Quantum Computing, Automobile Evolution, and Star Trek: Lux Recommends #17

By Sam Arbesman

Welcome to Lux Recommends #17, the newest edition of what we at Lux are reading and thinking about.

Articles

The NSA has recently declared Quantum Computing a formal threat on security. This got us thinking on the limits, applications, and the current state of Quantum Hardware and Software:

• The Limits of Quantum Computers, by Scott Aaronson — how does Quantum Computing actually work? (Hint, it’s nuts) How do we map new classes of problems uniquely addressable by Quantum Algorithms to known levels of difficulty (complexity classes for Computer Scientists), and hopefully in the future, Quantum Computers? — Zavain
• An Overview on Quantum Algorithms in Nature. A high level discussion of technical details and near term applications of Quantum Computing. — Zavain

What If Cars Had Developed With the Horse and Buggy Model? A fascinating, although somewhat silly, thought experiment. — Sam

Maximum Wage: Is technological progress dependent on extreme inequality? Steven Johnson responds to Paul Graham. Related is a discussion of basic income. — Sam

Nearly all of our medical research is wrong: This is why software + intelligent hardware needs to eat biology. —Adam G

Will Robots Make Humans Unnecessary? Interesting examination of technological trends and their potential logical endpoint of a Star Trek post-scarcity future. — Sam

From Wasteland to Fund-Maker: I probably shouldn’t recommend a story Lux is directly involved in, but it’s just such a crazy story, just this one time. — Adam K

Television

Chef’s Table (Netflix): Awesome series profiling the best chefs, master cooks, and pioneers of food from around the planet.— Adam G

Better Call Saul: The new season starts soon for this incredible spin-off from Breaking Bad. Time to catch up.— Sam

Have a suggestion? Let us know.