with that of a computer - i.e. to assign a FLOPS value to the human mind. However, it is not insensible to ask how many FLOPS must be achieved before a machine reaches a level of performance that might be loosely comparable to the brain.

Back in 2013, scientists used the K supercomputer to conduct a neuronal network simulation using open source simulation software NEST. The team simulated a network made up of 1.73 billion nerve cells connected by 10.4 trillion synapses.

While ginormous, the simulation represented only 1% of the human brains neuronal network and took 40 minutes to replicate 1 seconds worth of neuronal network activity.

However, the K computer reached a maximum computational power of only 10 petaFLOPS. A basic extrapolation (ignoring inevitable complexities), then, would suggest Fugaku could simulate circa 40% of the human brain, while a zettascale computer would be capable of performing a full simulation many times over.

Digital neuromorphic hardware (supercomputers created specifically to simulate the human brain) like SpiNNaker 1 and 2 will also continue to develop in the post-exascale future. Instead of sending information from point A to B, these machines will be designed to replicate the parallel communication architecture of the brain, sending information simultaneously to many different locations.

Modern iterations are already used to help neuroscientists better understand the mysteries of the brain and future versions, aided by advances in artificial intelligence, will inevitably be used to construct a faithful and fully-functional replica.

The ethical debates that will arise with the arrival of such a machine - surrounding the perception of consciousness, the definition of thought and what an artificial uber-brain could or should be used for - are manifold and could take generations to unpick.

The inability to foresee what a zettascale computer might be capable of is also an inability to plan for the moral quandaries that might come hand-in-hand.

Whether a future supercomputer might be powerful enough to simulate human-like thought is not in question, but whether researchers should aspire to bringing an artificial brain into existence is a subject worthy of discussion.

See the article here:

I confess, I'm scared of the next generation of supercomputers - TechRadar

Besides an F-35 in action, the U.S. Air Force has featured several other pics including a Pave Hawk chopper, B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber and a C-17.

Every week, the United States Air Force likes to showcase its militaryin a series of glorious, high-resolution photographs that have been taken by its photographers. This week, we have a few of those featured in this article, with some fascinating images making the cut. First up, we have in the featured image the latest fighter jet, the F-35, some of which have recently been scrambled for an excercise in the Middle East. This is the F-35 Demonstration Team, with pilot Capt Kristin Wolfe flying during practice for the 2020 Ocean City Air Show at Ocean City, Md on August 14th, 2020. There were other displays from the USAF on offer too, including the Thunderbirds and F-22 and A-10 Demonstration Teams.

Next up, we have this head-on shot of the HH-60G Pave Hawk from the 55th Rescue Squadron. The aircraft is seen turnings its rotors, as part of a pre-flight inspection on the 17thof August, while on the ground at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. The 55th is participating in exercise Gunfighter Flag 20-1. This is where they train with joint international partners to complete combat and rescue exercises.

RELATED:U.S Air Force Mulling Prospects For Sixth-Generation Fighter Jets

One of the most impressive aircraft in the USAF fleet is the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. The F-117 Stealth Fighter may no longer be flying, but the B-2 is and here we have one from the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. Senior Airman Robert Witkowski and Staff Sergeant Mark Farrar are preparing their B-2 Spirit for takeoff at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.

Finally, in the midst of the tragedy of the Beirut port explosion in Lebanon, we see a C-17 Globemaster III. The Globemaster, among the largest aircraft in U.S. Air Force service, is seen at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, being loaded up with humanitarian aid bound for the devastated city, with critical supplies in the cargo hold which is being loaded on August 7th, 2020.

