IBM has launched a novel processor that is optimized for a special application: finance. The new Telum processor is built for AI integration, which with the right software, can perform real-time analyses of financial transactions and stop fraud as it happens. IBM predicts that the technology will similarly be useful for real-time credit approval for online banking and transaction settlement with very little latency. The processor is built around eight 5 GHz cores and contains an incredible 22 billion transistors.

A global team of university and industry researchers have discovered the root cause of a serious problem in the development of quantum computers: correlation. Detecting and correcting errors is a major roadblock in quantum computer development, and the team’s discovery that single errors can affect a large number of qubits simultaneously is a significant step forward in developing practical quantum computers. Just as significant is the discovery that a major source of these errors are cosmic rays, highly energetic and difficult to screen. Future quantum computers may require heavy radiation shielding for optimum performance.

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