Backwards heat shows laws of thermodynamics may need a quantum update

 

Heat normally flows from hot to cold. Image courtesy of klyaksun/Shutterstock

Joel Kontinen

A forgotten cup of coffee will gradually cool down as its heat flows into the cooler surrounding air, but in the quantum realm, it appears this experience can be turned on its head. As a result, we may need to update the second law of thermodynamics, a fundamental principle of physics that states heat energy always flows from hot to cold.

But in the computer world, this could be the contrary.

Dawei Lu at the Southern University of Science and Technology in China and his colleagues have seemingly broken this law with a molecule of crotonic acid, which contains atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The researchers used the nuclei of four of its carbon atoms as qubits, which are the basic building blocks of quantum computers and can store quantum information. When used in computation, researchers normally control the quantum states of the qubits with.

Source:

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan 2026 Backwards heat shows laws of thermodynamics may need a quantum update | New Scientist 16 February 

DNA to serve as a switch in a biological computer

 

Image courtesy of Shutterstock/ktsdesign.

Joel Kontinen 

New Scientist tells us how DNA can be used as a switch in a biological  computer.

“A nanoscale rotor made from DNA could be used as a tiny valve for tasks like sorting molecules or act as a switch in a biological computer.

Designing moving mechanical systems at nanoscale is difficult because of the random movements of small molecules, which knocks components back and forth. There are many examples of effective biological motors in nature, such as F-ATPase, an energy-producing enzyme with a central rotating column, but functioning synthetic nanomotors had yet to be built.”

Source; 

Wilkins, Alex, 2022, Spinning rotors made from DNA could power minuscule machines New Scientist  20 July,