CHERYL revealed yoga, meditation and delivery food boxes are the secret to her youthful looks.

The singer, 37, went on a social media hiatus through the pandemic but this wasn't the only change she made to her lifestyle.

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Cheryl revealed she now does "life changing" meditation every day - as well scoffing on food delivery boxes.

Speaking to Yahoo!, the Girls Aloud singer said: "If you just meditate for two minutes a week, it becomes five minutes.

"It's life changing. It makes you more peaceful and happy."

The 5ft 3in star also dabbled in yoga, adding: "I've heard stretching adds an inch to your height."

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She also used Mindful Chef recipe boxes in order to pick what to eat, admitting: "I got so fed up during the pandemic of thinking what to eat."

The singer returned to Instagram for the first time in a year last week with a smiling selfie.

The 37-year-old singer's post, captioned "We back ", came one day after it was revealed that her ex Liam Payne was single.

She also posed with her squad of hair and make-up artists in a selfie taken in a mirror.

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Cheryl sought to reassure people who claimed they were too close to one another adding: "All covid tested ."

The pictures are the mum-of-one's first post since sharing a 'Black Out Tuesday' square almost exactly a year ago.

Fans were delighted, with one writing: "Omg youre bacccccck! ."

They came after Cheryl's ex Liam Payne, with whom she shares four-year-old son Bear,revealed he is singleafter splitting from Maya Henry.

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Exclusive

Liam, 27, said: "I feel like more than anything at this point, I'm more disappointed in myself that I keep on hurting people.

"That annoys me. I've just not been very good at relationships. And I know what my pattern of things is with relationships at this point.

"I'm just not very good at them so I just need to work on myself before I put myself on to somebody else."

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Cheryl reveals yoga, meditation and delivery food boxes are the secret to her youthful looks... - The Sun

Apple's watchOS 8 isn't out yet, but when it arrives later this year there's a good chance it'll come with new guided meditation options as part of Fitness+ if Apple's own leak is to be believed. So will apps like Calm and Headspace be the next that get Sherlocked?

'Sherlocked' is effectively a term given to an app that has been replaced by functionality natively added to an Apple device. There's a whole story behind it, but that isn't important right now. All you need to know is that a Sherlocked app tends to suffer because Apple made it either obsolete, or much less useful for whatever reason.

Adding guided meditation, or as Apple seems to be calling it, Audio Meditations, to Fitness+ makes plenty of sense. It already has guided workouts and guided walks, after all. Having someone whisper in your ear while you carry out your daily meditation is arguably the next logical step here.

If a Sherlocking is going to happen, the likes of Calm and Headspace are those most likely to suffer. According to AppAnnie numbers, Calm is the second highest-grossing app in its category, while Headspace is fifth. And that category isn't just meditation apps it's the entire Health and Fitness category. That includes Weight Watchers, Strava, Peloton, and more. It's a difficult category to come out on top in.

With two of the top five highest-grossing fitness apps being of the guided meditation variety, using it as a way to get people into Fitness+ is something else that makes sense. At $9.99 per month, Fitness+ is likely the same price, or cheaper, as dedicated apps. Will it offer the same level of features? We don't know yet, but Headspace and Calm don't offer guided workouts or guided walks, so "you pays your money and you takes your choice," as someone somewhere once said. Will the prospect of Apple Fitness+ guided meditations be enough to have people scrambling to find the best Apple Watch deals for the best Apple Watch? Maybe, maybe not.

We don't know when any of this will happen, of course. Apple removed mention of Audio Meditations from its Platforms state of the Union video earlier today, clearly not ready for it to be the talk of the town. Whether it'll make an appearance in a later watchOS 8 beta, we'll just have to wait and see.

We surely won't be the only ones watching along. Some will be holding their breath, too.

See the rest here:

Are meditation apps the next to be Sherlocked? - iMore

The collaborations between Netflix and Headspace are helping TV viewers around the world unwind their minds and find some calm in a tech-filled world.

For many of us, the streaming service has always been a space to escape. Whether thats binging your favourite TV show for a couple of hours or tuning into a guilty pleasure film, its the viewers choice. But now, with the help of Headspace, Netflix are transforming TV escapism into a mindful endeavour. Think guided meditations, personalised breathing exercises, and tips for better sleep hygiene.

The latest collaborative effort from Netflix and the mindfulness app is Headspace: Unwind Your Mind. As the new series gets its release on Tuesday, June 15th, we explore who is the voice behind the interactive experience.

Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe is the main narrator of this new project with Netflix. He is the voice of the first project, their Guide to Meditation. If youve ever used the Headspace app, you might recognise Andys voice, as he leads a majority of their meditations.

Andy will also be joined by Director of Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher Eve Lewis Prieto. Eve was the narrator of the previous series, Headspace: Guide to Sleep.

Andy Puddicombe, 48, co-founded Headspace with Richard Pierson in 2010. It started out as an events business, but the Headspace app, where Andy and Richard found success, was launched two years later.

Andys mindfulness journey began in 1994, where mid-way through his sports science degree, he packed up his life and moved to the Himalayas. There, he studied the art of mindfulness and meditation he even became a Tibetan Buddhist monk in Northern India! Andy returned to the UK in 2004, bringing with him his knowledge of mindfulness.

Eve Lewis Prieto is Director of Meditation for Headspace. Her responsibilities include overseeing the meditation curriculum and creating processes and framework for their new meditation teachers. On herLinkedInpage, Eveexplainsshe began her journey into meditation eight years ago as a stressed and anxious advertising professional.

The viewer will be presented with three customisable paths in Unwind Your Mind: Meditation (a simple guided session), Relax (for a daily wind-down), or Sleep (to calm the mind and body before bed).

Netflix viewers will be encouraged to make choices based on their feelings and needs in the moment.

Each narrator will focus on their area of expertise. So, if you decide that you wish to unwind and focus on sleep, Eve will be your go-to. If you decide you need a daily dose of meditative calm or relaxation, Andy will be on hand.

Get unwinding!

WATCH HEADSPACE: UNWIND YOUR MIND ON NETFLIX NOW

AND GET FREAKY WITH US ONINSTAGRAMANDFACEBOOK

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Eve spends her days writing about everything culture-related. From celebrity news to music, film and television, Eve covers all bases. When shes not writing you can find her making music or mastering the art of homemade pasta.

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Meet Headspaces Unwind Your Mind narrator: Netflix brings back Andy and Eve! - Reality Titbit - Celebrity TV News

Hours before each game, Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker can be found laying on his back in the outfield. There, his skin alternately cooled by the grass and warmed by the sun, hell close his eyes and listen as a soothing voice speaks through his headphones.

Theres nowhere else to be. Theres nothing you have to do. Just be in the moment.

That voice marks the beginning of a new pregame ritual that Walker has picked up this year, which so far has been the toughest year of his career. Entering Sunday, Walker is hitting just .208 with a .569 OPS. Hes played in only 30 of the teams 65 games thanks to an oblique strain that resulted in a couple of stints on the injured list, undoubtedly affecting his ability to get into a groove. Its a stretch that would tax even the strongest of minds.

More here:

Diamondbacks slugger Christian Walker turns to meditation to combat slowest start of his career - The Athletic

He has a beard, a tricycle that he uses to get round the Derbyshire lanes and a voice so soothing that it brings calm to all who hear it.

John Butler, a retired farmer, has become an unlikely YouTube star after his videos on meditation and spirituality became an internet sensation. A few years ago he barely knew what the internet was.

Butler, 84, whose channel has 125,000 subscribers, has been interested in meditation almost all his adult life, but few people had heard of him until four years ago he gave an interview on a channel called Conscious TV. It focuses on people with experience of higher consciousness. For Butler everything started to change.

John Butler was a pioneer of organic farming and took up meditation when a voice told him: To make whole be whole

With the help of a friend who was a cameraman

See the article here:

Meditating farmer John Butler is best in his field - The Times

When you think of holidays in Thailand, stunning beaches, delicious food, and lively nightlife probably come to mind. However, the country has so much more to offer than your average beachfront hotels and nightclubs. The Land of Smiles is also popular for its meditation centres and retreats. In the last decade, the nation has become one of the ultimate destinations in the world for soulful travellers seeking calm and respite.

If youre seeking a wave of serenity and peace in Thailand, look no further. Here are our picks of the best meditation centres and retreats in Thailand to elevate your spirituality.

The Kamalaya is an award-winning luxury meditation resort located just 3 minutes away from Koh Samui. It features beautiful rooms with state-of-the-art amenities and wellness features, such as yoga mats to help you relax and unwind.

