Latest news with #AirForceResearchLab
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Reasons IonQ Could Be a Millionaire-Maker Quantum Computing Stock
The quantum-computing startup has market-leading products. IonQ boasts several key partnerships in the industry. The nascent market could be massive a decade from now. 10 stocks we like better than IonQ › In the fledgling field of quantum computing, IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) has emerged as one of the leading start-up investment options. It holds key contracts with top players in the quantum computing field, like the Air Force Research Lab, and offers top-notch technology. Although it's far from a surefire bet, is this quantum computing start-up the best chance at transforming a meager investment into $1 million? After all, quantum computing has the potential to transform high-powered computing. Let's take a closer look. Quantum computing can potentially be an absolute game changer in the high-powered computing world. It lets users tackle problems they've never been able to fully model before (like weather patterns and logistics networks), but it also could have massive implications for artificial intelligence (AI). Quantum computing could deliver huge value for whichever company can win the quantum computing arms race, but each competitor must solve a key problem first: errors. Unlike traditional computing, quantum computing doesn't have a clear black-and-white answer. While traditional computers use bits to transmit information, which can only be in the form of a 0 or a 1, quantum computing uses qubits. While qubits collapse down to a 0 or a 1 when measured, they can exist in a state between 0 and 1 during the calculation process. This opens up many possibilities within a calculation, which is why quantum computers could perform better at workloads with thousands of possibilities. The best way most companies have found to deal with this error issue is to let the qubits interact with each other to reduce errors. While many competitors have placed their qubits in a grid-like system to let the qubits interact with their neighbors, IonQ has taken it a step further. They use all-to-all connectivity, which lets every qubit interact with every other qubit. This leads to unparalleled 2-qubit gate fidelity, and IonQ's process already has greater than 99.9% fidelity. This shows that IonQ has already made a fantastic start on the most critical problem with quantum computing, which is why it has several key partnerships. IonQ holds one of the largest contracts in quantum computing with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, a facility known for testing cutting-edge technologies. This indicates that quantum computing is not just a future technology; it can be used in its current state. To further support this option, IonQ hardware is available for use on the three major cloud computing providers: Microsoft Azure, Alphabet's Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services. With IonQ's hardware becoming more widely available, it's making key progress in this race. If it can differentiate itself from its competitors and start to capture a customer base, it could create a foothold that would be hard to disrupt. To circle back to the original question, can IonQ be a millionaire-maker stock? I'm not sure. There's a huge market for quantum computing in the future, but it's not that large right now. IonQ estimates that the market opportunity will reach $87 billion by 2035, but it's unlikely that one company will capture that complete market share. Even if IonQ captures 50% of it and generates around $40 billion in annual revenue, that's still less than another key quantum computing competitor, IBM. IBM is about a $270 billion company -- about 27 times the size of IonQ. So, can IonQ transform $10,000 into $1 million? Likely not. But can IonQ deliver strong stock performance if it wins the quantum computing arms race? Absolutely. However, this is far from a surefire bet, as the field is ripe with potent competition, and IonQ still has years to go before proving commercial relevancy. Before you buy stock in IonQ, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and IonQ wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $966,931!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 177% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet and Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, International Business Machines, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Reasons IonQ Could Be a Millionaire-Maker Quantum Computing Stock was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Developing ‘Space Valley' here in New Mexico with the Air Force Research Lab
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – With the exception of about six people, the rest of the human race spends the majority of its time enjoying the comforts of planet Earth. With that said, some of those comforts wouldn't be available without intricate workings happening far above our heads in space. This week, Chad Brummett is joined by Gabe Mounce, Guardian with the Space Force and Air Force Research Lab, to talk about achieving national security objectives as well as the economic objective of creating 'Space Valley' here in our state. Learn more about the Air Force Research Lab and Space Force Mexico Frontiers Digital Show is KRQE New 13's online exclusive web series, giving viewers a more detailed look into how the state is making waves in the Aerospace, Bio-science, Renewable Energy, Digital Media and Film, and Advanced Manufacturing communities. For more segments on prior stories, visit the New Mexico Frontiers page by clicking this link. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space and tech celebration in Nob Hill hopes to inspire the future of STEM
