Edmond Dd, a talented composer who is finally getting his due Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsIn the early 1800s, New Orleans was a vibrant cultural hub. As music bubbled through the citys wards, Black orchestras performed for Black audiences and tweaked classical tunes in early antecedents of jazz.Thats the environment where Edmond Dd came of age. His skill on the clarinet andviolin made him something of a sensation in the city, according to Keith OBrien of theNew York Times.That sensational talent brought Dd shockingly little fame in the world of American classical music. After leaving for France, where he lived and wrote music until his death, he flourished as acomposer but never realized his dream: to perform his 1887 magnum opus, a 545-page grand opera called Morgiane. Experts think it could be the oldest existing opera written by a Black American composer.Now, nearly 125 years after Dds death, Morgiane will finally have its premiere. Staged byOperaCrole andOpera Lafayette, the production is billed as the the most important opera never heard.Mon pauvre coeurWatch on The story of how the sole surviving copy of Morgaine emerged from an antique music shop in Paris in 1999, wound up in the Harvard music library and finally arrived on stage in early 2025 is nearly as sweeping as the opera itself.Born a free person of color in 1827, Dd was required to carry proof of his freedom and struggled to find employment. After a brief stint in Mexico City in the 1840s, he returned to New Orleans to work as a cigar roller. He honed his craft in the evenings, writing poignant songs like Mon Pauvre Coeur (My Poor Heart) before finally quitting the United States for France in 1855.I always say Mon Pauvre Coeur is the first blues song,Givonna Joseph, the founder and artistic director of OperaCrole, tells theWashington Posts Michael Andor Brodeur. He wrote it as this wonderful art song, but sometimes I feel like maybe hes talking about himself. Its unrequited love. Dd wrote scores for vaudeville productions by day and wrote his opera in the evenings. Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsHe found greater renown in France, though he was still forced to write opera on the side. To make a living, he conducted in Bordeaux and worked in provincial theaters, producing shows that were often more like vaudeville than high art, according to the Times.He wanted to be a composer in the art music tradition,Sally McKee, a retired historian at the University of California at Davis tells the publication. He wanted to be likeMendelssohn. He wanted to be likeBrahms.He came tantalizingly close to that goal when he finished Morgiane. It was a fantastical story of a young bride abducted by a villainous sultan, until the brides motherthe title character, Morgianereveals a shocking secret to help save her kidnapped daughter.But Dd never saw it performed. He died with little money a few years later and was buried in a communal grave in Paris. Few people understoodor even witnessedhis great work, bursting at the seams of two bound volumes.The opera disappeared, and Dds legacy faded into obscurity.Edmond Dede StoryWatch on Even his descendants back in New Orleans didnt realize they had a relative with that kind of status until one picked up a magazine in a streetcar in the 1960s and saw a familiar last name, as Wesley Dede told Laine Kaplan-Levenson of WWNOs Tripod in 2018. The composer was his grandfathers uncle.But in 1999nearly 100 years after Dds deatha French music collector sold the manuscript to Harvards music library as part of his massive collection of scores. About a decade later,Andrea Cawelti, a music cataloger at Harvard, was still digging through the collection when she came across the Morgiane manuscript.I was honestly thrilled because Ive made it my lifes work to discover things and get them out into the world, Cawelti tells the Times.Soon after she digitized the manuscript, McKee published a book about Dds remarkable story calledThe Exiles Song. Slowly but surely, Dds legacy was reviving. When Joseph came across the digital manuscript around 2011, she immediately wanted to bring it to life. However, staging a long-lost work comes with unique hurdles. Parts of "Morgiane," like out-of-date instrumentation and illegible notes, had to be carefully edited. Houghton Library, Harvard UniversityThere are many challenges, the largest being that the composer has been dead for over 100 years, so we cannot consult with him when we have questions,Patrick Quigley, the conductor and incoming artistic director of Opera Lafayette, tellsWETAs John Banther.Some instruments written into the operas score, like the ophicleide, are no longer used by modern orchestras. Some sections of the manuscript were near illegible, requiring tough editorial choices on the part of Quigley and Joseph, who collaborated throughout the process of restoring the opera to its intended glory. Last summer, the team began rehearsals in Cincinnati.The music is so lush and gorgeous, and [there are] some indications of New Orleans, and its perhaps a precursor to jazz, Joseph tellsWGNOs Christopher Leach.Kenneth Kellogg, who plays the dastardly sultan, tells WETA that preparing for Morgiane is no different than preparing for Bellini or Mozart. The 1887 manuscript of Morgiane was owned by a Parisian music collector until 1999. Houghton Library, Harvard UniversityHe adds: What is different, is carrying and reclaiming the legacy of a Black American that was denied the opportunity, Kellogg adds. To lend voice to ushering him into the ears and hearts of today's audiences is a humbling honor.After an abbreviatedpremiere at the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans on January 24, Morgiane will greet audiences in Washington, D.C. and New York in early February. Ddsoriginal manuscript will also be on view at the Folger Shakespeare Library until March 2 as part of its Out of the Vault exhibition.It means a lot to me to bring him back home, Joseph tells WGNO. We should never allow people to put us in a box. Whatever we are compelled to do, we should do that.