Daily Archives: October 19, 2019

Quantum computing is red hot right now, not least after Googles recent announcement that it had achieved quantum supremacy. An analysis by Nature shows the quantum hype is translating into a massive investment boost in the technology, but it might be a double-edged sword.

Quantum supremacy refers to the point at which a quantum computer can perform calculations beyond the most powerful classical computer imaginable. After all the hype about this milestone one might have expected a great fanfare when it was achieved, but instead the paper describing it was accidentally leaked by Googles collaborators at NASA.

Nonetheless, its a significant marker. While the problem it solved was practically useless and chosen specifically to favor the quantum device, the man who coined the term, John Preskill, writes that it demonstrates the hardware works as we hoped it would.

Now starts the long journey to applying that quantum speedup to more useful problems, but despite the long timescales it will take for this to happen, money has been pouring into the field.

Google, IBM, and Intel have all been investing considerable sums into quantum computing for several years, but Nature found that in 2017 and 2018 quantum technology companies received at least $450 million in private fundingmore than four times the $104 million disclosed over the previous two years.

Much of that money is coming from VC funds, raising the prospect of the same kind of boom as was seen in AI at the turn of the decade. But given that most experts think its still a long road to doing anything practical with quantum computers, theres growing fear that all this excitement could lead to a quantum winter.

The term borrows from the AI industry, which prior to its recent boom has experienced two AI winters. Hype and unrealistic expectations led to a huge surge in interest followed by a dramatic retraction after disappointing progress saw investors pull out.

Theres growing fear in quantum computing circles that the breathless headlines around the race for quantum supremacy may have inflated expectations. Todays devices are error-prone and measured in tens of qubits, but we will need to build machines of thousands if not millions of qubits to achieve an error-free, general-purpose quantum computer able to solve a broad selection of useful problems.

Nature notes a particularly worrying sign: a significant amount of investment so far has gone into quantum software companies, which are designing algorithms and programs for devices that dont yet exist. Given that consensus still hasnt developed on what the underlying materials of a quantum computer should be, that seems premature.

A more pernicious problem is the danger of a brain drain as companies flush with investor cash lure the best minds out of academia in a mirror of what has happened in AI. Given that there are still fundamental questions that need to be answered about quantum computing, in a field as small as it is that could severely hamper progress.

Ultimately, its a question of horizons. Few in the field doubt we will be able to build a powerful general-purpose quantum computer, but the question is whether investors are willing to wait the decades it could take to get there.

A solution to that quandary would be to find uses for the smaller, imperfect machines we have today. Theres a growing body of research in this direction, but even in the best-case scenario these devices will likely only be able to solve some niche problems in things like chemistry or optimization.

One saving grace is that quantum technology is not only about computers. Quantum communications and quantum cryptography have been making major advances in recent years and are likely to reach widespread commercial adoption considerably sooner, which could help maintain the fields momentum.

Theres also considerable foresight about the potential for a quantum winter from within the industry. Michael Marthaler, co-founder of startup Heisenberg Quantum Simulations, told The Economist hes already expecting one and is just hoping his firm is established enough by then to hibernate. Matthew Kinsella, managing director at Maverick Ventures, told Business Insider hes preparing for a retraction despite having invested in a quantum technology company.

Given the nascent state of the field, theres plenty of potential for a sudden breakthrough, for instance if silicon-based quantum computers make it possible to build large devices much sooner than expected, or Microsofts pursuit of far more stable topological qubits sidesteps the error-correction problem.

So dont be surprised if the investors keep piling in.

Image Credit: Dmitriy Rybin/Shutterstock.com

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Investment in Quantum Computing Is BoomingBut Will a Quantum Winter Follow? - Singularity Hub

My Hero Academia's manga has been laying the groundwork for a huge conflict for the last few arcs, but one of the most mysterious teases has involved the true power of One For All. When Izuku Midoriya started tapping into its power, and opened up the door to more quirks at his disposal, there was an ominous tease about an approaching singularity. But the latest chapter of the series has given an explanation behind what this is referring to as All For One's doctor theorizes that it has to do with rapidly evolving quirks.

