1. One of the largest quasars in the early universe has helped reveal a “protocluster” of nascent galaxies that is expected to grow more massive than any cluster we know of. Protoclusters are the primordial beginnings of the galaxy clusters we see in our region of the universe. Feige Wang at the University of Arizona and his colleagues focused on a quasar, a luminous galactic core where gases emit light as they fall into a supermassive black hole. They chose one of the most massive and brightest quasars known in the early universe, hoping it would act as a signpost for other massive objects around it, and found a vast surrounding web of early galaxies. (Source: newscientist.com)
2. We're now one step closer to a "quantum internet" — an interconnected web of quantum computers — after scientists built a network of "quantum memories" at room temperature for the first time. In their experiments, the scientists stored and retrieved two photonic qubits — qubits made from photons (or light particles) — at the quantum level, according to their paper published on Jan. 15 in the Nature journal, Quantum Information. The breakthrough is significant because quantum memory is a foundational technology that will be a precursor to a quantum internet – the next generation of the World Wide Web. (Sources: go.redirectingat.com, livescience.com)
3. The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday seemed skeptical of laws in Florida and Texas that bar major social media companies from making editorial judgments about which messages to allow. The laws were enacted in an effort to shield conservative voices on the sites, but a decision by the court, expected by June, will almost certainly be its most important statement on the scope of the First Amendment in the internet era, with broad political and economic implications. A ruling that tech platforms have no editorial discretion to decide which posts to allow would expose users to a greater variety of viewpoints but almost certainly amplify the ugliest aspects of the digital age, including hate speech and disinformation. Though a ruling in favor of big platforms like Facebook and YouTube appeared likely, the court also seemed poised to return the cases to the lower courts to answer questions about how the laws apply to sites that do not seem to moderate their users’ speech in the same way, like Gmail, Venmo, Uber and Etsy. (Source: nytimes.com)
4. The deep freeze in biotech is beginning to thaw. About half a dozen biotechnology companies have gone public since the start of 2024, with some raising hundreds of millions of dollars. The jump-start to the new year is a welcome sign for the industry after a challenging two years fueled by layoffs, scientific hurdles and rising interest rates, investors say. Fewer than 20 companies went public in both 2022 and 2023. Biotechs have attracted more than $6 billion in follow-on financing since the start of the year through mid-February, which Jefferies analysts say is a record-setting pace—one that has already exceeded each quarterly amount recorded since the second quarter of 2021. (Source: wsj.com)
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