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures is teasing some new projects including an animated series and an action-comedy adventure game.Read More

Warner Bros. Games' free-to-play brawler Multiversus, which ponders what might unfold if you dropped a bunch of disparate media properties into the Octagon, is being tossed on the scrapheap.The publisher broke the news in a blog post and said it will end support for the title on May 30, 2025, after the conclusion of Season 5which will add two new playable characters in Aquaman and Lola Bunny.With its demise on the horizon, Warner Bros. explained players will be able to unlock all Season 5 content through gameplay. Online features will remain functional until 9am PST on May 30. After that, Multiversus will only be playable offline via a local gameplay mode, which facilitates solo brawls against AI combatants or local multiplayer skirmishes with up to three friends.Real money transactions are being axed as of today (January 31). Players will still be able to spend any remaining in-game currency or character tokens.Why is Multiversus getting the axe?Warner Bros. Games didn't explain why Multiversus is being shuttered, although it seems the title underperformed after what outwardly appeared to be a promising start. A number of notable live service titles have met the same fate recently, including Concord, xDefiant, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (also published by WB Games). Following an open beta that attracted 20 million players in a month back in 2022, Multiversus was pulled back into production before officially launching in May 2024 with a reworked progression system and other tweaks.SteamDB estimated the game delivered over 114,000 concurrent players at launch. Just a few months later, Warner Bros. Games acquired developer Player First Games.Towards the end of the year, however, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said the company's video game business was "substantially underperforming" after posting a $100 million loss. That followed the $200 million writedown the publisher took on Suicide Squad.Shortly after, Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad announced his departure.Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Games CEO and president JB Perrette said the company is now preparing to deliver its next "record-breaking title."

DeepSeek startled everyone last month with the claim that its AI model uses roughly one-tenth the amount of computing power as Metas Llama 3.1 model, upending an entire worldview of how much energy and resources itll take to develop artificial intelligence. Taken at face value, that claim could have tremendous implications for the environmental impact of AI. Tech giants are rushing to build out massive AI data centers, with plans for some to use as much electricity as small cities. Generating that much electricity creates pollution, raising fears about how the physical infrastructure undergirding new generative AI tools could exacerbate climate change and worsen air quality.Reducing how much energy it takes to train and run generative AI models could alleviate much of that stress. But its still too early to gauge whether DeepSeek will be a game-changer when it comes to AIs environmental footprint. Much will depend on how other major players respond to the Chinese startups breakthroughs, especially considering plans to build new data centers. Theres a choice in the matter.It just shows that AI doesnt have to be an energy hog, says Madalsa Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara who studies energy systems. Theres a choice in the matter.The fuss around DeepSeek began with the release of its V3 model in December, which only cost $5.6 million for its final training run and 2.78 million GPU hours to train on Nvidias older H800 chips, according to a technical report from the company. For comparison, Metas Llama 3.1 405B model despite using newer, more efficient H100 chips took about 30.8 million GPU hours to train. (We dont know exact costs, but estimates for Llama 3.1 405B have been around $60 million and between $100 million and $1 billion for comparable models.)Then DeepSeek released its R1 model last week, which venture capitalist Marc Andreessen called a profound gift to the world. The companys AI assistant quickly shot to the top of Apples and Googles app stores. And on Monday, it sent competitors stock prices into a nosedive on the assumption DeepSeek was able to create an alternative to Llama, Gemini, and ChatGPT for a fraction of the budget. Nvidia, whose chips enable all these technologies, saw its stock price plummet on news that DeepSeeks V3 only needed 2,000 chips to train, compared