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The Download: a quantum radar, and chipmakers’ deal with the US government

Rhiannon Williams

created: Aug. 11, 2025, 12:10 p.m. | updated: Aug. 15, 2025, 9:07 a.m.

Physicists have created a new type of radar that could help improve underground imaging, using a cloud of atoms in a glass cell to detect reflected radio waves. The radar is a type of quantum sensor, an emerging technology that uses the quantum-mechanical properties of objects as measurement devices. —Sophia ChenIf you’re interested in the potential of quantum, why not check out:+ Why AI could eat quantum computing’s lunch. + This quantum computer built on server racks paves the way to bigger machines. + IBM aims to build the world’s first large-scale, error-corrected quantum computer by 2028.

4 months ago: MIT Technology Review