NASA, Quantum Sensing and its Quantum Detector that achieves world-leading Milestone

Hey Everyone,

I’m really bullish on the intersection of Quantum tech and space-tech. I believe these things will become more important for human civilization as we realize that to not go extinct we need to build splinter colonies and the window for doing so might be a closing one.

There’s new NASA PR and it’s a bit proming I think:

A new JPL- and Caltech-developed detector could transform how quantum computers, located thousands of miles apart, exchange huge quantities of quantum data.

The way quantum computers placed at great distances exchange huge amounts of quantum data is being transformed by a new detector from JPL and Caltech.

Quantum computers promise to work millions of times faster than conventional ones. But to communicate over long distances, we will need a network of computers and a network of social communications.

To help create that network, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech have developed a machine capable of counting huge numbers of individual photons—quanta of light—with incredible precision.

How will humanity communicate with itself at great distances? Using Quantum tech or even Black holes as quantum computing is a possibility. Sending information at faster speeds requires a single photon detector that can not only detect photons quickly but also precisely measure their arrival times.

In a recent study, a German-Georgian team of researchers proposed that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs) could use black holes as quantum computers. It’s no laughing matter. I find such ideas really refreshing.

“Transmitting quantum information over long distances has, so far, been very limited,” said PEACOQ project team member Ioana Craiciu, a postdoctoral scholar at JPL and the lead author of a study describing these results. “A new detector technology like the PEACOQ that can measure single photons with a precision of a fraction of a nanosecond enables sending quantum information at higher rates, farther.”