Source: U.S. Air Force

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An astrophysicist, a policeman and a Baptist pastor walk into a bar. This is no joke. This cantina can be a little rough. Actually, it's been called a wretched hive of scum and villainy. So, watch your step. They may not serve your kind in here. We are entering the eternally expanding universe of Star Wars - that colossal labyrinth of movies and merchandise, mystery and magic that has consumed followers and confounded non-believers ever since a visionary young filmmaker named George Lucas fashioned a rollicking space adventure from the archetypal hero's journey monomyth of Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Back in 1977, pioneering visual effects notwithstanding, Star Wars was pretty straight forward. Borrowing from such auteur idols as John Ford (The Searchers) and Akira Kurosawa (The Hidden Fortress), Lucas dressed the tropes of his favourite childhood movies - Wild West gunslingers, Errol Flynn duels, World War II dogfights, Tarzan and Jane on the vine - in captivating, futuristic packaging and infused his hero's journey narrative with a spiritualism ("the Force") akin to Zen Buddhism. More than four decades and an estimated $US70 billion in gross revenues later, Star Wars in 2020 is, well, complicated. The final films in the trio of saga trilogies,The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, divided fans and disappointed at the box office, raising questions about entertainment giant Disney's creative stewardship of the lucrative media property it bought from Lucas for $US4 billion in 2012. Evidently spooked, and with cinemas worldwide hit hard by COVID-19, Disney says it will "step back" from making Star Wars movies for now. Not long ago, there were grand plans to put out a new film every two years starting in 2022. But proposed offshoot trilogies by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and Game of Thrones producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss appear to have gone the way of the Death Star, leaving only Kiwi Taika Waititi - director of Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit - contracted to deliver a new film at some point. With fans still eager to see every curious corner of this famous galaxy, Disney is turning instead to TV, with four Star Wars spin-off shows in the pipeline and five others rumoured to be in development following the success of The Mandalorian, which has helped the Disney+ streaming service amass 60 million subscribers worldwide in its first nine months. With the show's second season dropping in October and its title character joining Frozen's Elsa, Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear and Marvel's Captain America in the Disney+ Ooshies collection launched this week at Woolworths (along with a hologram Princess Leia!), the future of the Stars Wars universe - narratively and commercially - hangs on two characters first introduced 40 years ago in The Empire Strikes Back - the film that turned Star Wars from a hit movie into an epic saga. Long since enshrined as the best entry in the series, Empire opened in Australian cinemas in August 1980. Most of what is still loved today about Star Wars has roots in its darker, deeper first sequel, including gnome-like Jedi master Yoda and masked bounty hunter Boba Fett - inspirations for The Mandalorian - as well as the slow-burn romance between Princess Leia and Han Solo ("I love you." "I know."), composer John Williams' thundering Imperial March theme and Darth Vader's shock plot twist ("No, I am your father"). The film's limited 40th anniversary rerun in selected cinemas from September 10 may be the last time in a long time that a Star Wars movie swashbuckles across the big screen. Which raises the question: Is Star Wars done for as a movie-going experience and the ultimate four-quadrant blockbuster (appealing to both male and female audiences, both under- and over-25s)? Now that it's one franchise among many, will Star Wars ever recapture its original wonderment? Or has that star destroyer sailed? For fans clinging to the original trilogy, The Mandalorian may be the spin-off they were looking for - but can Disney keep this sprawling genre world spinning in infinity on TV? And why do these fans have such powerful proprietary feelings? Is it nostalgia, and is that what compels grown men to trade vintage toys for hundreds of dollars in livestreamed auctions? To help us to understand the forces that have shaped Star Wars and will forever dominate its destiny, we've assembled a small band of experts and aficionados. We're on a diplomatic mission to explore why, unlike its fans, Star Wars never seems to get old. Of course, bellying up to the bar together as if at the Mos Eisley cantina was not an option in the age of coronavirus. So the heroes of our quest - Mick the Fanatic, Brad the Astrophysicist, Heather the Preacher, Ben the Psychologist, Andrew the Marketing Expert and Kieren the Picture Show Man - shared their insights via phone and email. Mick "Fett" Pylak is a Star Wars superfan. His $500,000 collection of toys and memorabilia fills his Sydney house. When he's not trading action figures online or masquerading at events as "Aussie Vader", he has a day job with another kind of force - the police. Credentials: He named his firstborn Leia. Where it began: As a boy, when he saw Return of the Jedi (his parents were divorced and his Dad came specially to take him). "I can still remember how amazed I was by it - the characters, the creatures, the spaceships and this whole new world." His collection: "I started out wanting to find the toys to get back those memories of childhood, but I just never stopped. When they began to increase in value, I viewed it as an investment. Then it became about needing to complete a set and the thrill of the hunt. Once you get a set of, say, mint-on-card figures, you want to get more. I've got a normal job and income but I've acquired this collection by constantly buying and selling. For example, I was paying $500 10 years ago for the vinyl cape Jawa [action figure], the TolToys version on The Empire Strikes Back card which was only ever released in Australia, and these days they sell for $3000." The community: He established the Australian Star Wars Trading Post on Facebook in 2014. It now has 13,000 members. Last year, he set up the Australian Live Toy Auctions page, which hosts livestreams of collectors buying and selling action figures and other merchandise. "Collecting is no longer seen as a nerd thing," he says. "The kids who grew up in that era of the original films and toys are in their spending prime now, so they have the disposable income and the will to spend top dollar for the memories." But what compels him now has moved beyond nostalgia. "When you find and buy something you've been chasing for a while, you get a kind of euphoria which is almost like a drug. When you win the item and then it arrives, you feel this pleasure. And then you put it in your collection and you want to do it all over again." Disney: "They have kept Star Wars alive, which is great. After the prequels it wasn't looking like George Lucas was doing any more movies. The downside is the political correctness - trying to please everybody and not offend anybody." The Mandalorian - based on his favourite character, Boba Fett - has found the sweet spot to please all generations, he says. "TV series open up so many more possibilities for expanding storylines with different characters." Of course, that also means an infinite amount of future merch. "Ah, yes, that is going to be a problem." Dr Brad Tucker is an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the ANU's School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Credentials: He didn't watch Star Wars until his mid-20s. "That sounds weird for someone in my job, but space stuff didn't really register with me as a kid and I didn't become interested in astronomy until university," he says. "So, it's given me an outsider's view of science fiction." The science: "Science does owe a lot to the legacy of science fiction like Star Wars and the way it depicts the science, the storytelling and the visuals. For example, it's very hard to visualise travelling near the speed of light. That is an abstract thing to think about, but the visual storytelling of fiction like Star Wars helps open us up to that as visual creatures - we see it and become inspired," he says. "Our world now is facing really pressing scientific issues, from climate to COVID, so you need people to be inspired to want to pursue those questions. Look at Elon Musk and SpaceX - he's a billionaire fuelling private space endeavours because as a kid his imagination was opened up to the possibilities by Star Wars." The fiction: "People have always looked up at the stars and had a sense of wonder. We are one small world in one solar system that's one of 300 billion solar systems in a galaxy and our galaxy's one of 2 trillion - it makes us feel insignificant in the universe. Then, when you see that same vast backdrop of space and stars and planets depicted in art like Star Wars, it connects the dots straight back to that sense of wonder. When Star Wars came out it would be almost 25 years before we actually found the first planet around another star - so it was make-believe projecting possibilities and inspiring people to wonder. Then you layer over that an adventure story exploring the human condition, and it becomes a way to explore ourselves as a species." The aliens: "Star Wars, and sorry to be sacrilegious here but Star Trek too, were novel for portraying aliens as simply characters - other beings, other