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Tapping into curiosity and hoping to make New Mexico's next great scientists. A special event from New Mexico's STEM-leaders on Thursday is giving kids hands-on experience in what may be their future career. Story continues below Investigation: Politicians sink $13M in closed New Mexico tourist attraction Space: LIST: 5 places to go stargazing in New Mexico News: Videos show man in dumpster getting dumped into waste truck in Albuquerque Trending: Albuquerque City Council votes down 'RENT' ordinance 'This is a way to kind of open their eyes to what's out there,' said Ronda Harmon, STEM Academy Director at the Air Force Research Lab. They're planting the seed and hoping to fuel New Mexico's future. Dozens of kids learning about how they can been engineers or analysts not just years from today, but right now. At a special event called 'Atomic 66,' dozens of kids got hands on with robots, building simple circuits, and even simulating rocket launches. 'Students often make decisions about what they're going to be when they grow up. Like in the middle school, grade levels. And if they're making that choice without knowing what all their options are, then they're making a very limited choice,' shared Harmon. This week long workshop directly puts kids in the driver's seat, making them aware of the many opportunities there are in stem-related fields. 'We have all kinds of jobs in New Mexico that kids can plug into, and I don't think they know that, right? So this is kind of that awareness, not only about what careers are available, but also about what skills it takes to do those careers,' continued Harmon. Home to an off-site air force research lab and other tech-focused businesses, the Q Station on Central says it hopes to nurture critical thinking for the next generation, 'Sometimes kids think, 'that's too hard, I can't do that. I don't know anything about it.' But once you start to dabble and explore and say, 'what happens if I do this? What happens if I do that?' Then you're like, 'oh, this is really cool. This is fun for me,'' said Harmon. The 'Atomic 66' event has tech talks and another youth-focused stem event happening on Friday. Click here to learn more. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
STEM night with coding, robotics, more comes to Nob Hill on June 12
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — A free community STEM event is taking place in Nob Hill on Thursday at Q Station. 'STEM Fun' is being held from noon to 4 p.m. Story continues below News: Albuquerque couple facing charges in 4-month-old's death Investigation: Politicians sink $13M in closed New Mexico tourist attraction Trending: Videos show man in dumpster getting dumped into waste truck in Albuquerque Events: Albuquerque Summerfest's 2025: What you need to know The event will have hands-on science activities for all ages. There will be coding, robotics, augmented reality, and science-based art projects. Air Force Research Lab, Sandia National Labs, NewSpace Nexus, First Robotics, STEMarts Lab, the Fractal Foundation, and the City of Albuquerque Library are participating. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Top secret US spy drone gets deadly laser that MELTS missiles mid-air amid fears of World War III
A US weapons company has unveiled a first-of-its-kind laser that can be mounted onto spy drones, allowing them to melt missiles in mid-air. General Atomics unveiled the new defense technology at the Sea Air Space 2025 event in National Harbor, Maryland this month. The company equipped its MQ-9B SkyGuardian — an autonomous intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) drone — with this laser. It currently emits about 25 kilowatts of energy, enough to disable or destroy small targets. This system could help the US military take down large groups of low-cost, disposable drones. But General Atomics claims it could be scaled up to as much as 300 kilowatts, which could take down large aircraft and missiles by melting or burning through their critical infrastructure. What's more, the laser can emit both pulsed and continuous bursts of energy and is capable of operating in all types of environments. At the event, video footage showed the MQ-9B using the laser to shoot down incoming attack drones similar to Iran's Shahed 'kamikaze' drones, which were heading toward a navy ship for the purposes of this demonstration. Using a laser-equipped drone to destroy small attack drones or cruise missiles would save the military thousands of dollars, as expensive, non-reusable missiles are currently used to conduct this type of defense. A laser beam can't be directly destroyed, and it will keep inflicting damage as long as it has power. But the biggest caveat to this technology is that a drone's power supply is limited, which means the laser could falter in the field. The MQ-9B drone is capable of flying for more than 40 hours on a single charge, but the addition of the laser will likely reduce its battery life, though its unclear by how much. Still, the development of this system marks an important step toward operationalizing airborne high-energy lasers (HEL) for defense. The US military has been working toward this goal for years, but faced numerous technological, logistical and financial hurdles that staunched progress. The Air Force's Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, which aimed to develop technologies that could protect aircraft from incoming missiles, was scrapped in 2024 without a prototype or test flights to show for their efforts. But the Air Force Research Lab, which launched the project, said it had made 'significant advances in the readiness of airborne HEL technology.' It's possible that some of these gains informed the design of MQ-9B's new laser, though General Atomics' technology is the result of an entirely separate research and development effort. The MQ-9B drone is capable of flying for more than 40 hours on a single charge, but the addition of the laser will likely reduce its battery life, though its unclear by how much The company's breakthrough comes at a time when the need for this system may be greater than ever, as swarming drones and kamikaze-style attacks like the ones seen in Ukraine and the Middle East are becoming cheaper, faster and more common. In recent months, Russia has doubled down on its use of Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukraine, using them to target civilian infrastructure and residential areas. From August 1, 2024 to March 1, 2025, Ukraine recorded that Russia launched 15,011 Shahed-type strike drones, according to the Institute for Science and International Security. Traditional defense mechanisms like missiles are too expensive and too slow to handle a multitude of small, fast-moving threats. But a laser can tackle this type of assault efficiently, precisely and cost-effectively.