Specializing in holistic packages, this venue offers customized treatments by medical professionals. For example, if you want to drive away all your stress, enrich your emotional well-being, and discover your true self, you can join their meditation classes. In addition, you can also take part in their yoga classes, detox retreats, stress and burnout programs, healthy lifestyle programs, and other tailor-made programs to fit your needs.

Price: Start from approximately 40,000 THB per package.

Address: Moo 3 102/9 Laem-Set Rd, Ko Samui District, Surat Thani 84140, Thailand.

The Kamalaya

Offering life-changing retreats, Phuket Meditation Centre is one of the most popular destinations for peace-seekers travelling to Thailand. The centre offers teachings based on Thai Theravada Buddhism. Therefore, anyone who wants to learn mindfulness and meditation in a safe environment is welcome here.

Phuket Meditation Centre hosts free meditation sessions every week, so make sure to take time out of your schedule to join their program. Besides reviving your mind and body, taking part in their meditation retreat will help you learn new meditation techniques and reconnect with your true self. In addition, you can also join numerous meditation events, such as Qigong healing, couple sessions, one-on-one mentoring sessions, and more. The best thing is, some of their programs are available online. Perfect for this Covid-19 pandemic situation!

Price: Starts from 1,500 THB per session (except for the free meditation retreats).

Address: 69/509 Moo 1, Phuket Garden Home, Tambon Chalong, Amphoe Mueang, 83130 Phuket, Thailand.

Phuket Meditation Center

Located in picturesque rice paddies, Suan Sati Yoga Retreat Chiang Mai is the perfect place to recharge and experience enhanced mindfulness surrounded by nature. Founded on the principles of Theravada Buddhism, you can explore different styles of meditation, yoga, and workshops here. Whether youre a beginner or seasoned meditation practitioner, there is something for everyone.

Their meditation and yoga retreats are hosted in a fun and welcoming environment. Thus, taking part in their program allows you to have a tranquillizing experience. In addition, you will find like-minded people and consume plant-based Thai and fusion recipes to nourish and nurture your body.

Price: Starts from 9,647 per package.

Address: 326, Ban Kad, Mae Wang District, Chiang Mai 50360, Thailand.

Suan Sati Yoga Retreat Chiang Mai

Situated on a beach in the beautiful Koh Phangan, Orion Healing is a serene paradise that will help you nourish your mind, body, and spirit. It is the ultimate destination for a self-journey. By practising meditation here, you can truly recharge your body and mind and embark on a journey of discovering your true self.

The meditation centre has 3 yoga shalas on-site, who offer a range of classes you can choose from. You can join in a yoga retreat to achieve psychological and physical balance or the detox programs to purify your body and mind. Furthermore, Reiki certification programs are also offered here. These programs can help heal your mind and soul.

Price: Starts from 1,338 THB per package.

Address: 15/2 Moo8 Srithanu Koh-phangan Koh Phangan, Surat Thani 84280, Thailand.

Orion Healing

Dhamma Kancana Vipassana Meditation Centre is located in the province of Kanchanaburi, 3 hours from Kanchanaburi town and 5 hours from Bangkok. Due to its location near SamYod Mountain, you can meditate surrounded by lush greenery. As a result of being close to nature, you can focus on your mind and reconnect with yourself more easily. Here, you can learn and practice Vipassana, which is an ancient meditation technique originating from India.

Since the courses are run on a donation basis, there are no charges. You can stay, eat, and take part in the classes for free. The expenses are met by donations from people who have completed and experienced the benefits of Vipassana.

Price: All courses are free of charge.

Address: Prang Phe, Sangkhla Buri District, Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

Dhamma Kancana Vipassana Meditation Center

Thailand is dotted with many incredible meditation centres and retreats to help rejuvenate your mind and body. Therefore, no matter which meditation centre you choose, you are sure to experience an indulgent escape!

Keep in mind that the availability of classes and opening time may change due to Covid-19, so make sure to contact the centres before you book your retreats.

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Best meditation centers and retreats in Thailand | Thaiger - The Thaiger

Cheryl has revealed how taking up meditation and yoga has transformed her life for the better, including her mental health.

The former Girls Aloud singer, 37, has changed up her hectic pop star lifestyle to feature a much healthier and toned-down routine, and she's loving every day of the new lifestyle kick.

The mum-of-one has spoken out and said meditation, which she has long been interested in, has helped her deal with her inner anxiety, and has also changed her perception on life as a whole.

Cheryl told Marie Claire: "I used to be that person that was like, you think I could meditate? I would hear what people were saying, but I never understood.