As he examines just how much stronger Shigaraki has gotten since his fight with Re-Destro, the doctor explains that rapidly evolving quirks are starting to reach outside of humanity's control and approaching what's he has coined as a "Quirk Singularity."

Chapter 246 of the series sees the doctor explain that each generation has provided stronger quirks that are starting to mix, and becoming more complex and ambiguous. As he theorizes, humanity's collective memory is evolving with each new generation as well, but there will eventually be a point where they won't be able to keep up with the growing quirks.

This would lead to the quirks eventually going out of control, and reaching a "Quirk Singularity." The Doctor reveals that All For One was the only one to take this theory seriously, and the human race will soon become unstable. It's a problem that began with the fourth generation of quirks, but Shigaraki can continue to evolve and overcome this singularity and potentially even take One For All for himself.

This ominous tease compounds on what Midoriya foresaw in his vision. When he looked into the past of One For All, and saw the first vestige, the vestige spoke to him and warned the singularity was approaching. With a clear time line toward an even bigger conflict, this could potentially be a compounded warning as the singularity could be approaching as well.

My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has powers, even though he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015. My Hero Academia will also be launching its second big movie, Heroes Rising, in Japan this December.

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My Hero Academia Explains the Growing Problem with Quirk Evolution - Comicbook.com

There is not much time between now and the first Dota Pro Circuit tournament, especially if you are a team one player short. Dota fast approaches!! signals Quincy Crew manager, Jack KBBQ Chen on his Twitter account when introducing a trial offlaner for DOTA Summit 11 Minor.

Jon SabeRLight- Volek of Team Singularity will join the North American squad in the coming days to begin the training for the Minor, a tournament which can turn into a true breakout for him.

SabeRLight- spent two years at the Czech team Hippomaniacs, a squad that has been pushing through lower tier events and open qualifiers for a while now. Dota 2 fans might remember them from the TI9 European regional qualifiers, where they took first place in the group stage and made it all the way to the playoffs lower bracket finals. They were finally defeated by Chaos Esports, the team which eventually took the one ticket to the pinnacle tournament of the year. SabeRLight- was the only player to leave the team in the post TI9 shuffle. He was signed by Singularity, where he teamed up with Steve Excalibur Ye and he placed second in the MDL Chengdu Major European qualifiers group stage. However, Singularity lost two series in a row in the playoffs and dropped to the Minor qualifiers. They werent the only team from the Major qualifiers to fight for a Minor slot, and once again they got bested by their European adversaries and missed the start of the DPC season entirely.

In the meantime, in the NA region, a newly formed squad was keeping the headlines, featuring the Hassan brothers, SumaiL and YawaR. The qualifiers rounds were the first official matches where the two brothers teamed up. But despite the hype created by the Quincy Crew line-up, the team didnt make it to the MDL Chengdu Major. Nonetheless, they did clinch a spot at the Minor preceding it. Although the DOTA Summit Minor is held on US soil and Quincy Crew have a real shot at winning it all and reach the first Major of the season, SumaiL was announced to have departed the team for a couple of reasons. There were fit issues, Jack Chen said last week. It is worth mentioning that SumaiL was playing for the first time in the carry role, while his brother was also at his first offlane experience. Besides that, the team manager mentioned later on in a Reddit thread that there was so much more besides what he Tweeted. There were some legal issues that added some additional complications, but cant really discuss that in public, he said, adding that its easy for people on the outside to wonder or even jump to conclusions.

With SumaiL unable to join Quincy Crew, the team will now have the young Czech offlaner, SabeRLight-, as a trial and will play with him at the upcoming Minor. The Dota Summit Minor will be the only DPC event held in the United States this season. It will unfold November 7-10, with eight teams fighting for the tournament title, which besides the $72,000, it also brings a ticket to the MDL Chengdu Major.

