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Supartha Podder, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Sciences, has received a two-year, $400,000 grant from the Department of Energy to study the power of quantum witnesses.

The grant is part of national $15 million initiative by the DOE to fund basic research to explore potentially high-impact approaches in scientific computing and extreme-scale science.

Podder studies quantum advantages in solving computational tasks; awitness is a piece of data that certifies the answer to a computation. Some problems are easy to verify once a little help regarding the solution is provided, like the sudoku puzzle, and a witness can be thought of as such help.

Quantum computation is a type of computational method that uses quantum bits or q-bits and harnesses the phenomenon of quantum mechanics such as superposition, interference and entanglement to solve problems. Classical computing is the traditional way computer science was developed using binary numbers and is governed by classical Newtonian mechanics.

My work looks to see if quantum computing is better than traditional computing types. We will do this by not only comparing quantum with classical in terms of standard resources such as time and space needed for computation but also in terms of broader and more abstract resources such as computational advice and witness, Podder said. Think of it as solving one piece of the bigger quantum advantage puzzle. The ultimate overall goal is to understand when and why quantum computation outperforms traditional classical computation.

The research will examine quantum witnesses through new perspectives to explore and better understand quantum witnesses. To do this involves designing new quantum algorithms, proving optimality of classical witnesses and investigating many different quantum mechanical properties of quantum witnesses.

Podder hopes that this work will shed light on the mystery of quantum advantage, and which can ultimately lead to having exponential quantum advantage for certain types of practical computational problems. If proven correct, such extreme-scale computing would ultimately save time, energy, and space to solve many of the computational problems worldwide that modern computers have difficulty completing.

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The tech industry has long been very alluring for young professionals, offering an engaging and potentially lucrative career. Consequently, the technical nature of many roles has started to generate a sentiment that non-technical degrees are not a worthwhile pursuit. Yet with the rate of development of emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing, this is not necessarily accurate.

As the new university year approaches, fewer students will be beginning a degree in arts and humanities subjects than before. Weve seen a fall of 40,000 enrolments over the last decade and Sheffield Hallam University recently suspended its English Literature degree. Members of UK government have been magnifying this belief by speculating about the phasing out of degrees with low-earning potential, with the reasoning that that they dont equip young workers with the necessary skills for our current job market.

In parallel, we are on the brink of a potential quantum age. Quantum computing, with its unprecedented speeds and processing power, promises to transform our computing abilities and further the development of next-gen AI. Naturally, we will need to equip our emerging workforce with complimentary skills, which is driving a rise in popularity for STEM degrees. Acceptances to computer science courses rising by almost 50% in the last decade, and acceptances to the newer AI courses having seen a tremendous 400% rise.

But this isnt the end of humanities degrees, far from it. In fact, humanities degrees are going to be vital in the rapidly advancing world of tech.

Despite once being heralded as technology of movies and science fiction, AI is now a common reality of modern-day life and quantum computing will soon follow suit. Predictions show that by next year, 25% of the Fortune Global 500 will be using some form of quantum computing to gain a competitive advantage. However, many questions remain about what appropriate usage actually looks like.

Regulation in quantum computing and other advancing technologies is going to be key to making sure that they arent being abused or misused. Already, we are facing issues with AI and quantum that need to be addressed for instance, AIs intrinsic bias problem. The effects of bias within datasets are only going to be intensified by quantum computing, and it will become impossible to manually analyse and redress its impact. To deal with the handling and regulation of quantum effectively, we need to be nurturing skills like ethics and decision making valuable skills that arts and humanities degrees intrinsically teach students.

We can already see a plethora of ethical dilemmas emerging. As the trend of quantum computing explodes, how will we make sure that it's used in a socially responsible manner? How will we enable fair access to quantum computing? How will we stop the monopolisation of quantum by companies? There are many issues we cannot predict, but we do know that we will need strict standards in the technology industry, and we need people to decide and enforce them and these are unlikely to come from the pure tech or scientific community, whose focus tends to be solely on progress.

The inherent fast-paced nature of the tech industry means the needs of the job market are constantly changing. For example, right now software developers are in increasingly high demand. There are over 465,700 software development professionals and programmers in the UK, more than doubling the 224,000 that there were a decade ago in 2011. However, as technology continues to rapidly advance, the advent of practical usage of quantum computing will begin to render these software developers' jobs obsolete as the knowledge required evolves.

It has been suggested that the half-life of a specific technical skill is now only 2.5 years. With the intense speed of technological development, any skills being learned now could be redundant a few years after graduating.

Therefore, instead of exclusively focussing on equipping our workforce with specific technical skills, we need to prepare for the longer-term requirements that will be necessary when technology itself supersedes the rate of human development. Supplementing a tech-minded workforce with non-tech workers with different perspectives, such as those with humanities backgrounds, can bring balance and enable teams to navigate these evolving needs more readily, drawing on knowledge that will not become outdated as the sector advances.

As technology progresses, many tech-skilled roles will become automated. We need to start nurturing the skills that we need for our future tech workforce.

Our future workforce will need to have the soft skills that humanities degrees bring to survive the fast-paced sector of technology. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills will be essential to be able to grapple with unprecedented problems and rapid developments. Communication skills involving public speaking, teamwork, professional writing and leadership skills will be indispensable to working with the many companies and groups that will be beginning to work with quantum computing.

