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https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/ai/microsofts-majorana-1-chip-carves-new-path-for-quantum-computing/ Microsoft today introduced Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture that it expects will realize quantum computers capable of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades. It leverages the world’s first topoconductor, a breakthrough type of material which can observe and control Majorana particles to produce more reliable and scalable qubits, which are the building blocks for quantum computers. In the same way that the invention of semiconductors made today’s smartphones, computers and electronics possible, topoconductors and the new type of chip they enable offer a path to developing quantum systems that can scale to a million qubits and are capable of tackling the most complex industrial and societal problems, Microsoft said. “We took a step back and said ‘OK, let’s invent the transistor for the quantum age. What properties does it need to have?’” said Chetan Nayak, Microsoft technical fellow. “And that’s really how we got here – it’s the particular combination, the quality and the important details in our new materials stack that have enabled a new kind of qubit and ultimately our entire architecture.” This new architecture used to develop the Majorana 1 processor offers a clear path to fit a million qubits on a single chip that can fit in the palm of one’s hand, Microsoft said. This is a needed threshold for quantum computers to deliver transformative, real-world solutions – such as breaking down microplastics into harmless byproducts or inventing self-healing materials for construction, manufacturing or healthcare. All the world’s current computers operating together can’t do what a one-million-qubit quantum computer will be able to do. “Whatever you’re doing in the quantum space needs to have a path to a million qubits. If it doesn’t, you’re going to hit a wall before you get to the scale at which you can solve the really important problems that motivate us,” Nayak said. “We have actually worked out a path to a million.” The topoconductor, or topological superconductor, is a special category of material that can create an entirely new state of matter – not a solid, liquid or gas but a topological state. This is harnessed to produce a more stable qubit that is fast, small and can be digitally controlled, without the tradeoffs required by current alternatives. A new paper published Wednesday in Nature outlines how Microsoft researchers were able to create the topological qubit’s exotic quantum properties and also accurately measure them, an essential step for practical computing. This breakthrough required developing an entirely new materials stack made of indium arsenide and aluminum, much of which Microsoft designed and fabricated atom by atom. The goal was to coax new quantum particles called Majoranas into existence and take advantage of their unique properties to reach the next horizon of quantum computing, Microsoft said. The world’s first Topological Core powering the Majorana 1 is reliable by design, incorporating error resistance at the hardware level making it more stable. Commercially important applications will also require trillions of operations on a million qubits, which would be prohibitive with current approaches that rely on fine-tuned analog control of each qubit. The Microsoft team’s new measurement approach enables qubits to be controlled digitally, redefining and vastly simplifying how quantum computing works. This progress validates Microsoft’s choice years ago to pursue a topological qubit design – a high risk, high reward scientific and engineering challenge that is now paying off. Today, the company has placed eight topological qubits on a chip designed to scale to one million. “From the start we wanted to make a quantum computer for commercial impact, not just thought leadership,” said Matthias Troyer, Microsoft technical fellow. “We knew we needed a new qubit. We knew we had to scale.” That approach led the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a federal agency that invests in breakthrough technologies that are important to national security, to include Microsoft in a rigorous program to evaluate whether innovative quantum computing technologies could build commercially relevant quantum systems faster than conventionally believed possible. Microsoft is now one of two companies to be invited to move to the final phase of DARPA’s Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) program – one of the programs that makes up DARPA’s larger Quantum Benchmarking Initiative – which aims to deliver the industry’s first utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer, or one whose computational value exceeds its costs. ‘It just gives you the answer’ In addition to making its own quantum hardware, Microsoft has partnered with Quantinuum and Atom Computing to reach scientific and engineering breakthroughs with today’s qubits, including the announcement last year of the industry’s first reliable quantum computer. These types of machines offer important opportunities to develop quantum skills, build hybrid applications and drive new discovery, particularly as AI is combined with new quantum systems that will be powered by larger numbers of reliable qubits. Today, Azure Quantum offers a suite of integrated solutions allowing customers to leverage these leading AI, high performance computing and quantum platforms in Azure to advance scientific discovery. But reaching the next horizon of quantum computing will require a quantum architecture that can provide a million qubits or more and reach trillions of fast and reliable operations. Today’s announcement puts that horizon within years, not decades, Microsoft said. Because they can use quantum mechanics to mathematically map how nature behaves with incredible precision – from chemical reactions to molecular interactions and enzyme energies – million-qubit machines should be able to solve certain types of problems in chemistry, materials science and other industries that are impossible for today’s classical computers to accurately calculate. For instance, they could help solve the difficult chemistry question of why materials suffer corrosion or cracks. This could lead to self-healing materials that repair cracks in bridges or airplane parts, shattered phone screens or scratched car doors. Because there are so many types of plastics, it isn’t currently possible to find a one-size-fits-all catalyst that can break them down – especially important for cleaning up microplastics or tackling