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Quincy Crew will play the Minor with Singularity's offlaner SabeRLight- - VPEsports

Its almost Fall Break just in time for our shiny new cold weather. Lots of students are going home or taking weekend trips, but plenty are staying on campus. If thats you, dont worry A lot of campus shuts down over break, but there are still a few events in case youre bored.

See a new gallery: various dates and times

Most downtown art galleries unveil their new exhibits on First Fridays, but a new showcase is coming to the UT Downtown Art Gallery this week. Located on the corner of Summit Hill Drive and South Gay Street, its a 20-minute walk or free trolley ride from campus.

Its Yale-educated artist Sam Vernons False Calm art show a series of photo montages exploring anti-singularity. The exhibits bio reads: bodies of subjects dissolve into abstraction incorporated into collage elements which include drawing, Xerox and lithography.

The exhibit will run through Saturday this weekend and next weekend: Thursday, Oct. 17 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; and Saturday, Oct. 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Chill out: Oct. 19, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

In honor of World Mental Health Day, you can unwind with calming activities. Here on campus, where students are recovering from or still taking midterms, SGA will host a Relaxation Station in the Mary Greer Room of the Hodges Library. The event will include coloring and crafts. So if youre spending part of the break studying, this might be the ideal study break stop.

Celebrate Howl-O-Ween: Sunday, Oct. 20, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Agriculture Campus is a bit of a walk from the dorms, but it might be worth it for this Halloween event: a parade of costumed pups.

Its free to attend, but theres a fee to include your dog in the parade. You could also bring dry dog or cat food for the pet food drive, which benefits Knox PAWS and Feed-A-Pet. They prefer smaller bags 5 to 8 pounds. Theyll also accept canned food, treats and other pet supplies.

As well as the judged pet parade, the event will include an expo of educational booths, pet businesses, rescue groups, food trucks and more.

See a photographic study: Various dates and times.

If you havent gotten a chance to see it yet, fall break might be a great time to see the temporary exhibit in McClung Museum. Its called Science in Motion: The Photographic Studies of Eadweard Muybridge, Berenice Abbott and Harold Edgerton Its an attempt to bridge the gap between art and science.

The vintage photographs show the scientific studies of three pioneer photography developers. The exhibits bio reads: Their works not only illustrate scientific phenomena clearly and elegantly but also reveal the artists individual artistic sensibilities.

Over the break, the exhibit will be open Thursday, Oct. 17 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Friday, October 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Saturday, October 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and Sunday, October 20 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

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Dogs, crafts, vintage photographs: Four UT events to see if you're staying on campus this fall break - UT Daily Beacon

Music journalist Holly George-Warren's biography of rock and blues singer Janis Joplin (1943-1970), "Janis: Her Life and Music"(published by Simon & Schuster, a division of CBS), explores her trailblazing career and distinctive art, which was ground-breaking in its rebelliousness and assertions of female power and individuality.

Read the excerpt below, and don't miss Anthony Mason's interview with Holly George-Warren on "Sunday Morning" October 20!

Don't compromise yourself. It's all you've got. Janis Joplin

It's a steamy September night in Nashville, and Ruby Boots is tearing it up onstage at the Basement East, thrashing her electric guitar and belting Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart." The 2018 edition of the six-day Americanafest, an annual music conference and festival, is honoring albums from 1968, and Big Brother and the Holding Company's breakthrough, "Cheap Thrills," has made the cut. Boots, born Bex Chilcott in Perth, Australia, fell in love with Janis's music as a kid growing up on the other side of the world, the irresistible, aching soul in Janis's voice undiminished by time, distance, and even mortality. As when Janis herself unleashed this tune fifty years ago, the crowdwired into its raw but fearless humanitypushes toward the stage.

