ESA releases trove of data that might help us understand dark matter

Euronews

20-03-2025

Researchers have successfully developed a record cold refrigerator that could help quantum computers work better.
Qubits, the fundamental units of quantum computers, must be kept at temperatures close to absolute zero to function without errors.
A new cooling technology developed by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the University of Maryland in the United States may bring us closer to realising the full potential of quantum computing.
The cooling systems used today, called dilution refrigerators, bring the qubits to about 50 millikelvins above absolute zero, according to the Chalmers University of Technology.
In an experiment, a new quantum refrigerator brought the qubits to 22 millikelvins, a factor 10,000 times colder than the room temperature, according to the research team.
The closer to absolute zero or zero Kelvin, which is equivalent to minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, the more reliable quantum computation can be.
But it also becomes harder to reach absolute zero as the temperature gets lower.
"If you think of what temperature is physically, it's just about essential vibrations. And you can think of bringing an object that vibrates a lot down to a state in which it vibrates less and less until it stays as still as it can be according to the laws of quantum mechanics. And when it's completely still, this is what you would call absolute zero," Simone Gasparinetti, an associate professor at Chalmers University of Technology and lead author of the study, told Euronews Next.
The team managed to make these vibrations 10,000 times smaller, which they said was a "record low" for the particular moulds.
Unlike dilution refrigerator systems that require constant external control, this quantum refrigerator operates on its own once it is set up.
The refrigerator uses three qubits and operates based on a system where warm and cold environments interact in a specific way to remove heat from a target qubit, the part of the quantum computer that needs to be cooled.
"Energy from the thermal environment, channeled through one of the quantum refrigerator's two qubits, pumps heat from the target qubit into the quantum refrigerator's second qubit, which is cold," Nicole Yunger Halpern, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland, said in a statement.
"That cold qubit is thermalised to a cold environment, into which the target qubit's heat is ultimately dumped".
Gasparinetti added: "The refrigerator is fully autonomous, which means, essentially, it only requires coupling to a hot and cold source to function. This is something that is in contrast to other techniques that would require, for example, precisely timed pulses or other forms of control".
"So essentially, you switch it on, and the qubits get cold, and then you can switch it off and start your computation," he said.
Quantum thermodynamics, which combines quantum physics and thermodynamics, is a field that has been largely theoretical so far, according to researchers.
"In the last 50 years, we have miniaturised lots of components, especially, but not all electrical components," Gasparinetti said.
"We really had the desire to build a quantum machine, a thermal machine, that was useful," he added.
Researchers say this refrigerator helps qubits work with far fewer errors and for longer periods in quantum computers.
The team managed to reduce the error rate of quantum computing by 20-fold from the error rate of 0.02 to 0.01.
This may seem small, but researchers say it's important to minimise errors to ensure reliable calculations in quantum computing.
Quantum computers have the potential to revolutionise fundamental technologies in various sectors of society, with applications in medicine, energy, encryption, AI, and logistics.
However, researchers say more work needs to be done so that quantum computers can solve problems.
"These machines have to get better at many things before they are useful. And we also have to get better at finding ways to use these resources that we have. We have still not fully understood how to harness quantum resources to make useful computations and solve useful problems," Gasparinetti said.
Gasparinetti also says there's a widespread misconception that quantum computers will replace classical computers like our laptops.
It's a technology that will instead enhance the classical computers to solve very specific problems, such as those related to logistics or drug discovery, and we still need classical computers to operate a quantum computer, he said.
"Experiments like the one we did actually show that you can have more functionality very close to the quantum components, which I think is a trend that we will see more of in the future," Gasparinetti said.
Researchers hope more quantum autonomous machines can be developed.
"The next question is what other problems could be solved autonomously?"
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A European space telescope launched to explore the dark universe has released a trove of new data on distant galaxies.
The images and other information released on Wednesday by the European Space Agency's Euclid observatory includes a preview of three cosmic areas that the mission will spy in finer detail, mapping the shapes and locations of 26 million galaxies billions of light years away. A light year is nearly 6 trillion miles.