carbon pollution. Quantum computing could calculate the properties of such catalysts to break down pollutants into valuable byproducts or develop non-toxic alternatives in the first place. Enzymes, a kind of biological catalyst, could be harnessed more effectively in healthcare and agriculture, thanks to accurate calculations about their behavior that only quantum computing can provide. This could lead to breakthroughs helping to eradicate global hunger: boosting soil fertility to increase yields or promoting sustainable growth of foods in harsh climates. Most of all, quantum computing could allow engineers, scientists, companies and others to simply design things right the first time – which would be transformative for everything from healthcare to product development. The power of quantum computing, combined with AI tools, would allow someone to describe what kind of new material or molecule they want to create in plain language and get an answer that works straightaway – no guesswork or years of trial and error. “Any company that makes anything could just design it perfectly the first time out. It would just give you the answer,” Troyer said. “The quantum computer teaches the AI the language of nature so the AI can just tell you the recipe for what you want to make.” Rethinking quantum computing at scale The quantum world operates according to the laws of quantum mechanics, which are not the same laws of physics that govern the world we see. The particles are called qubits, or quantum bits, analogous to the bits, or ones and zeros, that computers now use. Qubits are finicky and highly susceptible to perturbations and errors that come from their environment, which cause them to fall apart and information to be lost. Their state can also be affected by measurement – a problem because measuring is essential for computing. An inherent challenge is developing a qubit that can be measured and controlled, while offering protection from environmental noise that corrupts them. Qubits can be created in different ways, each with advantages and disadvantages. Nearly 20 years ago, Microsoft decided to pursue a unique approach: developing topological qubits, which it believed would offer more stable qubits requiring less error correction, thereby unlocking speed, size and controllability advantages. The approach posed a steep learning curve, requiring uncharted scientific and engineering breakthroughs, but also the most promising path to creating scalable and controllable qubits capable of doing commercially valuable work. The disadvantage is – or was – that until recently the exotic particles Microsoft sought to use, called Majoranas, had never been seen or made. They don’t exist in nature and can only be coaxed into existence with magnetic fields and superconductors. The difficulty of developing the right materials to create the exotic particles and their associated topological state of matter is why most quantum efforts have focused on other kinds of qubits. The Nature paper marks peer-reviewed confirmation that Microsoft has not only been able to create Majorana particles, which help protect quantum information from random disturbance, but can also reliably measure that information from them using microwaves. Majoranas hide quantum information, making it more robust, but also harder to measure. The Microsoft team’s new measurement approach is so precise it can detect the difference between one billion and one billion and one electrons in a superconducting wire – which tells the computer what state the qubit is in and forms the basis for quantum computation. The measurements can be turned on and off with voltage pulses, like flicking a light switch, rather than finetuning dials for each individual qubit. This simpler measurement approach that enables digital control simplifies the quantum computing process and the physical requirements to build a scalable machine. Microsoft’s topological qubit also has an advantage over other qubits because of its size. Even for something that tiny, there’s a “Goldilocks” zone, where a too-small qubit is hard to run control lines to, but a too-big qubit requires a huge machine, Troyer said. Adding the individualized control technology for those types of qubits would require building an impractical computer the size of an airplane hangar or football field. Majorana 1, Microsoft’s quantum chip that contains both qubits as well as surrounding control electronics, can be held in the palm of one’s hand and fits neatly into a quantum computer that can be easily deployed inside Azure datacenters. “It’s one thing to discover a new state of matter,” Nayak said. “It’s another to take advantage of it to rethink quantum computing at scale.” Designing quantum materials atom by atom Microsoft’s topological qubit architecture has aluminum nanowires joined together to form an H. Each H has four controllable Majoranas and makes one qubit. These Hs can be connected, too, and laid out across the chip like so many tiles. “It’s complex in that we had to show a new state of matter to get there, but after that, it’s fairly simple. It tiles out. You have this much simpler architecture that promises a much faster path to scale,” said Krysta Svore, Microsoft technical fellow. The quantum chip doesn’t work alone. It exists in an ecosystem with control logic, a dilution refrigerator that keeps qubits at temperatures much colder than outer space and a software stack that can integrate with AI and classical computers. All those pieces exist, built or modified entirely in-house, she said. To be clear, continuing to refine those processes and getting all the elements to work together at accelerated scale will require more years of engineering work. But many difficult scientific and engineering challenges have now been met, Microsoft said. Getting the materials stack right to produce a topological state of matter was one of the hardest parts, Svore added. Instead of silicon, Microsoft’s topoconductor is made of indium arsenide, a material currently used in such applications as infrared detectors and which has special properties. The semiconductor is married with superconductivity, thanks to extreme cold, to make a hybrid. “We are literally spraying atom by atom. Those materials have to line up perfectly. If there are too many defects in the material stack, it just kills your qubit,” Svore said. “Ironically, it’s also why we need a quantum computer – because understanding these materials is incredibly hard. With a scaled quantum computer, we will be able to predict materials with even better properties for building the next generation of quantum computers beyond scale,” she said.

