Quantum cryptography

Quantum cryptography allows transmission of data through fibre optic cables
Feb 22/06
by Nicolle Wahl

For governments and corporations in the business of transmitting sensitive data such as banking records or personal information over fibre optic cables, a new system demonstrated by University of Toronto researchers offers the protective equivalent of a fire-breathing dragon.

“Quantum cryptography is trying to make all transmissions secure, so this could be very useful for online banking, for example,” says Professor Hoi-Kwong Lo, an expert in physics and electrical and computer engineering at U of T’s Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control and the senior author of a new study about the technique. “The idea can be implemented now, because we actually did the experiment with a commercial device.”

The study describes the first experimental proof of a quantum decoy technique to encrypt data over fibre optic cable. In quantum cryptography, laser light particles (photons) carry complex encryption keys through fibre optic cables, dramatically increasing the security of transmitted data. Conventional encryption is based on the assumed complexity of mathematical problems that traditional computers can solve. But quantum cryptography is based on fundamental laws of physics — specifically, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, which tells us that merely observing a quantum object alters it.

The technique varies the intensity of photons and introduces photonic “decoys,” which were transmitted over a 15-kilometre telecommunication fibre. After the signals are sent, a second broadcast tells the receiving computer which photons carried the signal and which were decoys. If a hacker tries to “eavesdrop” on the data stream to figure out the encryption key, the mere act of eavesdropping changes the decoys — a clear sign to the receiving computer that the data has been tampered with.

The study appears in the Feb. 24 issue of Physical Review Letters and was funded by Connaught, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Research Chairs program, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, id Quantique, the Ontario Innovation Trust, a Premier’s Research Excellence Award, the Canadian Institute for Photonics Innovations, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the University of Toronto.

(sent to me by Dave Doldersum)

Bacteria could power tiny robots

By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

A strain of bacteria that releases electrons as a waste product could become the secret ingredient for developing fuel cells for spy drones and other small robots.

Researchers at Rice University and the University of Southern California have embarked on a project to harness the power of Shewanella oneidensis, a microorganism that essentially spits lightning. Rather than consume oxygen to turn food into energy, Shewanella consumes metals.

The waste product of its metabolic process comes in the form of excess electrons stripped from the metals but not recombined in subsequent chemical reactions. The bacteria lives in soil, water and other environments and can extract its necessary nutrients from a variety of materials.

In a fuel cell, the idea is that colonies of Shewanella will attach themselves to the anode, a component inside fuel cells and batteries that gathers electrons, and produce electrons.

"You can feed them pretty much what is available," said Andreas Luttge, an associate professor of earth sciences and chemistry at Rice. "The goal would be to feed them waste water and produce energy."

Hybrid fuel cells--where one strain of bacteria feeds off the waste product of another to produce electricity--are also possible.

Microbes could become one of the crucial ingredients in the future of the energy industry. Researchers at Stanford University have isolated a microbe that turns light into hydrogen, which could become a fuel source. Meanwhile, Craig Venter, the first person to map the human genome, has formed a company that will try to develop energy-producing microbes.

While the concept is feasible, researchers now have to figure out how to optimize the processes involved in creating a fuel cell. Kenneth Nealson, the USC Wrigley chair in environmental studies and professor of earth sciences and biological sciences, will head up the research on altering the genetic pathways of Shewanella for maximum electron production. Nealson is one of the pioneers of geobiology and has conducted extensive research on how microbes survive in oxygen poor environments.

Luttge and others at Rice will experiment with the anode to improve bacterial attachment and other parameters.

In the next five years, the team wants to develop a fuel cell that can propel itself.

The research is funded by $4.4 million from the Department of Defense's Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative. The Defense Department is determined to put more robots in the field to transport equipment, conduct battle operations, or serve as reconnaissance vehicles. Conceivably, a small robot powered by a bacteria fuel cell could shuttle a camera or listening device unobtrusively next to someone.

(sent to me by Dave Doldersum)

ISSUE FIVE, PAGE SIX, PANEL FOUR

"On the rooftop of a suburban household below. A gorilla fires a SURFACE-TO-AIR missile from a shoulder-launched Stinger. The contrail spiralling out into the sky, chasing the President’s distant chopper. Gorillas and chimps on other rooftops jump up and down with glee."

God, I love writing for comics.

Stealth Sharks

Stealth sharks may patrol the world's seas

In the United States a team funded by the military has created a neural probe that can manipulate a shark's brain signals or decode them. More controversially, the Pentagon hopes to use remote-controlled sharks as spies.
The neural implant is designed to enable a shark's brain signals to be manipulated remotely, controlling the animal's movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling. Researchers hope such implants will improve our understanding of how animals interact with their environment. The Pentagon hopes to exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted. That project, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was presented during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu last week. Copyright 2006 by United Press International