to the 16,000 chips or more needed by its competitors.DeepSeek says it was able to cut down on how much electricity it consumes by using more efficient training methods. In technical terms, it uses an auxiliary-loss-free strategy. Singh says it boils down to being more selective with which parts of the model are trained; you dont have to train the entire model at the same time. If you think of the AI model as a big customer service firm with many experts, Singh says, its more selective in choosing which experts to tap. The model also saves energy when it comes to inference, which is when the model is actually tasked to do something, through whats called key value caching and compression. If youre writing a story that requires research, you can think of this method as similar to being able to reference index cards with high-level summaries as youre writing rather than having to read the entire report thats been summarized, Singh explains.What Singh is especially optimistic about is that DeepSeeks models are mostly open source, minus the training data. With this approach, researchers can learn from each other faster, and it opens the door for smaller players to enter the industry. It also sets a precedent for more transparency and accountability so that investors and consumers can be more critical of what resources go into developing a model. There is a double-edged sword to considerIf weve demonstrated that these advanced AI capabilities dont require such massive resource consumption, it will open up a little bit more breathing room for more sustainable infrastructure planning, Singh says. This can also incentivize these established AI labs today, like Open AI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, towards developing more efficient algorithms and techniques and move beyond sort of a brute force approach of simply adding more data and computing power onto these models.To be sure, theres still skepticism around DeepSeek. Weve done some digging on DeepSeek, but its hard to find any concrete facts about the programs energy consumption, Carlos Torres Diaz, head of power research at Rystad Energy, said in an email. If what the company claims about its energy use is true, that could slash a data centers total energy consumption, Torres Diaz writes. And while big tech companies have signed a flurry of deals to procure renewable energy, soaring electricity demand from data centers still risks siphoning limited solar and wind resources from power grids. Reducing AIs electricity consumption would in turn make more renewable energy available for other sectors, helping displace faster the use of fossil fuels, according to Torres Diaz. Overall, less power demand from any sector is beneficial for the global energy transition as less fossil-fueled power generation would be needed in the long-term.There is a double-edged sword to consider with more energy-efficient AI models. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X about Jevons paradox, in which the more efficient a technology becomes, the more likely it is to be used. The environmental damage grows as a result of efficiency gains. The question is, gee, if we could drop the energy use of AI by a factor of 100 does that mean that thered be 1,000 data providers coming in and saying, Wow, this is great. Were going to build, build, build 1,000 times as much even as we planned? says Philip Krein, research professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Itll be a really interesting thing over the next 10 years to watch. Torres Diaz also said that this issue makes it too early to revise power consumption forecasts significantly down. No matter how much electricity a data center uses, its important to look at where that electricity is coming from to understand how much pollution it creates. China still gets more than 60 percent of its electricity from coal, and another 3 percent comes from gas. The US also gets about 60 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels, but a majority of that comes from gas which creates less carbon dioxide pollution when burned than coal. To make things worse, energy companies are delaying the retirement of fossil fuel power plants in the US in part to meet skyrocketing demand from data centers. Some are even planning to build out new gas plants. Burning more fossil fuels inevitably leads to more of the pollution that causes climate change, as well as local air pollutants that raise health risks to nearby communities. Data centers also guzzle up a lot of water to keep hardware from overheating, which can lead to more stress in drought-prone regions. Those are all problems that AI developers can minimize by limiting energy use overall. Traditional data centers have been able to do so in the past. Despite workloads almost tripling between 2015 and 2019, power demand managed to stay relatively flat during that time period, according to Goldman Sachs Research. Data centers then grew much more power-hungry around 2020 with advances in AI. They consumed more than 4 percent of electricity in the US in 2023, and that could nearly triple to around 12 percent by 2028, according to a December report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Theres more uncertainty about those kinds of projections now, but calling any shots based on DeepSeek at this point is still a shot in the dark.See More:

Blackmagic Design has announced that its finally bringing several advanced features already available for the iOS version of its free camera app to Android. The Blackmagic Camera for Android 2.0 update released this week allows several smartphones running the app to be monitored and controlled from a single device, including, for the first time, a small selection of Android tablets.The new multicam remote functionality, which was introduced on the iOS and iPadOS versions of the app last August, allows a single Android smartphone or tablet to be connected to up to nine other phones running the camera app over a Wi-Fi or wired network. The controller device can be used to monitor the live video feeds from all the connected phones in a multi-view layout, start or stop recordings, and adjust settings such as focus, zoom, frame rate, white balance, and shutter angle individually or on all the phones at once.Blackmagic Designs free camera app expands its Android support to several new Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Image: Blackmagic DesignAlthough the Blackmagic Camera app was originally released in September 2023 for iOS devices, the rollout for Android has been much slower and staggered. When the app finally launched on Android last June, it was only compatible with a handful of Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel smartphones. Blackmagic Design has been slowly expanding the apps compatibility to other Android devices, and this weeks update adds support for the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra. The newly added support for Android tablets is limited to the Xiaomi Pad 6 and Samsung Tab S9.Other features introduced in the Blackmagic Camera for Android 2.0 update include support for Tiltas USB lens control system, a UI update allowing users to drag-select multiple media clips, German language support, and the ability to capture video at 120 and 240fps on Sony Xperia smartphones that support that feature.See More:

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Xbox app for Windows PC, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Lets jump in!Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 ToSoft Not Weak, LLCGet it nowSpirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To February 3Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliverySamar is a young witch working the spirit-swapping night shift in the eastern outskirts of Demashq. A recent spike in spirits crossing over from another dimension breaks the chill atmosphere of their night shift, so with her trusty familiarZ by her side, she sets off into the city to find out whats happened. With a popular band scheduled to kick off their big comeback tour in Demashq, Samar needs to work quickly before the city is overrun with stans and spirits alike!Mystery Box: The JourneyOcean MediaGet it nowMystery Box: The Journey February 4Welcome to the fourth chapter of the Mystery Box series with 10 new boxes full of enigmas to crack that are waiting for you on this journey through lost worlds.Rogue WatersTripwire Interactive LLCGet it nowRogue Waters February 4Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery / Xbox Play AnywhereRogue Waters is a tactical, turn-based rogue-lite with pirates! Lead Captain Cutter and their crew through procedurally generated encounters for revenge. Recruit, train, and upgrade crew, harness sea creatures, and engage in naval and melee combat to succeed.Journey of Johann: GrasslandsXitilonGet it nowJourney of Johann: Grasslands February 5Optimized for Xbox Series X|SJourney of Johann is an action-adventure platformer with puzzle elements. Make your way through levels and a boss with different challenges and obstacles. Collect goblets, secrets and beat time trials. Use your weapons as tools such as climbing, blocking hits, and defeating enemies. The game was designed with speedrunning in mind.MechanitaEastasiasoft LimitedGet it nowMechanita February 5Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryEmbark on a steampunk adventure in Mechanita, a side-scrolling platformer with challenging pixel art stages! Guide a goggled heroine through 50 increasingly complex levels.Mimi the Cat: Meow TogetherAfil GamesGet it nowMimi the Cat Meow Together February 5Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryA charming puzzle game that blends cuteness and strategy into a relaxing and fun experience. Play solo or in local co-op mode to help the kittens solve puzzles and find their cozy beds.Punch MonkOld School VibesGet it nowPunch Monk February 5Optimized for Xbox Series X|SPunch Monk is a challenging puzzle game with 50 phases of incremental progression. As players advance, new mechanics are introduced, increasing the games complexity.Ambulance Life: A Paramedic SimulatorNacon$39.99Pre-orderAmbulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator February 6Optimized for Xbox Series X|SAmbulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator lets you experience a paramedics life. Your goal is to reach accident sites quickly, care for the injured, and provide first aid. Each case is unique, requiring you to adapt and make swift, effective decisions.Big Helmet HeroesDear Villagers$24.99$19.99Pre-orderBig Helmet Heroes February 6Optimized for Xbox Series X|SExplore the engaging world of Big Helmet Heroes, a 3D beat em up that merges combat and adventure. Discover 29 unique heroes concealed within various kingdoms, and