WISHING ALL MCF MEMBERS A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS LUNAR NEW YEAR

Official drawings of the 2019 Mazda3 – keep in mind that at this time, we don’t know if it will be sold as a 2019MY or 2020MY in the U.S.A. and Canada. The new “3” will employ Mazda’s latest Skyactiv-Vehicle Architecture. The platform is said to be stronger while providing a much better ride quality. But the big news for the fourth-generation “3” is the debut of Mazda’s new SkyActiv-X gasoline enginefeaturing Spark Controlled Compression Ignition. This innovative four-cylinder unit combines characteristics of diesel and regular gasoline engines, using spark plug ignition to “control compression ignition”. In short, it ignites the fuel-air mixture similar to a diesel engine promising to combine the fuel efficiency of the former with all the benefits of a gasoline unit, without the emissions penalty. Mazda forecasts an output of around 190 horsepower with 170 lb-ft (230Nm) of peak torque from the 2.0-liter version. That puts it well above today’s 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G that delivers 155hp and 150 lb-ft (203Nm) and on par with the bigger 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G with 184hp and 185 lb-ft (250Nm). The difference here is that Mazda is targeting at least a 20 percent improvement in fuel economy and up to 25 percent less carbon dioxide emissions over the current Skyactive G engines. Mazda Kai Concept Wants To Get Our Hopes Up For New Mazda3

