Quantum News Briefs: April 5, 2024: Classiq and Quantum Intelligence Corp (QIC, Korea) Partner On Quantum Accelerated Drug Development; Keyfactor’s New Command SaaS Lite Solution Now Available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace; MetaboliQs – Leveraging room-temperature diamond quantum dynamics to enable safe, first-of-its-kind, multimodal cardiac imaging; “Physicists take a major step toward making a nuclear clock”
Quantum News Briefs: April 5, 2024: Press release summaries below:
Classiq and Quantum Intelligence Corp (QIC, Korea) Partner On Quantum Accelerated Drug Development
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Classiq, a frontrunner in quantum computing software, and Quantum Intelligence Corp. (QIC, Korea) have embarked on a joint research initiative to advance drug development by applying quantum computing in pharmacology. This collaboration operates under Classiq’s Quantum Computing For Life Sciences & Healthcare Center, which was established with NVIDIA last year. It leverages Classiq’s platform to pioneer advancements in discovering and designing novel drug candidates alongside predicting potential side effects and interactions. The synergy between Classiq’s quantum computing capabilities and QIC’s innovative drug development platform, underscored by QIC CEO Hwanho Choi’s emphasis on a platform-centric approach melding quantum and AI technologies, aims to boost the efficiency and accuracy of drug development processes significantly. The partnership ushers in a new era of enhanced drug development, highlighting the transformative potential of integrating quantum computing into pharmacological research.
Keyfactor’s New Command SaaS Lite Solution Now Available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace
Microsoft Azure customers worldwide now have access to Keyfactor’s Command SaaS Lite, enhancing their application development and strategic capabilities through Azure’s scalable, reliable, and agile environment. Announced on April 4, 2024, this addition to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace offers a streamlined certificate lifecycle management solution that aids small and mid-sized organizations gain visibility over their entire public key infrastructure (PKI) and certificate landscape, thereby avoiding costly certificate outages and audit failures. Command SaaS Lite is designed for quick deployment and simplifies the discovery, monitoring, and management of digital certificates, providing crucial tools for maintaining digital trust and compliance. This collaboration between Keyfactor and Microsoft aims to equip organizations with the necessary resources to efficiently manage their digital identities and navigate the complexities of cybersecurity, all within the trusted Azure cloud platform.
MetaboliQs – Leveraging room-temperature diamond quantum dynamics to enable safe, first-of-its-kind, multimodal cardiac imaging
The MetaboliQs project of the European Quantum Flagship is spearheading a novel approach in medical imaging by leveraging advanced quantum technologies to develop and utilize nano-diamonds for enhanced cardiac imaging and preclinical experiments, particularly in the study of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Aimed at addressing the substantial unmet needs in CVD patient care, the project seeks to refine the precision of diagnostics and treatment by enabling molecular-level characterization of disease processes. This initiative stands out by integrating diamond-based quantum sensing with medical imaging to employ a new hyperpolarization method for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), enhancing the sensitivity of metabolic activity quantification. With the support of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, MetaboliQs combines the expertise of leading research institutes, innovative companies, and expert clinical users to realize and potentially commercialize a technology that promises to advance precision diagnostics and personalized treatment for cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases.
In Other News: Science News article: “Physicists take a major step toward making a nuclear clock”
Scientists have achieved a significant milestone by using a tabletop laser to elevate an atomic nucleus to a higher energy state, laying the groundwork for developing the first-ever nuclear clock. This achievement, described as a “remarkable breakthrough” by physicist Olga Kocharovskaya of Texas A&M University, promises a simpler and more portable alternative to the current gold standard in precision timekeeping: atomic clocks. Unlike atomic clocks, which rely on electron transitions, nuclear clocks will utilize the energy transitions within atomic nuclei, specifically targeting the thorium-229 nucleus due to its uniquely small energy gap that lasers can access. The recent experiment, which precisely measured the energy transition to 8.35574 electron volts, moves scientists closer to realizing nuclear clocks. Such devices offer advancements in timekeeping and open new avenues for testing fundamental physics, including the search for dark matter and variations in nature’s fundamental constants. As described by physicist Ekkehard Peik, a pioneer of the nuclear clock concept, and others involved in the research, the development of nuclear clocks from such experiments represents a promising leap forward, albeit with much work ahead to match the performance of atomic clocks.
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Managing Editor at Inside Quantum Technology and the Science Communicator at JILA (a partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder and NIST). Her writing beats include deep tech, quantum computing, and AI. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Scientific American, Discover Magazine, New Scientist, Ars Technica, and more.