lifeforms, who can be good or bad. So, there can be a bunch of aliens in a bar having a beer and listening to a band - it flips the whole H.G. Wells War of the Worlds idea of monsters invading to destroy us, and changes how we think about alien life - and that question: 'Is there life out there?'" The Force mythology: "We often think about science and religion always being at odds, but to my mind they are complementary. They are both trying to help us understand our place in the world, how it works, where we are going, why we do what we do, and to ultimately better our world and our lives. Of course, sometimes science and religion can be at odds, but along comes Star Wars, weaving this narrative of the Force which says you can kind of do both - that there's a higher power, we don't know exactly what it is but it permeates everything and it's good because it gives us energy and life, but there also needs to be balance as part of this bigger universe (the meaning of which we are trying to unravel). That's exactly what we're doing with trying to understand the Big Bang. To me, the Big Bang is the intersection between physics and philosophy and theology - it's where these lines of questioning meet and each spins off in a different direction to try to help us understand." Heather Packett is a teaching pastor at Crossway, Australia's largest Baptist church, and co-director with husband Lucas of ARK, a foster care organisation that recruits and supports faith-based carers. Credentials: Hasn't seen Disney's sequels. Nothing could top her favourite film - Return of the Jedi - anyway. "It showed us that the most evil of people can still be reached with empathy," she says. Where it began: "We didn't have a TV for a chunk of my childhood to avoid bad influences on us as kids. But we did go to the movies, and my brother, seven years older than me, was my influence as far as Star Wars goes - I watched it to be with him." There she marvelled at the "sheer brilliance of the effects, the majesty of the score" and the contest between good and evil. "It was like my understanding of the spiritual realm was playing out before my eyes, albeit in a caricature-like way," she says. Today she often draws from movies in her work as a minister. "Star Wars has definitely influenced my interest in film, and most likely has contributed to my reading and interpreting of faith things within films, whether put there intentionally by the writers or not - for example, I see Messianic themes within most superhero films." The fantasy: "Fantasy and imagination are great for kids and should be encouraged and nurtured. It should also lead to them discovering ways to imagine and create fantasy themselves." But merchandising "can be a problem in an affluent society"," she says. "Kids can easily become entitled, and less creative, when merchandise is readily available, so I'm not really a fan." She has yet to introduce her children to Star Wars. "It'll happen, but currently both ours are still a little sensitive to even fictionalised violence on screen. They're 11 and 13. Most kids have seen it by that age, I know, but I have no interest in pushing them before they'll enjoy it. I was much younger, but I wonder if back in the '70s and '80s there was a greater expanse between reality and fantasy, so it was easier to compartmentalise than it is for kids now." The Force mythology: "I think initially when Star Wars was released, it connected to a generally accepted understanding of spirituality that exists far less now than it did then." She says the films "dabbled in spiritual things to make sense of a fictional galaxy, and to help audiences relate. For me 'the Force' is not the equivalent to God, nor is 'the dark side' an equivalent to satanic force". While actual religious faiths "attempt to help us make sense of life through the lens of a greater power", as a moral compass in the real world "the good versus evil homily of Star Wars doesn't delve into our personal brokenness, and can therefore allow us to remain removed from it, without ever providing answers or a redemptive path ... If it did provide that moral compass for people initially, then I guess, yes, it is less demanding and disappointing than actual faith. But it's also written to entice and entertain audiences - something actual faith has no interest in." Dr Andrew Hughes is a lecturer in marketing at the ANU's Research School of Management. Credentials: A certified fan since childhood. "Loved the storylines, the escapism of it all, be it the stories or the settings, and of course who as a little kid does not want to see good triumph over evil?" The Empire Strikes Back is his favourite. "It expanded the storyline dramatically, and added far more depth to the characters ... it made a story about space very human." The toys: "Toys, and merchandise of any sort, are a bridge to the experience and emotions we have to the franchise/brand. In a way, having a toy, or merchandise, allows us to access those positive emotions at any time. Even as adults this is what makes toys so collectible - it is the access to those emotions, those memories which the toy represents, that we are buying." Disney: "Buying Star Wars wasn't about movies, it was about owning a story which could be developed, changed and altered to match the needs of multiple markets ... smart thinking really, because 10 years from now, if not sooner, it will be all profit. Just look at the excitement around Baby Yoda (from The Mandalorian). That's one story alone where you could run for a decade, and tie in various merch opportunities." There's risk, though. "If the franchise dies or suffers from any poor management then that is going to compromise the entire brand. With home streaming services, though, the future does look bright. Right now Star Wars is propping up Disney+ ... allowing them some time to get it right. But they need to hurry up as streaming is becoming very competitive, and the margins are getting smaller as more and more competitors enter the market." The future: "The story has no end." Kieren Dell is chief executive of Majestic Cinemas, which operates picture theatres in Port Macquarie, Nambucca Heads, Singleton, the Entrance, Inverell, Nambour, Sawtell and Kempsey. Credentials: He saw the original Star Wars at the age of 12 on one of his first trips to the movies with mates rather than family. "It was mesmerising to my young brain [as] I was already a fantasy/sci-fi fan. I think I saw it about 10 times during its season and was forever changed." The movies: "Other than [James] Bond, it is the most enduring [franchise]. It is more anticipated by multi-generations than Bond, which does largely play older now. When Episode VII [The Force Awakens] was about to open, I talked to all of our young staff, who were very excited about it, and stressed that old farts like me in their early 50s were just as excited due to our childhood experiences. So it is the true four-quadrant blockbuster franchise. Marvel tends to play to younger audiences, Star Trek - I'm a big Trekkie too - is a smaller demographic of nerds, and Lord of the Rings was huge - and one of my all-time favourites - but seems a bit tapped out due to the source material getting thinner now." Disney: "I think they need to come up with new concepts that keep the look and feel of the mythology and develop good characters that they can build on and make iconic. Rogue One, as a standalone movie, was ... worth doing. I personally liked Solo, but it didn't do as well as expected ... but I don't think it should put them off going back and doing origin stories if they are good stories." He does not see The Mandalorian replacing the communal experience of seeing Star Wars at a cinema. "The Mandalorian was a slow burn that would not be acceptable in the tighter time frame of a feature film, but it helps to flesh out characters and the mythology, as did Clone Wars and other shows and books over the years. They are different products for different purposes." Ben Fletcher, of Newcastle-based Newpsych Psychologists, has been a clinical psychologist for 17 years. Credentials: Too young when the original trilogy came out, he preferred Batman comic books as a teen. "A bit darker. So edgy. Probably fitting for adolescence". The saga: "We've always told stories. These franchises are our modern myths." Star Wars repackaged "simplistic, comforting depictions of good and evil" with "familiar themes of the classic hero's journey, in a fresh setting with the effects to pull it off. Samurai movie in space - what's not to like?" The nostalgia: "Everyone relates to art in their own way, but some themes endure and resonate with us across time and media. I imagine Star Wars stays with us because of the classic hero's journey - the monomyth." The stories we grew up with "remain sources of comfort and wisdom, maybe a vehicle for catharsis and group/self-identification at times. It is appealing, in an ever-complex world, to take refuge in pleasant memories from our childhoods. Maybe the child and adult in us always needs a bit of room - for a well-rounded existence." The Force mythology: "Most well-crafted systems to foster good living, be they rationally derived or based on faith, can be prone to benefit or misuse. Some have argued that faith is meaningless without healthy doubt - one needs to be mindful of blind spots." With the "zen" of the Jedi and "the Force" as an expression of mindfulness, "some of these principles have been useful in facilitating corresponding concepts in psychology to promote mental health ... It's how you use it. It's not always as simple in practice though. We have competing forces within us - and thus we have the monomyth."