Seems like nobody started on the 2018 Perodua Myvi after searching through the folders . Perodua is going to launch the 2018 myvi (3rd generation)on 16/11/2017 The new car is slated to be vastly improved from its current model ,being outdated in terms of safety and specs. However, the new car is going to rectify all those flaws ,making the wrongs right. The car comes in the usual 1.3 and 1.5L engine guise and the tranny options are just a manual 5 speeder shifter or a dinosaur age 4 speed self shifter(yawn) Features in the 1.3L guise 1.3L Dual VVT-i four cylinder (94bhp/121Nm) 1.3L Standard G (Malaysian spec) Four speed auto or five speed manual LED headlamps (auto on/off, follow me home function) Headlight leveling LED tail lamps with LED light guides Reverse sensors 14 inch alloy wheels Keyless entry and push button ignition 8+1 seat configuration 60 : 40 folding rear seats Side pockets on the front seats (mobile phone usage only) Four airbags ABS, EBD, VSC, Traction Control, Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) Five year or 150,000km warranty 1.3L Premium X (Malaysian spec) Four speed auto only LED headlamps (auto on/off, follow me home function) Headlight leveling LED tail lamps with LED light guides Reverse sensors 14 inch alloy wheels Keyless entry and push button ignition 8+1 seat configuration 60 : 40 folding rear seats Side pockets on the front seats (mobile phone usage only) Four airbags ABS, EBD, VSC, Traction Control, Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) Five year or 150,000km warranty Eco-idle stop/start system Other exterior trim (Unconfirmed) Features in the 1.5L guise 1.5L Dual VVT-i four cylinder (106bhp/140Nm) 1.5L High (Malaysian spec) Four speed auto only LED headlamps (auto on/off, follow me home function) Headlight leveling LED tail lamps with LED light guides Reverse sensors 15 inch dual-tone alloy wheels Keyless entry and push button ignition 8+1 seat configuration 60 : 40 folding rear seats Side pockets on the front seats (mobile phone usage only) ABS, EBD, VSC, Traction Control, Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) Five year or 150,000km warranty Eco-idle stop/start system Other exterior trim (Unconfirmed) Front bodykit and side skirts in a dual-tone finish Two tone rear bumper Rear spoiler Built-in toll reader (Integrated SmartTag) Six airbags 1.5L Advance (Malaysian spec) Four speed auto only LED headlamps (auto on/off, follow me home function) Headlight leveling LED tail lamps with LED light guides Reverse sensors 15 inch dual-tone alloy wheels Keyless entry and push button ignition 8+1 seat configuration 60 : 40 folding rear seats Side pockets on the front seats (mobile phone usage only) ABS, EBD, VSC, Traction Control, Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) Five year or 150,000km warranty Eco-idle stop/start system Other exterior trim (Unconfirmed) Front bodykit and side skirts in a dual-tone finish Two tone rear bumper Rear spoiler Built-in toll reader (Integrated SmartTag) Six airbags Advanced Safety Assist (ASA) Pre-collision warning (PCW) Pre-collision braking (PCB) (Low speed autonomous braking) Front Departure Alert (FDA) Pedal Misoperation Control (PMC) Price in Malaysia ranges from RM 44,300 to RM 55,300 Colours available:Ivory White, Glittering Silver, Mystical Purple and Lava Red,Peppermint Green (1.3 only), Granite Gray(1.5 only) For what I think, this car, if it were to be imported, would be a force to reckoned with as it is so value for money that in the high spec guise, shames the Mitsubishi Space Star other than its brand name. If there is anything to add in after which, I will add in here. Moderators, if you all feel that there should not be a all new Myvi thread for the all new Myvi 2018, please kindly transfer it to an old topic. Thanks. Information from :https://paultan.org/2017/11/08/new-2018-perodua-myvi-details-1-31-5-dual-vvt-i-46-airbags-vsc-asa-with-aeb-rm44300-rm55300/new-perodua-myvi-teasers-16/

Ok who’s going?! think the big names are der @Freeder go disturb ur pml bf lo😂

This is a good start The bosses interviewed said the surcharge is similar to previous years and has not been significantly increased due to recent inflation.

