Rightways: credible information & knowledge

Showing posts with label credible information & knowledge. Show all posts

Sunday, February 5, 2023

It’s a health scam at heart

PETALING JAYA: Retiree K. Niyani got a phone call supposedly from a clinic, offering her a free medical screening for her heart condition.

“They knew I am a heart patient and the details were correct. I’ve never signed up for anything with them, so it’s strange they knew my medical condition,” she said.

“The clinic insisted that I go for a screening although I told them I go for regular check-ups at a hospital.”

Niyani, 67, said the phone call came from a landline number.

The caller, she said, mentioned the name of the clinic.

Upon searching the Internet for the name, Niyani, from Penang, found that there was no such clinic.

Instead, the search results showed a “wellness centre” with the same name that offered spa services.

The call was likely a ruse to lure people into spending money on purported health packages they don’t need.

In such cases, the victims are told that the health screening is by invitation only.

One of the most common requirements is that the person must have a credit card.

They are sometimes required to share their credit card number and other financial and personal details, including MyKad numbers, during the call.

“Most important is that you must have a credit card. Remember, this is by invitation only and we are offering to people aged between 30 and 65,” said one such caller.

According to the caller, the offer was being made in conjunction with World Heart Day (which is marked annually on Sept 29.)

A check by The Star on some of the names of the organisations and clinics supposedly offering these services revealed that some of them did not exist.

Some of these callers even had information on the person’s health status, especially those with heart conditions.

Content writer Fila Rizal, 42, said she received such calls from a mobile phone number, offering a free heart screening at a clinic.

“This happened several times despite me declining the offer. I have never heard of such a clinic,” she said.

Another person – who wants to remain anonymous – took up the offer and went to a screening.

He said the consultation comprised checking the vein on a finger.

“The doctor then asked me to get a package which was quite costly. I didn’t quite understand the package but it had some supplements in it as well. I put my foot down, saying that I did not want any of it. And I left,” he said.

Another anonymous participant said the package offered to him cost more than RM10,000.

“I did not understand what the package was all about, but the price tag shocked me. In fact, there were a lot of confusing details. Maybe they hope you would just buy into it,” he said.

Public health advocate Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said there is a possibility that scammers might have been given access to some health records by “irresponsible agents”.

Or the schemers might just be banking on general information on the Malaysian population’s health and disease statistics, he said.

“People must exercise common sense. If they have medical problems, go to a clinic or hospital.

“Do not engage in online consultations or other medical dealings,” said the former Health Ministry official.

“The ethics of screening of medical conditions must be done with proper consultation and follow-up.”

Unfortunately, such calls offering these supposedly free wellness screening packages are not new.

In July 2020, the National Heart Institute (IJN) issued an alert on its Facebook page cautioning the public against scam calls offering these so-called packages.

“We have been receiving calls from the public and our partners saying that they received a call from IJN offering free wellness screening packages and asking them to provide payslip, identification card and other personal documents to enrol for this screening,” it said.

“Please be aware that IJN does not engage with any third party to conduct any wellness screening promotion. We urge you not to provide your personal information and be mindful of the situation.”

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Age is not a vice that ruins your life! A Malaysian cardiologist reveals the secret of his longevity and excellent health ??

Age is not a vice that ruins your life! A 89-year-old malaysian cardiologist reveals the secret of his longevity and excellent health – H...??

Saturday, February 4, 2023

China reveals tailless concept for next-generation fighter jet

A concept model of a next-generation fighter jet was displayed at Airshow China 2022 held in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong Province in November 2022. Photo: Liu Xuanzun/GT

A promotional video released by the Chinese aviation industry on Tuesday featured computer generated images showing what analysts said on Wednesday could represent a concept of the country’s next-generation fighter jet, which reflects China’s determination to outpace the US in new warplane development.

The video, published in the WeChat video channel of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), introduced China’s airborne radar development and featured near its end a computer-generated clip showing three unknown aircraft flying in formation.

The aircraft looked like the J-20 stealth fighter jet, but with no canards, tails or fins, and the diamond-shaped wings appeared bigger than those of the J-20, giving it what seems to be a blended wing-body configuration, observers said, who also speculated that it might be China’s next-generation fighter jet.

At the Airshow China 2022 held in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong Province in November 2022, AVIC put on display a concept model of a next-generation fighter jet, which also had a tailless design like the aircraft shown in the latest video.