In a future where developers jobs may be significantly reduced, those with skills from humanities degrees will be necessary for the future of technology.

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The future of tech relies on humanities degrees - IDG Connect

1. Former National Security Agency Employee Charged With Espionage  The New York Times
2. Ex-NSA worker from Colorado Springs charged with trying to sell U.S. secrets  Colorado Public Radio
3. Former NSA Employee Arrested on Espionage-Related Charges  Department of Justice
4. Former NSA employee charged with violating Espionage Act after trying to sell US secrets  CNN
5. NSA employee charged with violating Espionage Act  UPI News
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Former National Security Agency Employee Charged With Espionage - The New York Times

The US said that it takes Russian president Vladimir Putins nuclear threats seriously but does not see any indication that the nuclear weapons will be used, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said.

Sullivan was addressing reporters at the White House and said the US is communicating with Russia directly on the issue which also include responses from the US if Moscow chooses to take the path.

There is a risk, given all the loose talk and nuclear saber rattling by Putin, that he would consider this and weve been equally clear about what the consequences would be, Sullivan was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. We do not presently see indications about the imminent use of nuclear weapons, he further added.

Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons after Ukrainian counteroffensive forced Russian troops to retreat rapidly from broad swaths of the northeastern Kharkiv region in September, handing Moscow a defeat in the military operation that has been going on for more than 7 months.

Moscow initiated referendums and now considers these areas which it has annexed following the referendum vote as Russian territories and will see any attack on these territories as an attack on Russia.

Before Vladimir Putin, the former president and the deputy chairman of Russias Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also indicated that Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend its territories.

Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden said the US and its NATO allies will not be intimidated by Putins threats.

America and its allies are not going to be intimidated. Putin is not going to scare us, Biden said. Americas fully prepared, with our NATO allies, to defend every single inch of NATO territory. Mr Putin, dont misunderstand what Im saying: every inch, Biden said.

Bidens remarks came after Putin presided over a ceremony in Moscow where he declared that Russia annexed four more regions of Ukraine.

He also said he will send divers to the Baltic Sea when things calm down to find out who or what caused the leakages in the Nord Stream gas pipelines. At the appropriate moment, when things calm down, were going to be sending divers down to find out exactly what happened, he was quoted as saying by AFP.

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US NSA Says Russian Threats Taken Seriously, But Biden Warns of Defending Every Inch of NATO Territory - News18

Joaqun Roy, Jean Monnet Professor and director of the University of Miami European Union Center of Excellence, analyzes the recent election of Giorgia Meloni as Italian prime minister.

Any negative event impacting an important member of the European Union, most notably as a result of elections, generates a doomsday prediction about the demise of the Brussels entity.

Political observers and individual citizens customarily resort to blaming the EU for any deficiency in their economic, social, or political standing.

Problems with salaries, deterioration of public services, dangerous transportation patterns, terrorism, threatening immigration, or an affordable housing crisis are easy subjects to discover the traditional culprit of the government into the EU.

The effect of the recent Italian election that has brought Giorgia Meloni to power has developed a new version of the old excuses. This time the sudden change in government may generate a similar explanation: the EU is the culprit.

The scenario today has produced a set of predictions similar to what was claimed to be the consequences of the concrete difficulties of the United Kingdom. As an answer to the prevailing claims of some of its political and economic leadership, the UK would finally make real its leaving of the EU. A new word would appear: Brexit.

However, as it happens now, then some responsible voices would claim that the seriousness of the move would convince the British leadership and the voters not to commit such suicide. But it happened. Now, a similar scenario is on the horizon after the victory of the trio led by Meloni, the new prime minister, with the cooperation of the media magnate and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and the radical and former deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini.

The current panorama recalls the most famous assessments of the national fabric of Italy constructed by Massimo dAzeglio, a Piedmontese-Italian prime minister. He skillfully claimed: We have made Italy, now we have to make Italians.

Dozens of governments badly led Italy after World War II. The country is now ready to leave the EU.

But the installation of the UK in the EU was not the same as the origin and evolution of the membership of Italy in the EUa key founding member, led by moderate conservatives Christian Democrats, backed by the Americans. The UK was never well-installed in Brussels. From Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, London just wanted the rebate in resourcespriming trade, never accepting the federal obligations.

The apparent catastrophe of the Italian elections would not develop in a war against the EU. The needs for the reconstruction of the economy are such that only the EU resources can cover the expense. The allies of Meloni could not expect Russia, Hungary, or Poland to pay for the cost.

It would take just a few weeks until the northern-inclined Berlusconi would continue supporting Meloni, a genuine product of Rome, the sources of waste. The same can be said about mafia-behaving Salvini, one who is eternally obsessed with opposing immigration as the cause of the problems.

Few days will pass until the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, would obtain the cooperation of the leaving Prime Minister Mario Draghi to support the new leader, in the preparation of the paperwork to receive the needed support of the EU. There is already talk about Antonio Tajani, the former president of the European Parliament and a moderate centrist conservative, joining the new government as minister of Foreign Affairs.

In sum, Brussels and the United States will contribute all the necessary resources to cover the expenses. Vladimir Putin and the Italian sectors who have shown nostalgia for the Mussolini March on Rome of a century ago (1922) will be utterly surprised.

Joaqun Roy is Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Miami.

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What could the new government of Italy mean for the European Union? - University of Miami: News@theU