EPL starting in 4 week times (14/08/2021). With Community Shield on 07/08/2021 Since no one started this thread, let me get it started for the new season 2021/22. Wishing all football fans a happy new season for you & your clubs. Cheers

Yahoo : New Lamborghini Countach Looks Rad In Red For Deliveries In Japan For a moment in August 2021, Lamborghini reached the hearts of motoring enthusiasts all around the world and sent them into overdrive. The Italian brand dropped a teaser video for a new Countach completely out of the blue, and then a few days later, revealed it in full. Not as a concept car or a fanciful rendering, but a legit production car going on sale in 2022. We are now halfway through 2022, and customer deliveries of the Countach LPI 800-4 have commenced. Lamborghini recently headed to Japan with the reborn supercar, marking its first appearance in the land of the rising sun. Specifically, a small group of special guests were invited to Warehouse Terrada where a new red Countach was joined by its predecessor, a 1989 25th Anniversary model also looking fantastic in red. Lamborghini doesn't tell us the exact shade of red applied to the new model – over 30 colors incorporating new and vintage hues are available to buyers – but the classic Countach wears its coat of Siviglia Red better than ever. My Dream Car ... 😍😍😍

What is your first impression upon seeing the following advertisement, as a general public / consumer? While I believe many seasoned buyers would expect the "from" price to be that of the lesser model (e.g. entry level trim, lower priced model, etc.), I don't think anyone would expect it to be for USED CAR! https://www.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/info.php?ID=1075337&DL=2038 https://www.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/info.php?ID=1078169&DL=2213 Taking the Volvo S60 / V60 advertisement for example, anything that make it look like a used car advertisement? Used car need to "Book" and can choose to be registered (re-registered) in April meh? Wow... Wearnes Automotive and Vertex Automobile have really taken things to a new low! There might be more ADs doing the same... beware!

The all new top of the line BMW X7, said to launch in 2018. A truly full size 6 seats SUV, will it reach our shore? Anyone interested in this car?

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Hi to all Q50 owners here 🙂 I’m thinking of getting a resale 2018 Q50 but had came to know that from July 21 onward, Infiniti showroom in SG crease operation. So any issues for spare parts in the future or we can easily can OEM parts in workshop. Hope someone can help on the above question, thank you.

Kinda sad that it is hard to find nowadays new cars with manual transmissions. Can anyone enlighten if one can still buy a MIT, MIJ or MIK manual transmission sedan?

http://www.mazda.com/stories/craftmanship/mx-5/mx-5_25th2/movie_photo/

Well.... I drove my Mazda 3 SP for a good 10 years. Scrapped it and finally got a new car. Stay in HDB with an open space car park Based on experience, new cars always end up getting scratched. I knew it will happen soon. Just didn't expect it to be so soon..... Though I'm annoyed, I'm at the age where I feel for the culprit. He must have felt so sick in the mind to do something like that and to do it so quickly within a few hours of me getting the car. Just for the record. The car was perfectly mint when I collected it. So don't point finger at AD. God have mercy on him/her.

Infiniti will be exiting the Singapore market by year end as they will no longer produce RHD vehicles. The existing showroom will welcome the Polestar brand. https://www.carbuyer.com.sg/2021-singapore-polestar-in-infiniti-out/

Dear all car lover may I have any of your advice about Infiniti Q50 . ThAnk you

Very interested in this 2021 Toyota Sienna 7 Seaters. Will Borneo Motor bring in this MPV ? Yahoo news : Toyota's 2021 Sienna hybrid proves minivans can be fun, not just practical There comes a time in your life when minivans just make sense. Usually, that's when you start to learn about the nuances of car seats, strollers and all of the other gear kids require. Then come the soccer matches and cacouphonous carpools. I won't waste time arguing for the practicality of minivans, because no matter how you frame it, they'll always be better for a typical family than an SUV or crossover. They have got more room for passengers and cargo alike, and they're just easier to access when you need to secure a screaming toddler. Link : https://sg.news.yahoo.com/toyota-sienna-2021-hybrid-review-130033824.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink

Hope the new year brings joy and happiness to one and all members of the MCF.

Finally find this place to post my "Questions" as a newbie. I am considering to buy my first car, and after visiting some of the showrooms, finally I found one model of a Japanese brand, of which the specifications and price are both acceptable. The only issue is that the car has been stored for less than one year since it was produced. I am wondering whether any negative impact on the quality of the car after such a long storage period, and what is the so called "acceptable storage duration" in the local market and what will can we do when we are going to buy such a car. Thank you very much for every brothers/sisters suggestions.

