Astor Perkins

Quantum networks with coherent routing of information through multiple nodes Large-scale communication networks, such as the Internet, rely on routing packets of data through multiple intermediate nodes to transmit information from a sender to a receiver. In this paper, we develop a model of a quantum communication network that routes information simultaneously along multiple paths passing through intermediate stations. We demonstrate that a quantum routing approach can in principle extend the distance over which information can be transmitted reliably. Surprisingly, the benefit of quantum routing also applies to the transmission of classical information: even if the transmitted data is purely classical, delocalising it on multiple routes can enhance the achievable transmission distance. Our findings highlight the potential of a future quantum internet not only for achieving secure quantum communication and distributed quantum computing but also for extending the range of classical data transmission. https://lnkd.in/esHZkbyh

Nuclear startup Terrestrial Energy goes public via SPAC, netting $280M in merger Terrestrial Energy, a small nuclear startup, merged with an acquisition company on Wednesday. The North Carolina-based company is developing small modular reactors and expects to net $280 million from the deal. Before the SPAC merger, Terrestrial Energy had raised $94 million, according to PitchBook. The combined entity expects to list on Nasdaq under the symbol IMSR. The ticker is a reference to Terrestrial Energy’s flavor of small modular reactor (SMR), which it calls an integral molten salt reactor. In such a device, uranium fuel is mixed with various salts, such as lithium fluoride or sodium fluoride, that serve to suspend the nuclear fuel and act as the reactor’s main coolant. Terrestrial Energy’s reactor core is designed to be entirely replaced every seven years, in part to head off some of the problems earlier molten salt reactors experienced like corrosion. The reactor core includes not only the fuel and graphite modulators that regulate the speed of the fission reactions, but also the heat exchangers and pumps that keep the salt cool and flowing. The startup is targeting a range of markets, including electric power, data centers, and industrial applications that require heat. There are many extant proposals to build commercial-scale molten salt reactors, but to date, none have been built. The basic technology was invented in the 1950s, but two experiments from that era were plagued with problems. Nuclear power has received renewed attention as electrification of buildings and transportation, coupled with the rapid growth of data centers, has sent electricity demand soaring. Tech companies have become increasingly interested in the technology as a possible solution to the electricity requirements of AI training and inference. Google, Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman have all picked a horse in the race to develop advanced nuclear reactors. Terrestrial Energy isn’t the first SMR startup to SPAC — the Altman-backed Oklo completed its deal in 2024 — and given current hype around nuclear power, it’s possible it won’t be the last. https://lnkd.in/gtbjAnRw

Certified randomness using a trapped-ion quantum processor Although quantum computers can perform a wide range of practically important tasks beyond the abilities of classical computers, realizing this potential remains a challenge. An example is to use an untrusted remote device to generate random bits that can be certified to contain a certain amount of entropy. Certified randomness has many applications but is impossible to achieve solely by classical computation. Here we demonstrate the generation of certifiably random bits using the 56-qubit Quantinuum H2-1 trapped-ion quantum computer accessed over the Internet. Our protocol leverages the classical hardness of recent random circuit sampling demonstrations: a client generates quantum ‘challenge’ circuits using a small randomness seed, sends them to an untrusted quantum server to execute and verifies the results of the server. We analyse the security of our protocol against a restricted class of realistic near-term adversaries. Using classical verification with measured combined sustained performance of 1.1 × 1018 floating-point operations per second across multiple supercomputers, we certify 71,313 bits of entropy under this restricted adversary and additional assumptions. Our results demonstrate a step towards the practical applicability of present-day quantum computers. https://lnkd.in/eQFTCStQ