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/e3b796ce-020f-4492-81e4-27bd4eb90ab0.jpg/r501_0_3340_1604_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

An astrophysicist, a policeman and a Baptist pastor walk into a bar.

This is no joke. This cantina can be a little rough. Actually, it's been called a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

So, watch your step. They may not serve your kind in here.

Can Baby Yoda save Star Wars?

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/e3b796ce-020f-4492-81e4-27bd4eb90ab0.jpg/r501_0_3340_1604_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

As Disney says it will "step back" from movies for more TV like The Mandalorian, a small band of experts are enlisted to embark on a bold quest.

news, latest-news, star wars, the empire strikes back, the mandalorian, canberra times

2020-08-30T04:30:00+10:00

https://players.brightcove.net/3879528182001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6185324261001

https://players.brightcove.net/3879528182001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6185324261001

We are entering the eternally expanding universe of Star Wars - that colossal labyrinth of movies and merchandise, mystery and magic that has consumed followers and confounded non-believers ever since a visionary young filmmaker named George Lucas fashioned a rollicking space adventure from the archetypal hero's journey monomyth of Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

Back in 1977, pioneering visual effects notwithstanding, Star Wars was pretty straight forward.

Borrowing from such auteur idols as John Ford (The Searchers) and Akira Kurosawa (The Hidden Fortress), Lucas dressed the tropes of his favourite childhood movies - Wild West gunslingers, Errol Flynn duels, World War II dogfights, Tarzan and Jane on the vine - in captivating, futuristic packaging and infused his hero's journey narrative with a spiritualism ("the Force") akin to Zen Buddhism.

The first Star Wars movie came out in 1977. Picture: Lucasfilm

More than four decades and an estimated $US70 billion in gross revenues later, Star Wars in 2020 is, well, complicated.

The final films in the trio of saga trilogies,The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, divided fans and disappointed at the box office, raising questions about entertainment giant Disney's creative stewardship of the lucrative media property it bought from Lucas for $US4 billion in 2012.

Evidently spooked, and with cinemas worldwide hit hard by COVID-19, Disney says it will "step back" from making Star Wars movies for now. Not long ago, there were grand plans to put out a new film every two years starting in 2022. But proposed offshoot trilogies by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and Game of Thrones producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss appear to have gone the way of the Death Star, leaving only Kiwi Taika Waititi - director of Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit - contracted to deliver a new film at some point.

The Mandalorian's title character joins Frozen's Elsa, Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear and Marvel's Captain America in the Disney Ooshies collection just launched at Woolworths. Picture: Supplied

With fans still eager to see every curious corner of this famous galaxy, Disney is turning instead to TV, with four Star Wars spin-off shows in the pipeline and five others rumoured to be in development following the success of The Mandalorian, which has helped the Disney+ streaming service amass 60 million subscribers worldwide in its first nine months.

With the show's second season dropping in October and its title character joining Frozen's Elsa, Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear and Marvel's Captain America in the Disney+ Ooshies collection launched this week at Woolworths (along with a hologram Princess Leia!), the future of the Stars Wars universe - narratively and commercially - hangs on two characters first introduced 40 years ago in The Empire Strikes Back - the film that turned Star Wars from a hit movie into an epic saga.

Bounty hunter Boba Fett was originally introduced in The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. Picture: Lucasfilm

Long since enshrined as the best entry in the series, Empire opened in Australian cinemas in August 1980. Most of what is still loved today about Star Wars has roots in its darker, deeper first sequel, including gnome-like Jedi master Yoda and masked bounty hunter Boba Fett - inspirations for The Mandalorian - as well as the slow-burn romance between Princess Leia and Han Solo ("I love you." "I know."), composer John Williams' thundering Imperial March theme and Darth Vader's shock plot twist ("No, I am your father").

The film's limited 40th anniversary rerun in selected cinemas from September 10 may be the last time in a long time that a Star Wars movie swashbuckles across the big screen.

Which raises the question: Is Star Wars done for as a movie-going experience and the ultimate four-quadrant blockbuster (appealing to both male and female audiences, both under- and over-25s)?

Now that it's one franchise among many, will Star Wars ever recapture its original wonderment? Or has that star destroyer sailed?

The Mandalorian helped launch Disney's streaming service with more than 60 million subscribers worldwide in its first nine months. Picture: Lucasfilm

For fans clinging to the original trilogy, The Mandalorian may be the spin-off they were looking for - but can Disney keep this sprawling genre world spinning in infinity on TV? And why do these fans have such powerful proprietary feelings? Is it nostalgia, and is that what compels grown men to trade vintage toys for hundreds of dollars in livestreamed auctions?

To help us to understand the forces that have shaped Star Wars and will forever dominate its destiny, we've assembled a small band of experts and aficionados. We're on a diplomatic mission to explore why, unlike its fans, Star Wars never seems to get old.

Of course, bellying up to the bar together as if at the Mos Eisley cantina was not an option in the age of coronavirus. So the heroes of our quest - Mick the Fanatic, Brad the Astrophysicist, Heather the Preacher, Ben the Psychologist, Andrew the Marketing Expert and Kieren the Picture Show Man - shared their insights via phone and email.

