A small step for man, a quantum leap for mankind

From bit to qubit, from classical to quantum physics- this is the new focus in the world of computing. Quantum computing is the newest idea in the field of computation, in which the information is stored using quantum bits. The first step to make this path breaking technology to work is to compress the size of the microprocessor chips to the size of the atom. And this is exactly what researchers at Duke have attempted to do over the past few years. It was a team led by the Physics professor Albert Chang, which was successful in forming links between quantum dots- the building blocks of quantum computers.


Presently, researchers from Duke, MIT, and Georgia Tech are collaborating to design a working quantum data processor. The future implications of quantum computing are unimaginable.

Jungsang Kim, Nortel Networks assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, predicts that "future quantum computers could easily crack cryptosystems widely used for secure communication today – whether to bank accounts or military installations – in the blink of an eye."

Since the basis for quantum computers will be to manage and harness the extraordinarily fast events that take place on the atomic scale, they have the potential to perform calculations that can otherwise take infinite amount of classical computing power. The advent of quantum computing would be one more step towards proving the fact that the physical world is governed by much more than what Newton forumulated.

Cue the Action News Music!

We're under new management.

Today, we're announcing three new faces on the Duke Research blog who will add more content and more voices. We hope to do a better job of capturing the personalities and events in Duke's constantly-humming research community that wouldn't otherwise rise to the level of a press release or Duke Research story.

Monte Basgall, is Duke's senior science writer in the news office. A former newspaper reporter, he gravitates toward the physical sciences, math, statistics and the like. He's been at Duke more than 15 years and knows the research and the researchers like the back of his hand.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have two newcomers: Becca Bayham is a freshman from St. Louis who is leaning toward an environmental sciences major, and like most Duke freshmen had a very healthy diet of all sciences in high school. Vansh Muttreja is also a freshman, from New Delhi, India, who's thinking about math and economics and pressure cookers and alarm clocks...

I'm Karl Bates, the research editor in the news office, who's been struggling to make this blog worth reading. We think this blog is going to be a great new channel for sharing the Duke experience with you and hope you'll add us to your favorite reader or feed and stay in touch!

Eat your eggs and get some sleep

Duke neuroscientist Wilkie "Bill" Wilson has given US News & World Report blogger Nancy Shute a quick tutorial on how teenage brains can learn better. It's familiar, common-sense advice, (sleep well, eat right, exercise, feed your brain steadily, not in binges, etc.) but it's all backed by science. You may notice that slumping on the couch in front of the TV is NOT on the list.

Next year, the result of all this thinking about brains rolls out as DukeLEARN, a new health curriculum for ninth graders being piloted in the some NC schools. Wilson, a research scientist in Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, has been working for a decade on educating teens about the perils of drug use, especially as it concerns their tender young minds, and has published three books: "Buzzed: The straight facts about the most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy," "Pumped: Straight facts about drugs, supplements, and training," and "Just Say Know: Talking with kids about drugs and alcohol," all with W. W. Norton.

In developing the books and doing speaking engagements around the country, his team came to realize that they could build a whole curriculum around the care and feeding of your brain.

"We spend all this time teaching to their brains, but never teach them how to care for and use this tool!" he said.

Wilson's preliminary work on DukeLEARN has been supported by a seed grant from Duke's Center for Child and Family Policy, but he's seeking more funding to expand the program.

Neurobiology of Addiction

From Monte Basgall:

The same biological system that makes the body give in to drugs is tied to a sense of bodily well being, Duke pharmacology professor Cynthia Kuhn said in a Sept 4 lunchtime talk on "the neurobiology of addiction." That means "addiction is at its core a biological phenomenon" and "dopamine gets things started," she told a group in the Sanford Institute's Rhodes Conference Room.

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that nerve cells release to "make us like things that are life sustaining," according to Kuhn. That chemical spreads the good word to other responsive nerve cells by activating their own dopamine receptors. But drugs like cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and heroin can hihjack the process by activating those same dopamine receptors. Biologically drug-prone individuals then become adapted to that external stimulation and digress from being "dependent" -- meaning their tissues only function normally in the drug's presence -- to becoming addicted.

With addiction's onset, those compulsive drug cravings grow so powerful that users are willing to endure increasingly negative consequences to acquire the increasing amounts needed to retain any sense of pleasure. "Animals and people will self administer drugs until they die," Kuhn said. "They will skip work and not take care of their children." The prefrontal cortex, a dopamine-targeted brain area involved in prioritizing behavior, begins sending out drug-seeking orders. Tests show lab animals on drugs begin acting impulsively, for example by pulling the "reward" handle before the light they are trained to respond to comes on.

And what about genetics? While Kuhn said there is not a single, overarching "addiction gene," researchers have identified a number of candidate genes involved in the drug addiction process.

Fortunately, addiction-prone individuals are in the minority. Only about 20 percent of animals tested display addictive behavior, and those also tend to be the most impulsive, Kuhn said. Other studies have found that addicts have fewer than normal dopamine receptors. In fact, the dopamine system itself is one or several potential targets for drug treatment. Animals whose dopamine responding nerve cells have been destroyed or disabled, for example, avoid taking drugs.