select your preferred characters to embark on a quest to rescue the princess. You can play solo or with a companion as you strive to conquer the significant challenges ahead.Let's Cook Together 2Yellow DotGet it nowLets Cook Together 2 February 6Embark on a gripping cooperative journey to save the planet and its food from the regime of Nutri Inc. a powerful group of zero waste maniacs seeking to turn life on Earth into a tasteless dystopia. Become an Ohmie member of Weldon Ohms resistance movement seeking to liberate the world from Nutri Incs food and mind control.Luck be a LandlordTrampolineTalesGet it nowLuck be a Landlord February 6Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryYour landlord is banging on the door. You have a single coin left to your name. You insert the coin into your slot machine and Jackpot!! Luck be a Landlord, tonight! Collect symbols, build synergies, and defeat capitalism in this cult classic roguelike deck builder now on consoles by popular demand.Moons of DarsalonDr. Kucho! Games & Astrolabe GamesGet it nowMoons of Darsalon February 6Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryTeams of darsanauts got lost on Darsalons moons during mining missions. You must lead them to the nearest base station, where they will follow your commands using their AI. Protect them from dangers and enemies with your laser gun, jet pack, and vehicles. Use the ground maker gun to destroy terrain and create new paths.Spacepunk SurvivalNejcraftGet it nowSpacepunk Survival February 6A multiplayer first-person shooter where players and their teammates must survive in the dark and hostile environment of the Iapetus Station, a former laboratory now inhabited by alien creatures. Featuring retro graphics, Spacepunk references notable sci-fi and retrofuturistic works from the past.UNDER DEFEATClear River GamesGet it nowUnder Defeat February 6Optimized for Xbox Series X|SUnder Defeat is a classic game developed by G.rev, originally released in Japanese arcades nearly twenty years ago. It later came to various platforms, including the Dreamcast. The 2024 edition is the ultimate version, featuring all previous content and expertly ported by industry veterans.Bomb Bowling XDesert Water GamesGet it nowBomb Bowling X February 7Optimized for Xbox Series X|SBomb Bowling X is a casual retro game where you need to help a cute cat in a superhero cape win at Bomb Bowling. It has only a few bomb charges, as well as bowling balls, basketballs and your skill and ingenuity. Armed with the laws of physics and your own ingenuity, bring down the full power of your striking skill on the pins!Beef Cat UltraBrainium GamesGet it nowBeef Cat Ultra February 7In the vibrant world of Beeflandia, our hero Beef Cat and his friends always know how to celebrate the good times. But when a mysterious Big Guy shows up and stirs up trouble, everything changes. The peaceful vibes are over and its time for a new kind of adventure!Fly Punch Boom!Jollypunch Games$14.99Pre-orderFly Punch Boom! February 7Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryEngage in intense combat with your friends where the stakes are astronomical. Collide with skyscrapers, marine giants, and asteroids to gain the upper hand, pursue them relentlessly, and execute extraordinary special moves. The focus is on the exhilaration of strategic confrontation.HOLYHUNTShort N SweetGet it nowHolyhunt February 7Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryA roguelike shooter game that unites the nostalgic and fun 8-bit aesthetic with modern and deep shooting mechanics. Make your way into the church hall to shoot and dash-holy-punch through different species of demons and bosses with unique mechanics that keeps challenging your abilities each run.Idle DevilsHappy Player$11.99$9.59Pre-orderIdle Devils February 7Optimized for Xbox Series X|SIdle Devils is a strategic placement game. You can choose devils to cultivate and conquer new female demons, ultimately saving the Demon World and becoming the Demon King. The game features rich roles, skills, and equipment systems.Loot Stack Relics HunterRISING MOON GAMESGet it nowLoot Stack Relics Hunter February 7Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryIn this relaxing game, your ability to optimize inventory space will be put to the test. Each relic has a unique shape and its own challenges to fit, making the gameplay experience both challenging and rewarding. Relish the sense of achievement as you uncover hidden items and refine your strategy to collect all the available treasures.Spot Challenge Vol. 2Lucky Raccoon GamesGet it nowSpot Challenge Vol. 2 February 7A game series inspired by the classic Spot the Differences, where you need to compare two images and identify the differences between them. With over 330 differences spread across 35 levels, will you be able to find them all?Sugoro Quest: Dice HeroesRatalaika Games S.L.Get it nowSugoro Quest: Dice Heroes February 7Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart DeliveryRoll the dice and fight! Sugoro Quest: The Quest of Dice Heroes comes to the West for the first time! This is a board game-style turn-based RPG where dice will decide your fate! The story begins in the kingdom of Siland, where four adventurers set out to talk to the king in search of intrepid adventures. Each adventure is different, so be sure to choose the most suitable member for each journey.