At the Americana Honors & Music Awards Show held at the Ryman Auditorium (former home of the Grand Ole Opry), numerous Janis acolytes take the stage: singer-songwriter-activist Rosanne Cash, a Janis fan since her teens, wins the Free Speech in Music Award; Alberta, Canada, native k.d. lang, who went public as a lesbian in the 1980s, gets the Trailblazer Award. Formidable singers Brandi Carlile, Margo Price, and Courtney Marie Andrewsall nominees for various honorssignal Janis's influence in their blazing performances. Prior to Janis Joplin's all too brief time in the spotlight, these artists would have been hard pressed to find a female role model to compare with the beatnik from Port Arthur, Texas. The mix of confident musicianship, brash sexuality, and natural exuberance, locked together to produce America's first female rock star, changed everything. As such, Janis still holds sway over multiple generations, artists of countless genres, across the gender spectrum. And although her bookishness, sharp intellect, and deep desire for home with the requisite white picket fence were not at the forefront of the identity she crafted for her fans, those parts of her also informed her every move.

The same could be said of her pioneering instincts. While Janis's era is largely considered a time of release from the strictures of the 1950s, rock was, in fact, almost exclusively a boys' club, and Janis suffered appalling sexism, from both the mainstream and counterculture press, and cold, occasionally cruel dismissiveness from industry pros. Yet she blazed on. Through force of will and unprecedented talent, she showed how rock could include unapologetic women musicians, writers, and fans. Feminist Ellen Willis, a New Yorker music critic in the 1960s, called Janis "the only sixties culture hero to make visible and public women's experience of the quest for individual liberation." Patti Smith, Blondie's Debbie Harry, Cyndi Lauper, Chrissie Hynde, the B-52's' Kate Pierson, and Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson are among the artists who experienced Janis firsthand. They began to breathe in the possibility of their own futures. When Stevie Nicks was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019, she said that playing on a bill with Janis in the 1960s transformed her: "Her connection with the audience was so incredible that I said, 'I want to do what she did.'"

Through her influence and her own enduring work, Janis Joplin remains at the core of our music and culture. As we look back at pivotal moments in 1960s rock history, she is usually there: the Monterey Pop Festival; the vibrant Haight-Ashbury scene in San Francisco; the streets, clubs, and studios of gritty New York City; Woodstock. She's been feted at museum exhibitions and the subject of theater productions and films. Her first solo album, the eclectic, daring departure "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!," sounds as fresh today as upon its 1969 release. Her Monterey Pop performance, documented by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, still brings wild applause from a new generation of audiences at screenings, and with YouTube views in the millions and counting.

When Janis hit the Monterey stage in June 1967, few outside San Francisco knew her name. "What is this girl all about?" Monterey coproducer Lou Adler wondered. "Where did she come from, looking like that and leading this all-male band?" Offering a clue, Haight-Ashbury impresario Chet Helms introduced her onstage: "Three or four years ago, on one of my perennial hitchhikes across the country, I ran into a chick from Texas by the name of Janis Joplin," he told the unsuspecting crowd. "I heard her sing, and Janis and I hitchhiked to the West Coast. A lot of things have gone down since, but it gives me a lot of pride today to present the finished product: Big Brother and the Holding Company!"

Janis's astonishing performance that day would change her lifeand the future of popular music. By the time the five-song set ended with her dramatic reinvention of R&B/blues singer Willie Mae Thornton's "Ball and Chain," thousands of mind-blown fansand hundreds of dazzled journalistsknew her name and fervently spread the news. Her emotion-drenched vocal style took hold upon other developing singers; Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant among them. Young women who saw her onstage at the Avalon Ballroom or Bill Graham's Fillmore venues still recall the experience: It was like she was singing to or for them, telling their stories, feeling their pain, emboldening them, and absolving them of shame. Janis was a walking live nerve capable of surfacing feelings that most people couldn't or wouldn't, and she was willing to endure the toll it took on her.

Janis never compromised her vision. She wasn't afraid to cross boundariesmusical, cultural, and sexual. Openly bisexual in an era when it was illegal, she was not afraid of jail, of judgment. Similarly, when critics and fans expressed umbrage at her audacity to quit her role as "chick singer" in a band that she felt was holding her back, she did it anyway. Just four days before her death on October 4, 1970, she told journalist Howard Smith, "You are only as much as you settle for."

