Exploiting "quantum weirdness" would dramatically improve the precision of radar, sonar, the global positioning system (GPS) and other object locators, MIT researchers report. Seth Lloyd, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Vittorio Giovannetti and Lorenzo Maccone, postdoctoral associates in MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics, propose in the July 24th issue of Nature that taking advantage of the quirky nature of certain quantum pulses would create a significantly more accurate object locator. "We call this method QPS, a quantum positioning system," Lloyd said. While QPS is unlikely to supplant GPS in the near future, as techniques for generating certain quantum pulses improve, quantum positioning systems are likely to come into play where high-accuracy, low-power applications are important, such as for satellite positioning, the researchers say. Read complete article at:
China to Hold First Int'l Information Technology Show
BEIJING, September 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The First China International Information Technology Exhibition, sponsored by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), will be held here on December 13-16 this year.
This was announced by a MII official, who revealed that patent technologies, inventions, products based on new information technology (IT), computers and software, telecommunications and Internet technologies and household appliances will be displayed at the exhibition.
Various symposiums accompanying the exhibition, such as an " inventors' forum", will focus on the hot topics concerning the information industry.
Lou Qinjian, vice-minister of Information Industry, said at a press conference Tuesday that technology plays a vital role in the information industry and those who have a "special" technology will occupy a "special" market and make "special" profits.
The exhibition will provide a platform for the communication and cooperation between academics and business, so as to elevate the information industry as a whole, he added.
The exhibition, to be held once a year, will be organized and undertaken by the China Electronics Science & Technology Exchange Center under the MII.
The information industry ranks first among various other industrial sectors in China.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Taiwan set to team up with Russia in satellite launch
Taiwan is expected to join forces with Russia for the first time in a satellite-launching deal after the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding recently, officials said Monday.
"We have recently signed a memorandum with several research institutes based in St. Petersburg on a low-orbit satellite launching project," said an official at the National Space Programme Office (NSPO), who declined to be named.
"The satellite launch is mainly designed for research and experiment," he said, denying it had any connection with the Russian military. But he declined to reveal how much money Taiwan would contribute to the project, saying the deal had yet to be finalised, without giving details.
A report by the United Daily News saying Taiwan would provide one-third of the funding for the five-million-US-dollar satellite launch was dismissed by the official.
Meanwhile, NSPO's own domestic satellite program will begin its second phase from 2004, which targets to launch three to five satellites wholly designed and manufactured by Taiwan over the next 15 years, the official said.
Taiwan plans to send the ROCSAT-2 satellite into orbit at the end of 2003 and the ROCSAT-3 satellite in 2006 as part of its first-phase 15-year space program, which was embarked on in October 1991 at an estimated cost of 19.6 billion Taiwan dollars (567.23 million US).
Its first fully-owned science satellite ROCSAT-1 went into orbit from the United States in January 1999.
Source:
www.SpaceDaily.com
Exploiting "quantum weirdness" would dramatically improve the precision of radar, sonar, the global positioning system (GPS) and other object locators, MIT researchers report. Seth Lloyd, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Vittorio Giovannetti and Lorenzo Maccone, postdoctoral associates in MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics, propose in the July 24th issue of Nature that taking advantage of the quirky nature of certain quantum pulses would create a significantly more accurate object locator. "We call this method QPS, a quantum positioning system," Lloyd said. While QPS is unlikely to supplant GPS in the near future, as techniques for generating certain quantum pulses improve, quantum positioning systems are likely to come into play where high-accuracy, low-power applications are important, such as for satellite positioning, the researchers say. Read complete article at: 