Mick "Fett" Pylak trades in action figures on his Australian Live Toy Auctions Facebook page. Picture: Supplied

Mick "Fett" Pylak is a Star Wars superfan. His $500,000 collection of toys and memorabilia fills his Sydney house. When he's not trading action figures online or masquerading at events as "Aussie Vader", he has a day job with another kind of force - the police.

Credentials: He named his firstborn Leia.

Where it began: As a boy, when he saw Return of the Jedi (his parents were divorced and his Dad came specially to take him). "I can still remember how amazed I was by it - the characters, the creatures, the spaceships and this whole new world."

His collection: "I started out wanting to find the toys to get back those memories of childhood, but I just never stopped. When they began to increase in value, I viewed it as an investment. Then it became about needing to complete a set and the thrill of the hunt. Once you get a set of, say, mint-on-card figures, you want to get more. I've got a normal job and income but I've acquired this collection by constantly buying and selling. For example, I was paying $500 10 years ago for the vinyl cape Jawa [action figure], the TolToys version on The Empire Strikes Back card which was only ever released in Australia, and these days they sell for $3000."

Specific Jawa toys can go for big money to keen collectors. Picture: Supplied

"Collecting is no longer seen as a nerd thing," he says. "The kids who grew up in that era of the original films and toys are in their spending prime now, so they have the disposable income and the will to spend top dollar for the memories." But what compels him now has moved beyond nostalgia. "When you find and buy something you've been chasing for a while, you get a kind of euphoria which is almost like a drug. When you win the item and then it arrives, you feel this pleasure. And then you put it in your collection and you want to do it all over again."

Disney: "They have kept Star Wars alive, which is great. After the prequels it wasn't looking like George Lucas was doing any more movies. The downside is the political correctness - trying to please everybody and not offend anybody." The Mandalorian - based on his favourite character, Boba Fett - has found the sweet spot to please all generations, he says. "TV series open up so many more possibilities for expanding storylines with different characters." Of course, that also means an infinite amount of future merch. "Ah, yes, that is going to be a problem."

Australian National University astrophysicist Brad Tucker. Picture: Rohan Thomson

Dr Brad Tucker is an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the ANU's School of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Credentials: He didn't watch Star Wars until his mid-20s. "That sounds weird for someone in my job, but space stuff didn't really register with me as a kid and I didn't become interested in astronomy until university," he says. "So, it's given me an outsider's view of science fiction."

The science: "Science does owe a lot to the legacy of science fiction like Star Wars and the way it depicts the science, the storytelling and the visuals. For example, it's very hard to visualise travelling near the speed of light. That is an abstract thing to think about, but the visual storytelling of fiction like Star Wars helps open us up to that as visual creatures - we see it and become inspired," he says. "Our world now is facing really pressing scientific issues, from climate to COVID, so you need people to be inspired to want to pursue those questions. Look at Elon Musk and SpaceX - he's a billionaire fuelling private space endeavours because as a kid his imagination was opened up to the possibilities by Star Wars."

The fiction: "People have always looked up at the stars and had a sense of wonder. We are one small world in one solar system that's one of 300 billion solar systems in a galaxy and our galaxy's one of 2 trillion - it makes us feel insignificant in the universe. Then, when you see that same vast backdrop of space and stars and planets depicted in art like Star Wars, it connects the dots straight back to that sense of wonder. When Star Wars came out it would be almost 25 years before we actually found the first planet around another star - so it was make-believe projecting possibilities and inspiring people to wonder. Then you layer over that an adventure story exploring the human condition, and it becomes a way to explore ourselves as a species."

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker being trained by Yoda to be a Jedi in The Empire Strikes Back. Picture: Lucasfilm

The aliens: "Star Wars, and sorry to be sacrilegious here but Star Trek too, were novel for portraying aliens as simply characters - other beings, other lifeforms, who can be good or bad. So, there can be a bunch of aliens in a bar having a beer and listening to a band - it flips the whole H.G. Wells War of the Worlds idea of monsters invading to destroy us, and changes how we think about alien life - and that question: 'Is there life out there?'"

The Force mythology: "We often think about science and religion always being at odds, but to my mind they are complementary. They are both trying to help us understand our place in the world, how it works, where we are going, why we do what we do, and to ultimately better our world and our lives. Of course, sometimes science and religion can be at odds, but along comes Star Wars, weaving this narrative of the Force which says you can kind of do both - that there's a higher power, we don't know exactly what it is but it permeates everything and it's good because it gives us energy and life, but there also needs to be balance as part of this bigger universe (the meaning of which we are trying to unravel). That's exactly what we're doing with trying to understand the Big Bang. To me, the Big Bang is the intersection between physics and philosophy and theology - it's where these lines of questioning meet and each spins off in a different direction to try to help us understand."

Pastor Heather Packett. Picture: Supplied

Heather Packett is a teaching pastor at Crossway, Australia's largest Baptist church, and co-director with husband Lucas of ARK, a foster care organisation that recruits and supports faith-based carers.

Credentials: Hasn't seen Disney's sequels. Nothing could top her favourite film - Return of the Jedi - anyway. "It showed us that the most evil of people can still be reached with empathy," she says.

Where it began: "We didn't have a TV for a chunk of my childhood to avoid bad influences on us as kids. But we did go to the movies, and my brother, seven years older than me, was my influence as far as Star Wars goes - I watched it to be with him." There she marvelled at the "sheer brilliance of the effects, the majesty of the score" and the contest between good and evil. "It was like my understanding of the spiritual realm was playing out before my eyes, albeit in a caricature-like way," she says. Today she often draws from movies in her work as a minister. "Star Wars has definitely influenced my interest in film, and most likely has contributed to my reading and interpreting of faith things within films, whether put there intentionally by the writers or not - for example, I see Messianic themes within most superhero films."

The fantasy: "Fantasy and imagination are great for kids and should be encouraged and nurtured. It should also lead to them discovering ways to imagine and create fantasy themselves." But merchandising "can be a problem in an affluent society"," she says. "Kids can easily become entitled, and less creative, when merchandise is readily available, so I'm not really a fan." She has yet to introduce her children to Star Wars. "It'll happen, but currently both ours are still a little sensitive to even fictionalised violence on screen. They're 11 and 13. Most kids have seen it by that age, I know, but I have no interest in pushing them before they'll enjoy it. I was much younger, but I wonder if back in the '70s and '80s there was a greater expanse between reality and fantasy, so it was easier to compartmentalise than it is for kids now."