Singapore— Tan Chuan Jin, the country’s Speaker of the Parliament, gleefully took to Facebook on Sunday (Mar 15) about a “new word” i.e. “Singaporise,” posting two photos of screenshots of articles from the Financial Times (FT) and Business Insider, both of which use the word in a positive manner. Mr Tan added this caption, “New word?! Power lah SG! Variants: Singaporise (British spelling?) Singaporized Singaporizing Singaporization” The FT article is from Friday (March 13), and is entitled “The coronavirus: my part in its downfall,” written by Edward Luce. The writer, an American, says that his government would do well to copy what Singapore has done. Concerning the quarantine imposed on US citizens, he writes, “For how long will this tedious horror go on? That depends on the quality of public action and private behavior. If the US could Singaporize on both counts, we could be through the worst within a month. If we continue the record of the last few weeks — too late, too bureaucratic, and a White House in shambolic denial — it could get sharply worse over two or three months. The big lesson is that countries that act decisively and quickly are far better off than those who block their ears and hope it will go away.” Praise for how well Singapore (as well as Taiwan, Macau and even South Korea) have handled the onset of the coronavirus outbreak has abounded. Mr Tan’s other screenshot is from another article entitled “Georgia is Successfully ‘De-Sovietizing’ and ‘Singaporising’,” wherein the author, Simon Black, wrote about how Georgia was a bright spot in a time of economic gloom as it did away with antiquated business institutions in an effort to de-Sovietize and Singaporize. He wrote, “Living here is dirt cheap… and a lot of fun. The people are incredibly warm, and I’ve found that the younger generations which are on board with the ‘Singaporization of Georgia’ are incredibly sharp.” Netizen Wei Ting also posted the same screenshot from FT, tweeting on Sunday morning “To “Singapore” is now a verb: e.g. If the US could Singaporize Via @FT“.” The Speaker’s post seemed to spark joy in Singaporeans, who have shared it over 1,600 times and reacted to and commented on his post. One individual who commented said that he had been asked by a school in the US to “Singaporeanize” their math lessons. One proudly wrote that the definition of “Singaporeanize” is “to solve the problem.” Another netizen gave this definition: “Singaporise: according to Oxford Dictionary, it means do things efficiently and effectively, with citizens at heart.” Some said it should become the word of the year. Others pointed out that it’s hardly a new word. The Business Insider article is from 2012, after all. A quick Google search shows usage of the word from 2013, 2014 and 2017 as well

For the benefit of those who are about to collect their new cars, I'm posting up generic new car checklist. Some of the items may not apply to you if your car doesn't come with the feature. This is sure to make those SE's accompanying the new owners to have a real hard time New_Car_Checklist.doc New_Car_Checklist.pdf

Also to share some information: Some of the new mazda 3 mild hybrid owners who recently collected since last december, regardless of trim/body(hatch or sedan), you might have realised that you have speed limit displayed on your active driving display (aka HUD). This feature is not officially available in singapore market. I have reached out to mazda for an official reply, unfortunately they could only explain that works are in progress to make that feature available.. Therefore, those who got the feature now could be erroneously activated by the technical team either from factory or from service centre, in my opinion as mazda refused to give a straight forward answer to this question.

Hey bros Im having a little dilemma if it’s cheaper buy a new car now or to wait for another 2 years instead. I’m currently driving a Nissan slyphy 1.6 signature series 2015 model. My loan finishing in June This year. Current rebate amount from one motoring is approximately 47K. i know that by waiting for another 2 more years I’ll need to factor in the depreciation too Hope to seek savvy bros on this for the best option(s) for me. Thanks in advance!

Nice new map: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-mrt-train-map-circle-line-redesigned-12175906 For download: https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/dam/ltagov/getting_around/public_transport/rail_network/pdf/SystemMap for download-Nov19.pdf Reminds me of a Dead or Alive song: You Spin Me Right Round.. https://youtu.be/PGNiXGX2nLU