In 1981, American physicist and Nobel Laureate, Richard Feynman, gave a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) near Boston, in which he outlined a revolutionary idea. Feynman suggested that the strange physics of quantum mechanics could be used to perform calculations.The field of quantum computing was born. In the 40-plus years since, it has become an intensive area of research in computer science. Despite years of frantic development, physicists have not yet built practical quantum computers that are well suited for everyday use and normal conditions (for example, many quantum computers operate at very low temperatures). Questions and uncertainties still remain about the best ways to reach this milestone.What exactly is quantum computing, and how close are we to seeing them enter wide use? Lets first look at classical computing, the type of computing we rely on today, like the laptop I am using to write this piece.Classical computers process information using combinations of bits, their smallest units of data. These bits have values of either 0 or 1. Everything you do on your computer, from writing emails to browsing the web, is made possible by processing combinations of these bits in strings of zeroes and ones.Quantum computers, on the other hand, use quantum bits, or qubits. Unlike classical bits, qubits dont just represent 0 or 1. Thanks to a property called quantum superposition, qubits can be in multiple states simultaneously. This means a qubit can be 0, 1, or both at the same time. This is what gives quantum computers the ability to process massive amounts of data and information simultaneously.Imagine being able to explore every possible solution to a problem all at once, instead of once at a time. It would allow you to navigate your way through a maze by simultaneously trying all possible paths at the same time to find the right one. Quantum computers are therefore incredibly fast at finding optimal solutions, such as identifying the shortest path, the quickest way.Different qubits can be linked via the quantum phenomenon of entanglement.Jurik Peter / ShutterstockThink about the extremely complex problem of rescheduling airline flights after a delay or an unexpected incident. This happens with regularity in the real world, but the solutions applied may not be the best or optimal ones. In order to work out the optimal responses, standard computers would need to consider, one by one, all possible combinations of moving, rerouting, delaying, cancelling or grouping, flights.Every day there are more than 45,000 flights, organised by over 500 airlines, connecting more than 4,000 airports. This problem would take years to solve for a classical computer.On the other hand, a quantum computer would be able to try all these possibilities at once and let the best configuration organically emerge. Qubits also have a physical property known as entanglement. When qubits are entangled, the state of one qubit can depend on the state of another, no matter how far apart they are.This is something that, again, has no counterpart in classical computing. Entanglement allows quantum computers to solve certain problems exponentially faster than traditional computers can.A common question is whether quantum computers will completely replace classical computers or not. The short answer is no, at least not in the foreseeable future. Quantum computers are incredibly powerful for solving specific problems such as simulating the interactions between different molecules, finding the best solution from many options or dealing with encryption and decryption. However, they are not suited to every type of task.Classical computers process one calculation at a time in a linear sequence, and they follow algorithms (sets of mathematical rules for carrying out particular computing tasks) designed for use with classical bits that are either 0 or 1. This makes them extremely predictable, robust and less prone to errors than quantum machines. For everyday computing needs such as word processing or browsing the internet, classical computers will continue to play a dominant role.There are at least two reasons for that. The first one is practical. Building a quantum computer that can run reliable calculations is extremely difficult. The quantum world is incredibly volatile, and qubits are easily disturbed by things in their environment, such as interference from electromagnetic radiation, which makes them prone to errors.The second reason lies in the inherent uncertainty in dealing with qubits. Because qubits are in superposition (are neither a 0 or 1) they are not as predictable as the bits used in classical computing. Physicists therefore describe qubits and their calculations in terms of probabilities. This means that the same problem, using the same quantum algorithm, run multiple times on the same quantum computer might return a different solution each time.To address this uncertainty, quantum algorithms are typically run multiple times. The results are then analysed statistically to determine the most likely solution. This approach allows researchers to extract meaningful information from the inherently probabilistic quantum computations.From a commercial point of view, the development of quantum computing is still in its early stages, but the landscape is very diverse with lots of new companies appearing every year. It is fascinating to see that in addition to big, established companies like IBM and Google, new ones are joining, such as IQM, Pasqal and startups such as Alice and Bob. They are all working on making quantum computers more reliable, scalable and accessible.In the past, manufacturers have drawn attention to the number of qubits in their quantum