The Force mythology: "I think initially when Star Wars was released, it connected to a generally accepted understanding of spirituality that exists far less now than it did then." She says the films "dabbled in spiritual things to make sense of a fictional galaxy, and to help audiences relate. For me 'the Force' is not the equivalent to God, nor is 'the dark side' an equivalent to satanic force". While actual religious faiths "attempt to help us make sense of life through the lens of a greater power", as a moral compass in the real world "the good versus evil homily of Star Wars doesn't delve into our personal brokenness, and can therefore allow us to remain removed from it, without ever providing answers or a redemptive path ... If it did provide that moral compass for people initially, then I guess, yes, it is less demanding and disappointing than actual faith. But it's also written to entice and entertain audiences - something actual faith has no interest in."

Darth Vader during a pivotal scene in The Empire Strikes Back. Picture: Lucasfilm

Dr Andrew Hughes is a lecturer in marketing at the ANU's Research School of Management.

Credentials: A certified fan since childhood. "Loved the storylines, the escapism of it all, be it the stories or the settings, and of course who as a little kid does not want to see good triumph over evil?" The Empire Strikes Back is his favourite. "It expanded the storyline dramatically, and added far more depth to the characters ... it made a story about space very human."

The toys: "Toys, and merchandise of any sort, are a bridge to the experience and emotions we have to the franchise/brand. In a way, having a toy, or merchandise, allows us to access those positive emotions at any time. Even as adults this is what makes toys so collectible - it is the access to those emotions, those memories which the toy represents, that we are buying."

Disney: "Buying Star Wars wasn't about movies, it was about owning a story which could be developed, changed and altered to match the needs of multiple markets ... smart thinking really, because 10 years from now, if not sooner, it will be all profit. Just look at the excitement around Baby Yoda (from The Mandalorian). That's one story alone where you could run for a decade, and tie in various merch opportunities." There's risk, though. "If the franchise dies or suffers from any poor management then that is going to compromise the entire brand. With home streaming services, though, the future does look bright. Right now Star Wars is propping up Disney+ ... allowing them some time to get it right. But they need to hurry up as streaming is becoming very competitive, and the margins are getting smaller as more and more competitors enter the market."

The future: "The story has no end."

Majestic Cinemas chief executive Kieren Dell and Kempsey Cinema manager Chelsea Curyer. Picture: Ruby Pascoe

Kieren Dell is chief executive of Majestic Cinemas, which operates picture theatres in Port Macquarie, Nambucca Heads, Singleton, the Entrance, Inverell, Nambour, Sawtell and Kempsey.

Credentials: He saw the original Star Wars at the age of 12 on one of his first trips to the movies with mates rather than family. "It was mesmerising to my young brain [as] I was already a fantasy/sci-fi fan. I think I saw it about 10 times during its season and was forever changed."

The movies: "Other than [James] Bond, it is the most enduring [franchise]. It is more anticipated by multi-generations than Bond, which does largely play older now. When Episode VII [The Force Awakens] was about to open, I talked to all of our young staff, who were very excited about it, and stressed that old farts like me in their early 50s were just as excited due to our childhood experiences. So it is the true four-quadrant blockbuster franchise. Marvel tends to play to younger audiences, Star Trek - I'm a big Trekkie too - is a smaller demographic of nerds, and Lord of the Rings was huge - and one of my all-time favourites - but seems a bit tapped out due to the source material getting thinner now."

Disney: "I think they need to come up with new concepts that keep the look and feel of the mythology and develop good characters that they can build on and make iconic. Rogue One, as a standalone movie, was ... worth doing. I personally liked Solo, but it didn't do as well as expected ... but I don't think it should put them off going back and doing origin stories if they are good stories." He does not see The Mandalorian replacing the communal experience of seeing Star Wars at a cinema. "The Mandalorian was a slow burn that would not be acceptable in the tighter time frame of a feature film, but it helps to flesh out characters and the mythology, as did Clone Wars and other shows and books over the years. They are different products for different purposes."

Star Wars action figures.

Ben Fletcher, of Newcastle-based Newpsych Psychologists, has been a clinical psychologist for 17 years.

Credentials: Too young when the original trilogy came out, he preferred Batman comic books as a teen. "A bit darker. So edgy. Probably fitting for adolescence".

The saga: "We've always told stories. These franchises are our modern myths." Star Wars repackaged "simplistic, comforting depictions of good and evil" with "familiar themes of the classic hero's journey, in a fresh setting with the effects to pull it off. Samurai movie in space - what's not to like?"

The nostalgia: "Everyone relates to art in their own way, but some themes endure and resonate with us across time and media. I imagine Star Wars stays with us because of the classic hero's journey - the monomyth." The stories we grew up with "remain sources of comfort and wisdom, maybe a vehicle for catharsis and group/self-identification at times. It is appealing, in an ever-complex world, to take refuge in pleasant memories from our childhoods. Maybe the child and adult in us always needs a bit of room - for a well-rounded existence."

The Force mythology: "Most well-crafted systems to foster good living, be they rationally derived or based on faith, can be prone to benefit or misuse. Some have argued that faith is meaningless without healthy doubt - one needs to be mindful of blind spots." With the "zen" of the Jedi and "the Force" as an expression of mindfulness, "some of these principles have been useful in facilitating corresponding concepts in psychology to promote mental health ... It's how you use it. It's not always as simple in practice though. We have competing forces within us - and thus we have the monomyth."

Excerpt from:
40 years after the first Star Wars sequel, can Baby Yoda save the franchise? - The Canberra Times

by Tom Leonard The Daily Mail

Every day at 2pm on a dusty road through the mountains of Oregon, hundreds of young people dressed head to toe in various sunrise hues of red and orange would gather to wait solemnly for a car to go past.

