Google Willow, Fruit Fly, Fusion Breakthrough, Anduril's Lattice, Year Ahead - Speciale Focus #25
A fascinating year of science (2024) paves way to a new and perhaps the most exciting and important era (2025) for humankind.
Google’s New Quantum Chip - The Dawn of a New Era
Google introduced Willow, its most advanced quantum chip, marking a significant milestone in quantum computing. Willow achieves exponential quantum error correction, reducing errors as qubits scale, and completed a computation in under 5 minutes that would take the fastest classical supercomputers 10 septillion years. This groundbreaking performance demonstrates its capability for real-time error correction and positions Willow as the most scalable and reliable quantum chip to date, with 105 high-quality qubits and a ~5x improvement in qubit lifetimes.
The chip’s development is part of Google’s long-term roadmap toward building large-scale, commercially relevant quantum computers capable of tackling real-world challenges. Future efforts will focus on combining beyond-classical performance with practical applications, unlocking breakthroughs in AI, medicine, energy, and materials science. Read more here.
Mapping the Brain of a Fruit Fly - WOW!
Scientists have mapped an entire fruit fly brain, revealing ~140,000 neurons and over 50 million synapses. This achievement required slicing the tiny brain into 7,000 layers, imaging it 21 million times, and assembling it with the help of volunteers. While mapping a human brain isn’t feasible yet, this breakthrough offers valuable insights into neuroscience.
BELLA’s Laser - New Fusion Frontier
Scientists at Berkeley Lab have achieved a breakthrough in laser-plasma acceleration (LPA), accelerating electrons to 10 GeV within 11.8 inches using a dual-laser system. A “drill” laser creates a plasma channel, while a “drive” laser propels electrons efficiently, surpassing their 2019 record of 8 GeV. This innovation allows greater control, precision, and energy efficiency, paving the way for compact particle colliders and applications like advanced free-electron lasers for studying atomic structures. Future efforts aim to connect accelerator stages to reach even higher energies, potentially achieving 10 TeV for groundbreaking research in physics. Read more.
Anduril’s Lattice SDK - Step Towards Autonomous Warfare!
Anduril’s Lattice SDK™ enables developers to build decentralized applications, data services, and hardware integrations for operations at the tactical edge. It provides open data models, industry-standard interfaces (gRPC, HTTP APIs), robust security, and tools for rapid deployment in contested environments. Developers can access resources like sample applications, detailed documentation, and sandbox environments with support from Anduril experts. Example integrations include maritime AIS data tracking and tasking unmanned or manned assets. Lattice aims to simplify development and enhance capabilities for mission-critical systems. Read more.
Science & Tech Breakthroughs - What to Expect in 2025?
From OpenAI to Nuclear Fusion to Quantum Computing - this year has been a needle mover for science and tech of the future.
As we take a quick break from life to recharge and rejuvenate for what appears to be an even more fascinating year ahead for Science and Engineering, we wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
Seasons Greetings From Team Speciale! 🎄 🎁 ❤️
We’ll see you soon.