computers, as a measure of how powerful the machine is. Manufacturers are increasingly prioritising ways to correct the errors that quantum computers are prone to. This shift is crucial for developing large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, as these techniques are essential for improving their usability.Googles latest quantum chip, Willow, recently demonstrated remarkable progress in this area. The more qubits Google used in Willow, the more it reduced the errors. This achievement marks a significant step towards building commercially relevant quantum computers that can revolutionise fields like medicine, energy and AI.After more than 40 years, quantum computing is still in its infancy, but significant progress is expected in the next decade. The probabilistic nature of these machines represents a fundamental difference between quantum and classical computing. It is what makes them fragile and hard to develop and scale.At the same time, it is what makes them a very powerful tool to solve optimisation problems, exploring multiple solutions at the same time, faster and more efficiently that classical computers can.Domenico Vicinanza, Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems and Data Science, Anglia Ruskin UniversityThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Story by The Conversation An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle,the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.Tired of hearing about DeepSeek yet? The China-based LLM chatbot beached itself onto the scene this week, dominating the tech news cycle and even taking #1 on the App Store, where it still sits as of writing. However, its rapid popularity has led to a wave of new phishing campaigns, investment scams, and macOS malware disguised as real DeepSeek applications. Heres the latest.Youre reading 9to5Mac Security Bite, where each week, I share insights on data privacy, discuss the latest vulnerabilities, and shed light on emerging threats within Apples vast ecosystem of over 2 billion active devices.Cyble, a leading cybersecurity solutions firm, has kept tabs on several new scams cashing in on DeepSeeks moment of fame. These include crypto scams, where cybercriminals are attempting to trick victims into scanning QR codes to compromise crypto wallets and even fake investment opportunities. Ive also seen several seemingly legitimate-looking DeepSeek Mac installs with convincing file names, but theres one problem: DeepSeek doesnt offer a Mac app.In addition to phishing and fake investment campaigns, cybercriminals are now distributing AMOS (or Atomic), one of macOSs most prolific types of stealer malware, in DMG install files, posing as a DeepSeek Mac application. Unlike other stealers, AMOS is written in Apples programming language Swift and can run on different CPUs, including Intel and Apple Silicon. This, in addition to its clever distribution model, is what makes AMOS so successful. The malware authors offer it as a subscription service for $1,000 per month.Fortunately, experts have done extensive dynamic and code-level analysis to understand how it works. When a user becomes infected, the malware will run scripts to establish a C2 server with the cybercriminals. This is used as a form of two-way communication with the victims Mac. Attackers will use it to issue commands and, more critically, to send extracted data back to them. This typically includes things like iCloud Keychain passwords, credit card information, sensitive files, browser-stored crypto wallet keys, etc.Luckily, with the release of macOS Sequoia, Apple took a proactive step to help keep Joe Shmoes from executing malware on their Macs. Users on Sequoia can no longer control-click to override Gatekeeper and open software that isnt signed or notarized by Apple. However, as I reported last year, hackers got around this by instructing users to drop the malicious code directly into the Terminal app.That same technique is being used here with the fake DeepSeek apps.Heres how the attack works:The victim installs the malicious disk image file (DMG) image from website, email, etc The attacker instructs the victim to open Terminal and, instead of right-clicking to install, they are asked to drag and drop the .file directly into the Terminal windowThe seemingly harmless DeepSeek.file is, in fact, full of malicious Bash scripts. Once dropped into the Terminal, it triggers its execution and a bad day for the victim(via @MarceloRivero)DeepSeek only offers iOS and Android apps. Any application that prompts you to drop files into Terminal is malicious.Further, as friendly advice, dont download or engage with DeepSeek at all. The LLM chatbot is located in China and, therefore, has to adhere to Chinese laws, which include heavy censorship and complete and total access to all data. Its a serious risk to your privacy and has the potential to fuel cyber-espionage campaigns against you in the future.I am curious to hear your thoughts. Are you worried about DeepSeeks privacy concerns?Follow Arin: LinkedIn, Threads, BlueSky, XMore in Apple securityDeepSeek privacy concerns have led to investigations being opened in both the US and Europe, and seen the app removed from the App Store in Italy. It seems likely the same will happen in other countriesSecurity researchers have discovered two flaws present in all current iPhones, iPads, and Macs as well as many earlier ones. The vulnerabilities, known as SLAP and FLOP, could potentially allow an attacker to see the current contents of your open web tabsA judge has limited FBI powers to trawl through data obtained from tech giants like Apple, Google, and ISPs under FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)How hackers are still using Google Ads to spread malware. How, in 2025, can Google, with its DeepMind and deeper pockets, still allow this to happen?Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