Other countries are also conducting research and development into next-generation fighter jets, and tailless designs similar to the one shown by China are some of the most popular concepts, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

A tailless design will give the next-generation, or the sixth-generation, fighter jet superior stealth capability in all directions than current fifth-generation ones, and a blended wing body design will provide higher lift, longer range and lower fuel consumption. However, without vertical tails, the new aircraft will lose out on maneuverability if it does not use other designs or technologies to compensate, like thrust vectoring control-capable engines and split brake rudders, or other innovative approaches, analysts said.

With the project name Next Generation Air Dominance, the US’ next-generation fighter jet might also use a tailless design, according to a computer-generated rendering by US military warplane contractor Lockheed Martin, US news website Defense News reported in September 2022.

Based on the information available now, China has started research and development in terms of the next-generation fighter jet, and it is in a confident place to eventually outpace the US, Fu said.

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Thursday, February 2, 2023

Bersatu’s accounts frozen more than 2 weeks ago

Anwar: No govt interference | The Star

Bersatu's accounts frozen more than 2 weeks ago, says MACC chief

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2023/02/01/bersatus-accounts-frozen-more-than-2-weeks-ago-says-macc-chief/

Bersatu's accounts frozen | The Star

Bersatu's party accounts have been frozen by the MACC, just one day after the party declared its 2020 and 2021 accounts.

The matter was confirmed to Malaysiakini by Bersatu supreme council member, Muhammad Faiz Na'aman.

It is believed that the freeze is related to the MACC's probe on government funds amounting to RM92.5 billion of pandemic stimulus funds that were allegedly misappropriated.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Let’s aim to be fortunate

Dr. Wada in Japan advocates calling people over 70 years old as “fortunate people” rather than “elderly people”. He summed up the secret of 70-year-olds becoming “lucky ones” into “42 sentences”

Seniors over the age of 70 do not need regular physical examinations because the “standard of health” varies from person to person. He also said: “Don’t believe what doctors say.” This is because doctors are in contact with “patients”, so they do not understand what health is. At the same time, he also opposes the long-term use of multiple drugs by the elderly, and advocates “only take necessary drugs when necessary.” In other words, “taking medicine to prevent something” makes little sense.

According to this point of view, the elderly do not need to take sleeping pills frequently. Loss of sleep time as you age is a natural phenomenon, and no one dies from insomnia. 24 hours a day, sleep whenever you want, wake up whenever you want, this is the privilege of the elderly.

In addition, the cholesterol level that the elderly are generally worried about, even if it is high to a certain extent, there is no need to worry. Because cholesterol is the raw material for the body to generate immune cells. The more immune cells, the lower the risk of cancer in older people. in addition, part of the male hormone is also composed of cholesterol. If the cholesterol level is too low, men’s physical and mental health will be unsustainable.

Likewise, high blood pressure doesn’t matter at all. More than 50 years ago, human malnutrition was widespread. So, when blood pressure reaches around 150, the blood vessels burst. But very few people are malnourished these days, so even blood pressure over 200 won’t cause a blood vessel to burst.

Dr. Wada summed up the secret of 70-year-olds becoming “fortunate people” into “42 sentences”, as follows:

1, Keep walking

2 Take a deep breath when you feel irritable

3. Exercise so that the body does not feel stiff

4. Drink more water when the air conditioner is on in summer

5. The more you chew, the more energetic your body and brain will be

6 Memory declines not because of age, but because of long-term non-use of the brain

7. No need to take a lot of medicine

8. No need to deliberately lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels

9 Only do what you love, not what you hate

10. No matter what, don’t stay at home all the time

11. Eat whatever you want, the fat body is just right

12. Do everything meticulously

13. Don’t deal with people you hate

14. Rather than fighting the disease to the end, it is better to live with it

15. “The car must have a way to the front of the mountain” is the magic spell to make the old man happy

16 You can’t fall asleep and don’t force it

17. Doing happy things is best for boosting brain activity

18. Find a “family doctor” early

19. Don’t be overly patient or force yourself, there is nothing wrong with being a “bad old man”

20. Stop learning and you will grow old

21. Don’t be greedy for vanity, it’s good to have everything you have now

22. Innocence is the privilege of the elderly

23. The more troublesome things are, the more interesting they are

24. Do what is good for others

25. Live leisurely today

26. Desire is the source of longevity

27 Live as an optimist

28. Cheerful people will b popular.

29. The rules of life are in your own hands

30. Accept everything calmly

😇😁😂

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Tuesday, January 31, 2023

China's Rise to Economic Superpower, economy stands out in global arena

China's Rise to Economic Superpower

World Economy

As the world still grapples with supply-chain backlogs (partially) caused by China’s strict Covid-19 policies, it has become painfully obvious how vulnerable the global economy is to national or even regional disruptions, especially if they happen in China, the world’s number one supplier of goods.

