Bjorn Samios         10/29/18

Bio Current Event Review

Conover, Emily. “This Cloud-Zapping Laser Could Help Scientists Create a Quantum Internet.” Science News, 23 Oct. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/cloud-zapping-laser-could-help-scientists-create-quantum-internet?tgt=nr.

In the Article “This Cloud-Zapping Laser Could Help Scientists Create a Quantum Internet,” Emily Conover writes about the fascinating scientific technologies being developed for quantum purposes. The article begins with how the system works; a satellite in space will be capable of emitting a tiny laser which will be able to poke a millimeter-wide hole in cloud cover, and the satellite will then be able to send a beam of information right behind it. This is a large advancement in quantum technology because it eradicates the variable of cloudy weather in testing quantum technologies, such as the hypothetical future quantum internet. Conover describes this new internet as a method of “ultra secure transmission of data,” using quantum particles beamed to and from satellites but cloud cover was always a problematic contingency. The laser was reported to have worked effectively in a cloud chamber in a lab, which mimicked the effects of a real life overcast day. This new technology will speed up the development of a better internet, as well as other quantum technologies due to the removal of the weather variable. On cloudy day, signal lasers sent from satellites get scattered when colliding with the particles in the clouds, losing efficiency and security. Clouds also majorly block quantum testing due to the delicate particles scattering greatly. This invention is a great breakthrough in the development of quantum technologies.

This article had great strengths as well as weaknesses. The author could have done a better job going more in depth on the quantum internet idea. Half of the article title appeal was the idea of a new internet, and the laser just seemed as if it would just be a precursor to that. However, the whole article was pretty much solely about the cloud laser. Conover did a great job of explaining how the laser heats up the cloud particles to send a shockwave that scatters them for a few milliseconds while the information laser slips through. She also succeeded in keeping the article short. A strongly written one page article is more effective than a sloppy five pages. She kept it short enough to hold my attention as well as explain most of the importance, aside from the aforementioned flaws.