Janis Joplin never settled. The oldest child of a close-knit family, she adored her father, a Bach-loving secret intellectual and a closet atheist in a conservative oil town. Preteen Janis was a rambunctious tomboy who was also cerebral, curious, and a gifted visual artist, which her parents encouraged. When she reached high school, the 1950s were in full swing, and her embrace of the Beat Generation and of progressive racial views alienated her from her community. Janis's first transgressive act was to be a white girl who gained an early sense of the power of the blues, chasing the music in Gulf Coast saloons and on obscure records. She never fully recovered from the intense scorn of her peers, who also ridiculed her appearance, especially after she patterned herself on beatnik girls she'd seen in Life magazine.

Seth and Dorothy Joplin doted on their eldest child in many ways but were ultimately put off by her increasing acts of defiancethe same impulses that would eventually bring her fame. Always an attention hungry rebel, Janis upped her game in adolescence, spurred on by her budding sexuality, her discovery of rock & roll, and alcohol and speed. The wounds inflicted from the clash of wills during those turbulent years in the Joplin home never healed. Much of her life would be colored by the tension of wanting to belong and getting the attention she missed, while knowing that the best way to honor her family's unspoken creed of singularity was to set herself apart. Discovering her outsize voice helped her find a place to fit in and create a new familyof bohemians and musicians, first, in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, and then Austin, and finally San Francisco. She embraced life with a joyous ferocity, though she could never escape a fundamental darkness created by loneliness and a bleak fatalism bequeathed by her father. Choosing alcohol and drugs as painkillers just made everything worse.

A passionate, erudite musician, Janis was born with talent but also worked hard to develop it, though she would often omit this striving toward excellence from her origin story. When you hear outtakes of her in the studio recording what would be her final album, "Pearl," she's taking the reins, running the show. During a period when women did not produce their own music, she collaborated fully with her notoriously iron-fisted producer, Paul Rothchild. These sessions were a time of artistic blossoming for Janis. Her ideasalong with her extraordinary voice and her simpatico Full Tilt Boogie Bandresulted in a masterpiece. After Janis's accidental heroin overdose in 1970 at the age of twenty-seven, the posthumously released "Pearl" would become her most successful and enduring album, with its single "Me and Bobby McGee" the endpiece to a career that started with "Piece of My Heart."

Janis Joplin's distinctive voice sounds as powerful today as it did when introduced on the airwaves in 1967. More so than any of her peers, it cuts through the digital din, the noise of our age, and lands exactly where Janis wanted: deep inside the heart. Since her time, her work and life have inspired so many women to create their own sounds and walk their own uncompromising paths: from Lucinda Williams to Pink, Amy Winehouse to Carolyn Wonderland, Lady Gaga to Brittany Howard, Alicia Keys to Florence Welch, Grace Potter to Elle King, Melissa Etheridge to Kesha. Williams has written a song about her ("Port Arthur"); Pink hoped to play her in a film; Wonderland does a killer version of a 1962 Janis original ("What Good Can Drinkin' Do"); Etheridge helped induct her into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. That night, Etheridge said, "When a soul can look on the world, and see and feel the pain and loneliness, and can reach deep down inside, and find a voice to sing of it, a soul can heal."

Perhaps that remains Janis's greatest gift.

Excerpt from "Janis: Her Life and Music" by Holly George-Warren, published by Simon & Schuster. 2019 Holly George-Warren. Reprinted by permission.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Listen to 12 essential Janis Joplin tracksMusic journalist Holly George-Warren offers "Sunday Morning" a roster of Joplin hits well-known and rare that capture the brilliance and power of the rock and blues singer.

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"Janis: Her Life and Music": Read an excerpt from Holly George-Warren's biography of rock and blues singer Janis Joplin - CBS News