'With the release of the first data from Euclid's survey, we are unlocking a treasure trove of information for scientists to dive into and tackle some of the most intriguing questions in modern science," ESA's director of science, Carole Mundell, said in a statement.
"With this, ESA is delivering on its commitment to enable scientific progress for generations to come'.
The observatory, which blasted off in 2023 from Florida, is creating a cosmic atlas to gain clues about how our ever-expanding universe works and how mysterious forces called dark energy and dark matter may play a role.
The elusive duo make up most of our universe, but researchers don't know exactly what they are.
Euclid is expected to capture images of more than 1.5 billion galaxies over six years, sending back around 100 GB of data every day, ESA said.
The space agency added that artificial intelligence (AI) will be key to analysing and cataloguing the massive amounts of data that come back to Earth.
"We're building the tools as well as providing the measurements. In this way, we can deliver cutting-edge science in a matter of weeks, compared with the years-long process of analysing big surveys like these in the past,' Mike Walmsley, Euclid Consortium scientist, said in a statement.
The war in Ukraine is "a bit like World War One and World War Three combined," according to James Appathurai, NATO's deputy assistant secretary general for innovation, hybrid, and cyber.
He said while everybody sees the heavy metal weapons and tanks being used in Ukraine, much like in the Great War, the key to the country's defence is making tech commercially available and dual-use to fight war in the modern era.
"That's allowing the Ukrainians to stand on their feet in a way that one might not have expected," he told Euronews Next, adding that this is a vital lesson for Europe as it seeks greater defence autonomy by weaning itself off American weapons.
In a speech at the Royal Danish Military Academy on Tuesday, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said that European Union countries 'will have to fully rely on European defence supply chains, especially in times of urgent need'.
Following her speech, the Commission published a so-called white paper on defence on Wednesday, which comes as part of a 'ReArm Europe' plan laid out earlier this month that could see up to €800 billion poured into the continent's defence sector over the next four years.
The consensus is that the EU will have to spend wisely on defence and timing is everything, a lesson that Ukraine has learned in three years of war.
"I think Europe has to invest a lot in general in defence, just because we see how the world is uncertain right now. [This is] What we realised in this war, and I think the type of war Europe may have to fight in the future will be quite the same as the Ukrainian war," Bohdan Sas, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Ukrainian drone company Buntar Aerospace, said.
Sas, who tests his company's equipment on the battlefield, told Euronews Next that one of the biggest lessons European defence companies was to be able to see how their technology works in practice.
"The companies who never fought a war with their equipment, they're definitely outdated 100 per cent," Sas said.
"We see some Western companies, some European ones come to the Ukrainian battlefield and [at] first, their products are total crap".
Sas said that some of the tech can be "useless" but then companies go back to their labs and do more research and updates, and perhaps two years later their products have improved.
"But still, it takes a lot of time. I think time is really precious right now in politics, in the economy and in defence too. So if you can buy some time with money you better do it," he said.
Another key lesson for Europe is that money has to be spent strategically.
"If you have a stock of really good but really expensive equipment, it will be depleted regardless. So drones are our [Ukraine's] way to answer [a] big opponent," Sas said.
While there is a misconception that there are only cheap drones being made in Ukraine, he said it is important to assess the right balance between cost and capacity.
One example he points to is using cheaper drones in a first attack and then using more expensive weapons in a second attack.
NATO's Appathurai also agrees that speed is of the essence when it comes to defence tech.
"There is a very, very rapid innovation cycle of two to six weeks, which means two to six weeks for the Ukrainians to come up with an innovation, to use it and to have it neutralised by the Russians, who are also learning at the same speed," he said.
The long procurement process also slows things down, he said, referring to NATO's acquisition of F-35s or Euro Fighters.
He explained that they must be in perfect condition and be able to work in all conditions, which means that it can take ages to receive them and by the time they arrive, the technology part is outdated.
"Almost any innovative technology you acquire would have long been obsolete before you get it. So for me, the biggest nut to crack is rapid acquisition, rapid procurement," Appathurai said.
NATO is working to put a rapid adoption plan in place for its allies at the NATO summit in June, he added.
"We need to move much, much faster, meaning we need to be able to adopt more quickly and understand that it's not just platforms, it's effects," he said.
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