The Delaware 'Billionaire's Bill' That Just Passed Is Bad News for Everyone Who Isn't a Billionaire A piece of legislation that was written by the law firm representing Elon Musk has been passed by the state of Delaware’s Democrat-controlled legislature. Critics maintain that the bill, which now only needs to be signed into law by the governor, will fundamentally alter the structure of corporate law in the U.S., allowing corporations to potentially engage in malfeasance while leaving little room for legal retaliation by consumers or company shareholders. SB 21 was originally drafted by Richards, Layton & Finger (RLF), a law firm that counts Musk as one of its clients. The contentious legislation, which would re-write corporate regulation in the state, has been a deep source of concern by worker and consumer groups, as critics maintain it will free corporate America up to behave badly and suffer less consequences. Now, Bloomberg reports that the bill was passed Tuesday night, thanks to the help of a large, pro-corporate lobbying effort. The outlet writes: A team of five lobbyists hired by the American Investment Council, which is funded by the likes of Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co., had pressed lawmakers to support the measure. The “billionaires’ bill,” as some detractors called it, eased the standards for insider deals involving controlling shareholders and for rich compensation packages for founders like Musk. An army of professional influencers had been “swarming the statehouse,” as one legislator put it. The drama behind the bill’s passage runs deep. For a very long time, Delaware has been home to a majority of American corporations due to its lenient business laws. Recently, the state’s status as the corporate capital of the country was threatened by pressures—from Musk, but also by other major companies and business personalities—to encourage businesses to leave the state. It appears that, in an effort to stop companies from fleeing, the state legislature has acquiesced to businesses’ priorities. According to critics, SB 21 would fundamentally rewrite the norms of corporate law in the U.S., and would fundamentally alter the balance of power between corporate fiduciaries and shareholders—allowing companies to increase corporate secrecy immensely while making it nearly impossible for shareholders to file lawsuits against them over corporate misbehavior. In other words: corporate secrecy is likely to increase, and the ability of shareholders to hold large corporate institutions accountable will shrink. https://lnkd.in/e8hVAURu

A broad-spectrum lasso peptide antibiotic targeting the bacterial ribosome Lasso peptides (biologically active molecules with a distinct structurally constrained knotted fold) are natural products that belong to the class of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides. Lasso peptides act on several bacterial targets, but none have been reported to inhibit the ribosome, one of the main targets of antibiotics in the bacterial cell. Here we report the identification and characterization of the lasso peptide antibiotic lariocidin and its internally cyclized derivative lariocidin B, produced by Paenibacillus sp. M2, which has broad-spectrum activity against a range of bacterial pathogens. We show that lariocidins inhibit bacterial growth by binding to the ribosome and interfering with protein synthesis. Structural, genetic and biochemical data show that lariocidins bind at a unique site in the small ribosomal subunit, where they interact with the 16S ribosomal RNA and aminoacyl-tRNA, inhibiting translocation and inducing miscoding. Lariocidin is unaffected by common resistance mechanisms, has a low propensity for generating spontaneous resistance, shows no toxicity to human cells, and has potent in vivo activity in a mouse model of Acinetobacter baumannii infection. Our identification of ribosome-targeting lasso peptides uncovers new routes towards the discovery of alternative protein-synthesis inhibitors and offers a novel chemical scaffold for the development of much-needed antibacterial drugs. https://lnkd.in/ejDKxJ27

The NIH’s Most Reckless Cuts Yet Ending clinical trials with no warning can put patients at risk. By design, clinical trials ask their participants to take on risk. To develop new vaccines, drugs, or therapies, scientists first have to ask volunteers to try out those interventions, with no guarantee that they’ll work or be free of side effects. To minimize harm, researchers promise to care for and monitor participants through a trial’s end, long enough to collect the data necessary to determine if a therapy is effective and at what cost. End a trial too early, and researchers might not be able to figure out if it worked—or participants may be left worse off than when they started. But that is exactly what the Trump administration has been asking scientists across the country to do. Since the end of last month, the administration has forced the National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, to terminate hundreds of research awards made to scientists across the country. Among those NIH-funded projects are more than 100 clinical trials that now may be forced to halt abruptly, agency officials told me. And those officials expect further orders to cancel hundreds more. https://lnkd.in/ePRYk7Wb

Rocket Lab’s Neutron Rocket On-Ramped to U.S. Space Force’s $5.6b National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program Rocket Lab has today been selected by the U.S. Space Force to compete for the Department of Defense’s highest-priority national security missions for its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program. The firm-fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has a five-year ordering period that will run through to June 2029 with a maximum value of $5.6 billion. Rocket Lab’s launch vehicle for the program will be Neutron, its 13-ton reusable carbon composite medium-lift launch vehicle being rapidly developed to meet the demand for high assurance national security missions, and for single and multi-satellite constellation deployment. Designed to deploy payloads up to 13,000 kg, Neutron is being brought to the market at an unprecedented development pace on the foundation of Rocket Lab’s industry leadership as one of the world’s most frequent and reliable launch providers, with 63 Electron launches to date and one of only two U.S. launch providers to have launched multiple payloads to orbit so far in 2025. With Neutron’s first launch scheduled for the second half of the year, Rocket Lab met the program’s eligibility requirements to be selected to compete for the NSSL program, and upon a successful flight on Neutron, will be eligible to further compete for individual task orders awarded within the NSSL program. Neutron’s debut launch from Launch Complex 3 in Wallops Island, Virginia, will be the first launch vehicle to support the NSSL program from the region. As one of only five launch providers selected for the Department of Defense’s program, eligibility for NSSL Lane 1 includes stringent requirements that aim to develop a diversified, competitive and reliable domestic launch base to provide launch services for its highest-priority national security missions. The program plans to award a minimum of 30 missions within its contracting period through to 2029, with the potential for an extension through to 2034. As part of the on-ramp to the NSSL program, Rocket Lab receives a $5 million task order to perform a capabilities assessment that demonstrates the Company’s tailored approach to mission assurance for launches awarded through the NSSL program. https://lnkd.in/edfBqgFU