It was always a Rolls-Royce, although a different one each day, and it would glide slowly past as they bowed and threw roses on the bonnet.

Inside, wearing robes, a tea cosy-style woolly hat, flowing grey beard and beatific smile, was the object of their devotion, the guru and mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

Once he had passed by, the crowds would return to toiling in the fields or finding their true selves in group sex sessions.

Rajneesh not to be confused with the far tamer Maharishi, who was the Beatles Indian guru presided over a New Age sex cult that was second to none in its embrace of free love, unorthodox meditation techniques and sheer outrageousness.

In India, he was known as the Sex Guru and attracted tens of thousands of followers from all over the world, including celebrities, from the venerable British journalist Bernard Levin to film star Terence Stamp.

In the U.S. he was dubbed the Rolls-Royce Guru. Given that he owned 93 of the luxury cars, the title was more than fair.

His followers were often highly educated professionals ready to reject the strictures of middle-class convention and seek enlightenment first in India and later at communes in Oregon, Cologne and Suffolk.

Some left spouses and children, while others donated everything they had to the cult.

What they received in return were a bead necklace with a locket bearing the gurus picture, a new Rajneeshi name and the great mans thumb imprint on their forehead, giving them their third eye of insight.

However, it was the groups attempt to build a $100 million utopian city in a remote corner of the northwestern state of Oregon that became its downfall in the Eighties, resulting in a jaw-dropping scandal that included attempted murder, election rigging, arms smuggling and a mass poisoning that still ranks as the largest bio-terror attack in U.S. history.

The story of the Rajneesh movements slide from peace-and-love hippiedom into machine gun-toting, homicidal darkness is revealed in a new six-part Netflix documentary entitled Wild Wild Country.

The makers talked to key former Rajneeshis also known as sannyasins including the gurus terrifying second-in-command, Ma Anand Sheela. All of them seem nostalgic for those heady days.

The series uses some of the reams of previously unseen home-video footage shot by the movement, and has been criticised for leaving viewers to decide whether the Rajneeshis were a terrifying, murderous cult or as some of them still insist just a peaceful, persecuted minority religion.

The facts, say former prosecutors and other outsiders who came into contact with the toxic clan, are as indisputable as they are damning.

Rajneesh was a philosophy lecturer who, in 1970, founded a spiritual movement and commune in Pune, near Mumbai (formerly Bombay). His teachings were a bizarre mixture of pop psychology, ancient Indian wisdom, capitalism, sexual permissiveness and dirty jokes that he gleaned from the pages of Playboy magazine.

His dynamic group meditation performed with eyes closed and pop music blaring involved periods of screaming, frenetic dancing, standing still, and jumping up and down shouting Hoo!.

Sex lots of it and with as many partners as possible lay at the core of his philosophy. He insisted that repression of sexual energy was the cause of most psychological problems.

Rajneesh argued that monogamous marriage was unnatural and advocated unrestricted promiscuity, including partner-swapping, from the age of 14.

Blessed with a captivating stare from huge, soft eyes, he was so charismatic that many of his followers who would fill 20,000-seat stadiums to hear him speak believed he could be a second Buddha.

But Rajneesh, born in 1931, was no ascetic mystic in a loincloth. He couldnt get enough material possessions, collecting not only Rolls-Royces but expensive jewellery and diamond-studded Rolex watches.

He concentrated on luring affluent Westerners to his ashram (hermitage) in Pune, where he lectured in front of a 20ft-long banner which proclaimed: Surrender to me, and I will transform you.

The fees he charged for group therapies were so exorbitant that some women disciples worked as prostitutes to raise the money.

The actor Terence Stamp, star of the films Billy Budd and Far from the Madding Crowd, visited in 1976 after his girlfriend, Sixties supermodel Jean Shrimpton, left him. He stayed for several years, dropping out of society.

Anneke Wills, a British actress who had played Dr Whos sidekick Polly, joined the ashram in 1975. For the first few nights I cried into my pillow. Id swapped my wonderful home for a mattress in a communal dormitory, she recalled.

But there were some wonderful people there. I was a bit bored by the free love thing. Id had enough of all that. It was the meditation I was interested in.

She remained there for six years before following the Bhagwan when he moved to Oregon, where she became one of thousands of non-U.S. followers who undertook arranged marriages so they could stay there.

The late Bernard Levin, one of Britains best-known newspaper columnists and a former Daily Mail writer, was also taken in. He stayed at the ashram in his late 40s and later wrote a string of drooling articles about the Bhagwan, describing him as the conduit along which the vital force of the universe flows.

Rajneeshs move to Oregon in 1981 was prompted by an investigation by the Indian authorities over immigration fraud, tax evasion and drug smuggling. The group purchased a 64,000-acre ranch near the tiny settlement of Antelope, and the 7,000 disciples who moved in swamped the 50-strong resident Bible-bashing population. The two sides mistrusted each other from the start.

Rifle-toting ranchers started driving around with Bag a Bhagwan car bumper stickers but the Rajneeshis, by force of numbers, soon won control of the town in a local election.

Antelope was renamed Rajneeshpuram. The victors set up a heavily armed peace force, practising daily with Uzi sub-machine guns on their range, and drove a Jeep with a 30-calibre machine gun mounted on it around town.

A local park was reserved for nude sunbathing. One scandalised woman complained that she could hear peoples orgasmic experiences all day and all night.

Construction began on a self-sustaining Rajneesh city intended for 50,000 residents, with scores of houses, shops, restaurants and even an airport built. But local people jointly took legal action against the development, backed by politicians increasingly convinced that the Rajneeshis were a dangerous cult.

Alarming evidence of this included a BBC documentary in which a British journalist, the late Christopher Hitchens, filmed one of the Rajneeshis encounter sexual therapy sessions. Footage showed a crowd of naked men and women packed into a room, screaming and attacking each other.

Hitchens described another disturbing session in which a woman was stripped naked and surrounded by men who bark at her, drawing attention to all her physical and psychic shortcomings, until she is abject with tears and apologies.

