Top TechTop Tech #36: Quantum computers, camera eye exams, light-driven gyroscope
Highlighting interesting or important innovations with long-term promise.
Today’s Top Tech:
• Quantum computer breakthrough
• Camera spots eye conditions
• Light drives tiniest Gyroscope
Light drives tiniest Gyroscope
The world’s smallest gyroscope will be a fraction of the width of a human hair — and “bringing this essential technology down to an entirely new scale… will enable a new generation of phenomenally compact navigation systems.”
The innovation from physicists at Yale University and Staten Island College: measuring light waves that zip (one clockwise, the other counterclockwise) around a microscopic track.
“Gyroscopes are indispensable components in a number of technologies, including inertial guidance systems, which monitor an object’s motion and orientation,” reports Optica. “Space probes, satellites, and rockets continuously rely on these systems for accurate flight control. But like so many other essential pieces of aerospace technology, weight is a perennial problem. According to NASA, it costs about $10,000 for every pound lifted into orbit, so designing essential components that are smaller and lighter is a constant struggle…”
“Optical gyroscopes measuring a fraction of a millimeter could be integrated into circuit boards, and drastically reduce the equipment cost in space missions.”
The full report is here. (warning: severe math ahead.)
Camera spots eye conditions
A new device can see problems in your eyeballs — without a professional ophthalmologist operating it.
Florida-based Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems (you can figure out the acronym yourself) received FDA clearance for its automated fundus camera, Med Gadget reports. It can screen for diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, glaucoma, and other eye related conditions.
The device photographs the back of the eye, looking for suspect conditions, taking about 15 minutes.
Quantum computer breakthrough
Innovation at The University of New South Wales may result in affordable large-scale quantum computers, the school reports.
For the first time, its research team encoded quantum information in silicon using electrical pulses. “A highly coherent qubit, like the spin of a single phosphorus atom in isotopically enriched silicon, can be controlled using electric fields, instead of using pulses of oscillating magnetic fields,” the researchers say.
CEMag reports the same team “was first in the world to demonstrate single-atom spin qubits in silicon… and established the world record for how long quantum information can be stored in the solid state.”