SEC Votes to End Defense of Climate Disclosure Rules The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to end its defense of the rules requiring disclosure of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions. SEC Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda said, “The goal of today’s Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission’s involvement in the defense of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules.” The rules, adopted by the Commission on March 6, 2024, create a detailed and extensive special disclosure regime about climate risks for issuing and reporting companies. States and private parties have challenged the rules. The litigation was consolidated in the Eighth Circuit (Iowa v. SEC, No. 24-1522 (8th Cir.)), and the Commission previously stayed effectiveness of the rules pending completion of that litigation. Briefing in the cases was completed before the change in Administrations. https://lnkd.in/dRwTvt_3

Trump admin cancels over $12B in health care grants The Trump administration is canceling billions of dollars in grant funding to state and local health departments without warning, throwing their programs into disarray. Why it matters: The move casts doubt on states' ability to continue substance use disorder support programs and prevent emerging infectious diseases, among other efforts. In Virginia, the state health department has already begun laying off staff as a result of the funding cuts. Where it stands: Health and Human Services has terminated more than $12 billion in federal grants so far this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to claw back about $11.4 billion from states, which was largely directed toward COVID-19 testing, vaccination and initiatives to bridge health disparities, HHS confirmed to Axios. The administration also canceled about $1 billion in grants that had been made possible by COVID-19 relief legislation and dispersed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, HHS said. What they're saying: "The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement. "HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump's mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again." Democratic lawmakers immediately slammed the terminations. "This is another destructive move by an administration intent on breaking government with no discernible strategy or plan — making our communities less safe in the process — and it should be immediately reversed," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Zoom in: Community health workers, nurses and epidemiologists in Virginia have begun receiving termination notices, several current and former Virginia Department of Health employees familiar told Axios. https://lnkd.in/eR2xbrsC

MIT Maritime Consortium sets sail Around 11 billion tons of goods, or about 1.5 tons per person worldwide, are transported by sea each year, representing about 90 percent of global trade by volume. Internationally, the merchant shipping fleet numbers around 110,000 vessels. These ships, and the ports that service them, are significant contributors to the local and global economy — and they’re significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. A new consortium, formalized in a signing ceremony at MIT last week, aims to address climate-harming emissions in the maritime shipping industry, while supporting efforts for environmentally friendly operation in compliance with the decarbonization goals set by the International Maritime Organization. It aims to bring the best from MIT in key areas for commercial shipping, such as nuclear technology for commercial settings, autonomous operation and AI methods, improved hydrodynamics and ship design, cybersecurity, and manufacturing. Co-led by Sapsis and Fotini Christia, the Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences; director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS); and director of the MIT Sociotechnical Systems Research Center, the newly-launched MIT Maritime Consortium (MC) brings together MIT collaborators from across campus, including the Center for Ocean Engineering, which is housed in the Department of Mechanical Engineering; IDSS, which is housed in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing; the departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering; MIT Sea Grant; and others, with a national and an international community of industry experts. The Maritime Consortium’s founding members are the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp., and HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering. Innovation members are Foresight-Group, Navios Maritime Partners L.P., Singapore Maritime Institute, and Dorian LPG. “The challenges the maritime industry faces are challenges that no individual company or organization can address alone,” says Christia. “The solution involves almost every discipline from the School of Engineering, as well as AI and data-driven algorithms, and policy and regulation — it’s a true MIT problem.” Researchers will explore new designs for nuclear systems consistent with the techno-economic needs and constraints of commercial shipping, economic and environmental feasibility of alternative fuels, new data-driven algorithms and rigorous evaluation criteria for autonomous platforms in the maritime space, cyber-physical situational awareness and anomaly detection, as well as 3D printing technologies for onboard manufacturing. Collaborators will also advise on research priorities toward evidence-based standards related to MIT presidential priorities around climate, sustainability, and AI. https://lnkd.in/dASykjHe