"You just need to really get into it. It depends where you are in your life some people are just not there in their lives, or arent ready for it, or dont feel like they can, and thats fine as well.

It takes you out of what youre focusing on so that you can calm down. Its proven scientifically. Its not just like youre sitting in silence for 10 minutes.

When the Fight For This Love singer works out, she prefers to try more calming exercises rather than high intensity moves after being met with a couple of health worries at the start of lockdown.

She continued: "I havent really been doing a lot. I had a couple of health concerns at the top of the pandemic so I just calmed everything down and then I never calmed it back up again.

"I like yoga. I like Bikram, and I like it to be hot as I feel like my hearts pounding and Ive done something. You feel like youve been stretched from head-to-toe.

On the topic of her diet, Cheryl announced that she has attempted to reduce her meat intake and now eats vegetarian meals three to four times a week, and how the shift has seen the star feel healthier overall.

This comes as the star revealed she isn't as fussed about her weight and image as much after becoming a mother.

Back in 2017, Cheryl welcomed her son Bear, four, with her One Direction star ex-boyfriend, Liam Payne.

The celebrity pair then announced they had split from each other in July 2018 - with Cheryl tweeting she was "sad to announce" the news and that her and Liam still have "so much love" for each other as a family.

Earlier in June, Liam spoke out about his ex Cheryl, and said she is "very chill these days" after taking a step back from public life.

The 27-year-old even addressed her dreamy new yoga-filled life, saying he thinks Cheryl is "hoping he's [Bear] gonna become some yoga person".

Liam also praised Cheryl's co-parenting skills, saying: "Cheryl is literally the best person to co-parent with and that he's even been closer to his family of three than ever before in lockdown.

"No stress involved. It's very, very relaxed, and we spend a lot of time on FaceTime.

"And it's been really lovely, and I'm closer to them than I've ever been before, actually, which is really, really nice."

Read this article:

Cheryl says taking up meditation has 'helped her calm down' and changed her life - Daily Star

Developer Snowman has just announced Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City, the popular atmospheric runner that mesmerized the world when it first came out in 2018 is now coming soon to Apple Arcade with extra content. The meditative experience will follow Alto and friends as they discover The Lost City on an endless sandboarding adventure thats bound to touch the heart as much as its predecessor did.

Exploring hidden temples and gliding through sand dunes in the windswept environment is made even more fantastical with the stirring musical score in Altos Odyssey: The Lost City. Players will flow across canyons and caverns just waiting to be unearthed. What secrets does the ancient city hold, and how can you reveal truths concealed atop hot air balloons, over gigantic rock walls, and between snaking vines?

Fans of the franchise will likely find that theres still lots more to discover in the new biomes and hidden challenges, while an exhilarating experience awaits new players with the one-touch trick system of the series. You can chain combos, unlock abilities, and complete goals with intuitive controls amid stunning visuals and dynamic weather.

There will be six unlockable characters that are unique in their abilities and attributes, as well as a Zen Mode where you can cruise through the environment with no intrusive scores to disrupt your surreal experience. You can also take a little memento with you in the Photo Mode, so you can capture memorable snapshots of your journey and share them with your friends.

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City is now available for pre-order on the App Store. You can join the community of fans on the games various social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord to know more.

Itching for more meditative experiences on your phone? Check out our list of the top 25 best relaxing games for Android phones and tablets!

Continue reading here:

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City, the meditative sand-runner, is coming soon to Apple Arcade - Pocket Gamer

MIT researchers have made a significant advance on the road toward the full realization of quantum computation, demonstrating a technique that eliminates common errors in the most essential operation of quantum algorithms, the two-qubit operation or gate.

Despite tremendous progress toward being able to perform computations with low error rates with superconducting quantum bits (qubits), errors in two-qubit gates, one of the building blocks of quantum computation, persist, says Youngkyu Sung, an MIT graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science who is the lead author of a paper on this topic published today in Physical Review X. We have demonstrated a way to sharply reduce those errors.

In quantum computers, the processing of information is an extremely delicate process performed by the fragile qubits, which are highly susceptible to decoherence, the loss of their quantum mechanical behavior. In previous research conducted by Sung and the research group he works with, MIT Engineering Quantum Systems, tunable couplers were proposed, allowing researchers to turn two-qubit interactions on and off to control their operations while preserving the fragile qubits. The tunable coupler idea represented a significant advance and was cited, for example, by Google as being key to their recent demonstration of the advantage that quantum computing holds over classical computing.

