Quantum computing is entering a phase where adding more qubits to a processor is no longer enough. The next major challenge is building complete systems in which multiple quantum processors can operate together reliably, while maintaining the extraordinarily cold environment required for superconducting quantum hardware. IBM’s latest advance addresses that infrastructure problem directly. The company has successfully connected and operated two modular cryogenic systems, creating a scalable...

Understanding how the brain processes information requires more than identifying which neurons become active. Neuroscientists increasingly need to determine when individual neurons fire, how activity propagates across neural circuits, and how signals move between different layers of the cerebral cortex. That challenge has driven rapid advances in optical imaging, particularly techniques capable of recording electrical activity with high spatial and temporal precision. A new two-photon imaging...

Artificial intelligence has become remarkably capable at processing language, recognizing images, generating video, and constructing increasingly sophisticated three-dimensional content. Yet one major gap remains: understanding how the physical world actually behaves. An AI system can generate an impressive image of a car, but accurately predicting what happens when that car strikes a wall is a fundamentally different problem. Likewise, producing a picture of an aircraft is relatively easy...