The basic design of the iPhone hasnt changed much in the last few years. New models get better annually, but the average person probably wouldnt use the word innovation to describe Apples recent upgrades. According to Tim Cook though, the iPhone roadmap looks especially exciting and theres a lot of innovation ahead.Yesterday, Apple reported its holiday quarterly earnings. It was the biggest quarter in the companys history with over $124 billion in revenue.Depending on who you ask, however, holiday iPhone sales were either a disappointment or success. A big miss in China, possibly due to AIs absence, dragged down the iPhone 16 overall despite it outperforming iPhone 15 in most markets.But on the companys earnings call, CEO Tim Cook reiterated a bright future for the iPhone.When asked about iPhone innovation, Cook replied:Theres a lot more to come and I could not feel more optimistic about our product pipelinetheres a lot of innovation left on the smartphone.His words could be interpreted as just boilerplate positivity, which Cook expertly harnesses when speaking publicly.But they also reaffirm various rumors and reports that point to the iPhone being on the brink of fresh hardware innovation.iPhone 17 Air and foldable will usher in new wave of hardware innovationBack in October, hardware chief John Ternus told Apples engineering group that the companys upcoming iPhones would be the most ambitious in the products history.While Apple is always working years ahead on new iPhone models, we do know about two models he could be referring to.Later this year, the iPhone 17 Air will introduce a radically ultra-thin design and new screen size. Thanks to its drastic physical changes, it should be the first model in years that evokes the old question from onlookers, Is that the new iPhone?Then next year, if Apples current timelines hold up, we should see the first ever foldable iPhone. The iPhone 18 Fold, as Im calling it, will have a top-down fold design like the flip phones of olden daysand the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.If Apple is able to successfully ship both devices as expected, it will prove an especially exciting time for new iPhone hardware.What do you think of Tim Cooks iPhone remarks? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Google might be one of the wealthiest corporations in the world, but that doesn't mean the multi-trillion-dollar company won't resort to downsizing.Over the last year or so, employees in the once-ironclad tech sector have watched in horror as waves of layoffs ravaged their offices and sent wages tumbling.Bracing for cuts after annual performance reviews on Tuesday, over 1,300 Google employees signed a petition organized by the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) the labor union covering Google's parent corporation, Alphabet requesting changes to the company's policy.Those include guaranteed severance for every laid-off employee, an offer of voluntary layoffs backed by those severance packages, and an end to Google's performance review system which has pulled double-duty as a mass layoff machine."Ongoing rounds of layoffs make us feel insecure about our jobs," read thepetition. "The company is clearly in a strong financial position, making the loss of so many valuable colleagues without explanation hurt even more."Google's response was to turn around and give the petitioners what they asked for. Yesterday, the tech conglomerate announced a "voluntary exit program" for US employees in its Platforms and Devices group the workers responsible for products like Pixel, Android, Chrome, Fitbit, and Nest. But the AWU notes a one-time offer does not change the long-term employee outlook."We are happy to see material progress in response to our concerns," Google software engineer and AWU union organizing chair Alan McAvinney told Futurism, "but we continue to demand that Google commit to practices like offers of voluntary buyouts and fair terms of severance by codifying them in its actual written policies."The offer allegedly spins in a severance package, according to9to5Google, which viewed the memo.Though layoffs have reportedly slowed as AI-hyped investments in tech skyrocket, correlation does not equal causation.In January of last year, Google switched the organizational models used in its hardware teams, in a shuffle that resulted in a few hundred layoffs. A few months later, Google merged its Android team with its newly sorted hardware teams, revealing the company's quest to reorganize around you guessed it AI."By combining teams," Google SVP Rick Osterloh told The Verge last year, "Google can now move much faster to integrate AI across all of its products."And Google certainly has moved faster, posting a 15percentrevenue gain in the third quarter of 2023 with a profit of $26.3 billion. Despite this, the company has increasingly turned to outsourcing to fine-tune its AI products dumping off its labor costs while pumping cash into speculative AI projects.Ultimately, it's Google's employees who bear the brunt of friction from that strategy: full-time employees see their responsibilities increase as job security drops, while contract workers who clean up Google's AI products earn a fraction of their peers, often without benefits or the privilege of union representation.As Google ups the ante on shady labor practices despite sky-high profit, employees are demanding lasting and substantive change not just one-off "voluntary exit" offers.More on labor: Top AI Investor Says Goal Is to Crash Human WagesShare This Article