Still, addressing error mechanisms is like peeling an onion: Peeling one layer reveals the next. In this case, even when using tunable couplers, the two-qubit gates were still prone to errors that resulted from residual unwanted interactions between the two qubits and between the qubits and the coupler. Such unwanted interactions were generally ignored prior to tunable couplers, as they did not stand out but now they do. And, because such residual errors increase with the number of qubits and gates, they stand in the way of building larger-scale quantum processors. The Physical Review X paper provides a new approach to reduce such errors.

We have now taken the tunable coupler concept further and demonstrated near 99.9 percent fidelity for the two major types of two-qubit gates, known as Controlled-Z gates and iSWAP gates, says William D. Oliver, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, MIT Lincoln Laboratory fellow, director of the Center for Quantum Engineering, and associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, home of the Engineering Quantum Systems group. Higher-fidelity gates increase the number of operations one can perform, and more operations translates to implementing more sophisticated algorithms at larger scales.

To eliminate the error-provoking qubit-qubit interactions, the researchers harnessed higher energy levels of the coupler to cancel out the problematic interactions. In previous work, such energy levels of the coupler were ignored, although they induced non-negligible two-qubit interactions.

Better control and design of the coupler is a key to tailoring the qubit-qubit interaction as we desire. This can be realized by engineering the multilevel dynamics that exist, Sung says.

The next generation of quantum computers will be error-corrected, meaning that additional qubits will be added to improve the robustness of quantum computation.

Qubit errors can be actively addressed by adding redundancy, says Oliver, pointing out, however, that such a process only works if the gates are sufficiently good above a certain fidelity threshold that depends on the error correction protocol. The most lenient thresholds today are around 99 percent. However, in practice, one seeks gate fidelities that are much higher than this threshold to live with reasonable levels of hardware redundancy.

The devices used in the research, made at MITs Lincoln Laboratory, were fundamental to achieving the demonstrated gains in fidelity in the two-qubit operations, Oliver says.

Fabricating high-coherence devices is step one to implementing high-fidelity control, he says.

Sung says high rates of error in two-qubit gates significantly limit the capability of quantum hardware to run quantum applications that are typically hard to solve with classical computers, such as quantum chemistry simulation and solving optimization problems.

Up to this point, only small molecules have been simulated on quantum computers, simulations that can easily be performed on classical computers.

In this sense, our new approach to reduce the two-qubit gate errors is timely in the field of quantum computation and helps address one of the most critical quantum hardware issues today, he says.

See the rest here:

Clearing the way toward robust quantum computing - MIT News

Fraunhofer Institute have just unveiled the Quantum System One, the country's first superconducting quantum computer built by IBM.

Five years after IBM made its first five-qubit quantum processor available for users to access over the cloud, the company is now showing off the first quantum computer that it has physically built outside of its New York-based data centers.

All the way across the Atlantic, scientists from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute have just unveiled the IBM Quantum System One the country's first superconducting quantum computer that Big Blue was contracted to build especially for the organization.

The device, which contains one of IBM's 27-qubit Falcon processors, came online a few weeks ago and has already been made available to Fraunhofer's scientists and some of the institute's partners. German academics and organizations outside of Fraunhofer will, from now on, be welcome to arrange monthly contracts to use the computer too for research, education and training purposes.

Fraunhofer's partnership with IBM was signed last year, marking the start of a global expansion for Big Blue's quantum hardware. The company released the Quantum System One in 2019, pitching it as the world's first commercial quantum computer; but until now, users have only accessed the device over the cloud, by connecting to IBM's Quantum Computation Center located in Poughkeepsie, New York.

SEE: Building the bionic brain (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Physically bringing the hardware to a new location for the first time was never going to be easy and the global COVID-19 pandemic only added some extra hurdles. Typically, explains Bob Sutor, chief quantum exponent at IBM, the company would've shipped some key parts and a team of in-house specialists to Germany to assemble the quantum computer, but the pandemic meant that this time, everything had to be done remotely.

IBM's engineers had to rely on NASA-inspired methods of remote assembly. "How do you train people that are thousands of miles away, when you can't just run up to them and say: 'Do this'?" Sutor tells ZDNet. "We had to train local teams remotely and work with them remotely to assemble everything and get this machine running. We developed new techniques to actually put these systems around the world without travelling there. And it worked."

