Are Quantum Computers about to Break Online Privacy?
A new algorithm is probably not efficient enough to crack current encryption keys—but that’s no reason for complacency, researchers say Credit: Bartlomiej K. Wroblewski/Alamy Stock PhotoA team of researchers in China has unveiled a technique that—theoretically—could crack the most common methods used to ensure digital privacy, using a rudimentary quantum computer. The technique worked in
Why COVID’s XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ Variant Is So Contagious
A new variant of the virus that causes COVID has mutations that make it more transmissible, but vaccines are still likely to protect against severe diseaseSARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Credit: Neko/Alamy Stock Photo A new, rapidly spreading variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, means a rise in new infections could be around
‘Breakthrough’ Obesity Drugs Are Effective but Raise Questions
The hotel ballroom was packed to near capacity with scientists when Susan Yanovski arrived. Despite being 10 minutes early, she had to manoeuvre her way to one of the few empty seats near the back. The audience at the ObesityWeek conference in San Diego, California, in November 2022, was waiting to hear the results of
Here’s What We Know about Stuttering
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. What comes to mind when you think of someone who stutters? Is that person male or female? Are they weak and nervous, or powerful and heroic? If you have a choice, would you like to marry them, introduce
How Star Collisions Forge the Universe’s Heaviest Elements
Bits of the stars are all around us, and in us, too. About half of the abundance of elements heavier than iron originates in some of the most violent explosions in the cosmos. As the universe churns and new stars and planets form out of old gas and dust, these elements eventually make their way
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