He went on: At this point she is hugged and embraced and comforted, and told that she now has a family. Sobbing with masochistic relief, she humbly enters the tribe. Hitchens added darkly: It was not absolutely clear what she had to do in order to be given her clothes back, but I did hear some believable and ugly testimony on this point.

Rajneeshs own sexual needs were largely met by his long-standing British lover and care giver, an attractive long-haired brunette named Christine Wolf Smith (or Vivek, as he renamed her). Amid rumours that he had his own harem, he boasted to the media of having had sexual relationships with hundreds of women.

However, beset by health problems, Rajneesh had already stopped addressing his followers before he arrived in the U.S. He retreated into public silence, living in a heavily guarded compound and rarely venturing out apart from his afternoon spins in the Roller. He left day-to-day running of the movement to Ma Anand Sheela, his secretary, who became his official mouthpiece.

Sheela was a young Indian woman whose small stature and disarming smile hid a ruthless megalomaniac who walked around with a large handgun strapped to her hip. She would do anything to preserve the movements survival and her dominance.

In 1984, the Rajneeshis gathered up 6,000 homeless people from across the U.S. and brought them to live on the ranch as an apparent act of charity.

In fact, they had bused them in so they could register to vote in an election for the local county commission, which the Rajneeshis also wanted to control so they could get their new city approved.

When the ruse was foiled by officials, the homeless were put back on buses and dumped in surrounding cities.

Sheelas dominance was threatened when Hollywood became fascinated by the guru. Francoise Ruddy, the glamorous co-producer of The Godfather, started throwing glitzy fundraisers for him at her Hollywood Hills mansion, where guests indulged his greed for expensive baubles, including a $3 million diamond watch he had requested.

Rajneesh was also spending heavily to feed his serious dependence on drugs, taking large amounts of Valium and inhaling nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to get high. Possibly delusional because of the drugs, he became convinced that a global catastrophe was imminent. He asked his personal doctor, an Englishman named George Meredith, to supply him with drugs to ensure that he passed away painlessly.

By now the paranoid Sheela was bugging key personalities in the group, including the guru. Eavesdropping on Rajneeshs death discussions with Dr Meredith, she convinced her closest allies that the doctor was colluding in their masters death and had to be killed.

Jane Stork, an Australian disciple, jabbed a miniature hypodermic needle containing adrenaline into the doctors left buttock but he survived. I felt like Joan of Arc, who was going into battle, she says in the documentary. It was all about keeping the Bhagwan alive.

But the doctors name was only one of those on a hit-list of cult enemies drawn up by Sheela. It included local journalists, officials and the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, Charles Turner.

She knew Mr Turner was planning to charge the group with immigration fraud over the sham marriages it arranged so foreign members could stay in America.

Jane Stork again agreed to be the assassin, waiting all day outside Mr Turners office with a revolver. He didnt appear. Other officials were also staked out but the murder plots were scrapped.

Rajneeshs girlfriend, Vivek, was also targeted. She later told the FBI she believed Sheela once gave her a poisoned cup of tea that sent her heart-rate racing and made her deeply nauseous.

The cult had its own biological warfare laboratory and some targets were sent contaminated boxes of chocolates. A judge almost died after eating one.

A pilot who worked for the groups airline, Air Rajneesh, also claimed that Sheela made him drop a bomb from his plane over a courthouse. The local planning office was set on fire.

As relations within the group deteriorated, one night in September, 1985, Sheela and a small group of allies fled the ranch and went to ground in West Germany.

Furious at her desertion, Rajneesh broke his four-year silence and publicly accused her and her gang of fascists of various serious crimes, including three attempted murders and embezzling $55 million in funds. He suggested she had left out of sexual jealousy because he wouldnt sleep with her.

She didnt prove to be a woman, she proved to be a perfect bitch, he said.

She hit back, branding the movement a gigantic con practised by a man not remotely interested in enlightenment.

However, Rajneeshs allegations allowed the FBI to descend on the ranch, where they found a secret bunker under Sheelas home containing 10,000 tape recordings from her mass bugging operation, plus an arsenal of unregistered guns intended for a Rajneeshi hit squad.

As they questioned disciples, the Feds turned up even more devilish plots. In a bid to incapacitate non-Rajneesh- supporting voters in Antelope, the Rajneeshis had tried to poison the water supply of the nearest large town, The Dalles, by introducing beavers, on grounds that they carried harmful bacteria.

When the beavers proved too big to be slipped through the reservoirs covers, they were shoved into food blenders and their liquidised bodies poured into the reservoir instead. It didnt work but in a trial run for a more extensive effort to incapacitate voters, Rajneeshis contaminated food on display at salad counters in restaurants across the town with salmonella. More than 750 people fell seriously ill and a few, including a newborn baby, almost died.

Sheela and seven others were extradited to the U.S., where they were convicted of conspiracy offences including assault, attempted murder, arson, mass poisoning and illegal wiretapping. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison but served only 29 months before being released and deported. Jane Stork was also jailed. Two British disciples, Susan Hagan and Sally-Anne Croft, were charged with plotting to murder U.S. Attorney Charles Turner and served two years of six-year sentences.

Prosecutors were only able to charge Rajneesh with immigration fraud. They feared a bloody shootout with his heavily armed defence force if they tried to arrest him but Rajneesh obligingly fled in a Lear jet. He was caught when it landed to refuel just before leaving America.

The guru agreed to a plea deal and was deported. He returned to Pune, renamed himself Osho, and died aged 58 of heart failure in 1990.

Today, there are still small numbers of Rajneeshi devotees around the world.

In the years since the cults heyday, former members have exposed ugly truths about the free-love culture: some women were raped, abortions were sometimes enforced and nearly 90 per cent of disciples had a sexually transmitted disease.

Insiders have also admitted that Rajneesh had some very unsavoury views, including being a fan of Hitler and euthanasia.

In a final irony, the Oregon ranch that was once a haven for free sex is now a Christian youth camp where evangelical young Americans are taught the virtues of sexual abstinence.

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Rajneesh: The Indian Sex Guru Who Slept with Hundreds of ...