China has a controversial plan for brain-computer interfaces

“More concerning, though, is China’s interest in noninvasive BCIs for the general population. Hannas coauthored a report released in March that examines Chinese research on BCIs for nonmedical purposes. ‘China is not the least bit shy about this,’ he says, referring to ethical guidelines released by the Communist Party in February 2024 that include cognitive enhancement of healthy people as a goal of Chinese BCI research. A translation of the guidelines by CSET says, ‘Nonmedical purposes such as attention modulation, sleep regulation, memory regulation, and exoskeletons for augmentative BCI technologies should be explored and developed to a certain extent, provided there is strict regulation and clear benefit.’” (Wired)

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The Canadian underground laboratory SNOLAB has the world’s lowest flux of muons, which are particles formed when cosmic rays reach the Earth’s atmosphere. A recently discovered cause of errors in quantum computers is cosmic radiation. Highly charged particles from space disturb the sensitive qubits and cause them to lose their quantum state, as well as the ability to continue a calculation. But now quantum researchers from Sweden and Canada will join forces to find a solution to the problem—in the world’s deepest located clean room, two kilometers underground. (via Phys.org)

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