To train German engineers from the local IBM development lab, Sutor's team put together a virtual course in quantum assembly. From installing the computer's refrigeration system to manipulating the Falcon processor, no detail was left out and the device successfully launched in line with the original schedule.

For Fraunhofer, this means that the institute and its partners will now have access to a leading-edge quantum computer built exclusively for German organizations, instead of relying on cloud access to US-based systems.

Since the partnership was announced, the institute has been busy investigating potential applications of quantum computing and designing quantum algorithms that might show an advantage over computations carried out with classical computing.

This is because quantum computing is nascent, and despite the huge potential that researchers are anticipating, much of the technology's promise is still theoretical. Existing quantum processors like IBM's Falcon come with too few qubits and too high an error-rate to resolve large-scale problems that are relevant to businesses. The research effort, therefore, consists of spotting the use-cases that might be suited to the technology once the hardware is ready.

"For users, they need to get in now, they need to understand what quantum computers are, what they're useful for and what are viable approaches using quantum computers that will get them an advantage over using classical computing," says Sutor.

At Fraunhofer, researchers have been looking at a variety of applications ranging from portfolio optimization in finance to logistics planning for manufacturers, through error correction protocols that could improve critical infrastructure and molecular simulation to push chemistry and materials discovery.

Working in partnership with the German Aerospace Center, for example, the institute has been conducting research to find out if quantum algorithmscould simulate electro-chemical processes within energy storage system which, in turn, could help design batteries and fuel cells with better performance and more energy density.

For Annkatrin Sommer, research coordinator at Fraunhofer, the choice of IBM as a quantum partner was a no-brainer. "We really wanted to go for cutting-edge technology where you have the ability to start developing algorithms as fast as possible," she tells ZDNet.

IBM's offer in quantum computing has some significant strengths. Since the release of its first cloud-based quantum processor, the company now has made over 20 Quantum System One machines available, which are accessed by more than 145 organizations around the world. Two billion quantum circuits are established daily with the cloud processors, and IBM is on track to break a trillion circuits before the end of the summer.

The Falcon processors used in the Quantum System One are 27 qubits, but the company is working in parallel on a chip called Hummingbird, which has 65 qubits. Big Blue recentlypublished a quantum hardware roadmapin which it pledged to achieve over 1,000 qubits by 2023 enough to start seeing the early results of quantum computing. Ultimately, IBM is aiming to produce a million-qubit quantum system.

"If I were to throw out a toy system and say: 'Here you go, play, I don't know if it'll ever get better' no one would care," says Sutor. "People need confidence that the machines and the software and apps on them will reasonably quickly be able to do work better than just classical computers."

For an institute like Fraunhofer, the rapid scaling of quantum technologies that IBM is promising is appealing. And the German organization is not alone in placing its bets on Big Blue. This year will also see an IBM Quantum System One installed in Japanas part of a partnership with the University of Tokyo; and back in the US, the Cleveland Clinichas just placed a $500 million order for IBM to build quantum hardware on-premises.

But despite IBM's credentials, Fraunhofer's research team is also keen to stress that it is too early to tell which approach or approaches to quantum computing will show results first. The industry is expanding fast, and withnew companies jumping on the quantum bandwagon every so often, it is hard to differentiate between hype and reality.

This is why, in addition to investing in IBM's superconducting qubits, Fraunhofer is also investigating the use of different approaches like ion traps or diamond.

"Currently, it's not clear which technology will be the best," says Sommer, "and we will probably have different technologies working in parallel for different use cases. It makes sense to start projects with different approaches and after some time, measure how far you got and if you reached your goals. Then, you decide with which technology you should proceed."

It remains that Germany's shiny new Quantum System One puts the country in a favorable position to compete in what isincreasingly shaping up to become a global race to lead in quantum computing.

The German government has already launched a 2 billion ($2.4 billion) funding program for the promotion of quantum technologies in the country, which comes in addition to the European Commission's 1 billion ($1.20 billion) quantum flagship.

Meanwhile, in the US, a $1.2 billion budget was allocated to the National Quantum Initiative Act in 2018. And China, for its part,has made no secret of its ambition to become a leading quantum superpower.

The UK government has also invested a total 1 billion ($1.37 billion) in a National Quantum Technologies Programme. In the next few years, the country is hoping to follow Germany's lead andlaunch its very first commercial quantum computer, which will be built by California-based company Rigetti Computing.

Originally posted here:

IBM's first quantum computer outside of the US has just gone live - ZDNet