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IBM unveils 127-qubit computer 

IBM has announced its new 127-quantum bit (qubit) “Eagle” processor – the firm’s first quantum processor that contains over 100 qubits. IBM expects that the increased qubit count will allow users to tackle problems with increased complexity such as optimizing machine learning as well as modelling new molecules and materials for use in areas such as energy and drug discovery. The announcement follows IBM’s 65-qubit “Hummingbird” processor unveiled in 2020 and the 27-qubit “Falcon” processor unveiled in 2019. The first Eagle processor is now available on the IBM cloud to “select members” of the IBM Quantum Network. 

NASA plans translunar flight

NASA has scheduled the first flight of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS), which will eventually ferry astronauts to the Moon. The much-delayed launch of Artemis-1 will now go ahead in February 2022 with the uncrewed flight set to orbit the Moon before returning to Earth. A follow-up mission – Artemis-2 – in 2024 will follow the same path as Artemis-1 but carry astronauts in the Orion capsule. The SLS’s first flight had originally been scheduled for 2017 but development of the rocket was delayed. Indeed, NASA has announced back-up launch dates for Artemis-1 in March and April 2022 in case the February date slips again. Meanwhile, Orbital Reef, a consortium headed by Blue Origin, the company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, says it will build a private orbiting space station. Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, plans to build its own space station, called Starlab. 

Boost for small nuclear reactors

Rolls-Royce has been backed by a consortium of private investors and the UK government to develop small modular nuclear reactors. The Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) business has been given £195m over three years from Rolls-Royce, BNF Resources and Exelon Generation as well as £210m in state funding. The entity will now develop Rolls-Royce’s SMR design and take it through regulatory processes to assess whether it is suitable to be deployed in the UK. It will also identify sites that could make the reactors’ parts. It is expected that an SMR could occupy about one tenth of the size of a conventional nuclear plant and have a capacity to generate 470 MW of power — roughly equivalent to 150 onshore wind turbines.