Over the past few decades, China has grown to become the world’s manufacturing hub and largest goods exporter by a significant margin, turning it from emerging market into economic superpower. According to estimates from the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook, the country will account for 18.8 percent of the world’s GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP). That’s up from just 8.1 percent two decade ago, when both the United States and the EU were miles ahead of China’s economic output.

Over the past 20 years, both the U.S. and the European Union have seen their economic superiority challenged, as new powers, such as China, India and others have emerged. While the U.S. saw its share of global GDP decline from 19.8 to 15.8 percent between 2002 and 2022, the EU’s share dropped from 19.9 to 14.8 percent of the same period.

The gap between China, the U.S. and the EU will likely widen over the next few years, as the economic outlook for the latter two is cloudy with a chance of recession, while China is expected to continue growing at mid-single-digit growth rates.

By Felix Richter

Felix Richter

Data Journalist

felix.richter@statista.com +49 (40) 284 841 557

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China’s economy stands out in global arena

Steady trade: Workers use computer terminals to monitor remote operations at a container port in Tianjin. China has now become a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions, with its total trade of goods up 7.7% y-o-y in 2022, topping the world for six consecutive years. — AP

Annual average growth of 4.5% between 2020 and 2022, outpacing the world average of around 2%

BEIJING: In its three-year-long fight against Covid-19, China posted outstanding results in economic development and epidemic control, reinforcing its status as a leading engine for the global economy.

From 2020 to 2022, China’s economy posted an annual average growth of 4.5%, outpacing the world average of around 2%, according to Yuan Da, director of the Department of National Economy of the National Development and Reform Commission.

In 2022, the economy grew 3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to a record high of 121 trillion yuan (US$18 trillion or RM76.3 trillion), with the increment standing at 6.1 trillion yuan (RM3.8 trillion), equivalent to the economic aggregate of a medium-sized country.

It also marks a new and higher level in terms of economic aggregate after the Chinese economy topped the thresholds of 100 trillion yuan (RM62.5 trillion) and 110 trillion yuan (RM68.8 trillion) in 2020 and 2021, respectively – maintaining its position well as the world’s second-largest economy.

Analysts attributed the hard-won results to the country’s effective coordination in fighting Covid-19 and its economic fallouts simultaneously.

Thanks to effective virus control and timely pro-growth policies, China’s economy has quickly emerged from the epidemic-induced slump and consolidated its recovery momentum for a brighter outlook.

To cope with the constantly evolving epidemic situation, China has been dynamically optimising its control measures while enhancing the treatment and vaccination capacity, effectively safeguarding the lives and health of its 1.4 billion population at minimum costs.As of Jan 13, 92.9% of the Chinese population has been fully vaccinated, with more than 90% of people above 60 covered by vaccination.

With Omicron much less pathogenic and deadly, China, in December last year, announced ten new measures to lift numerous Covid-19 restrictions. On Jan 8, its management of Covid-19 was officially downgraded from Class A to Class B.

Less than one month after the optimisation of Covid-19 response measures in December 2022, China reported declining numbers of fever patients and critical Covid-19 cases as both had passed the peak. In the just-concluded Spring Festival holiday, China’s consumption made a strong comeback.

During the week-long holiday, sales revenue of China’s consumption-related sectors rose 12.2% from the same holiday period in 2022. Its cinemas sold 129 million tickets, generating a whopping revenue of 6.76 billion yuan (RM4.2bil), the second highest-grossing to date.

Wen Bin, the chief economist with China Minsheng Bank, said that warming demand at home would propel the turnaround in the Chinese economy this year and estimated the country’s full-year gross domestic product growth at around 5.5%.

Aside from the overall economic growth, China also made significant headway in maintaining consumer price stability, guaranteeing food and energy security, and improving people’s livelihoods.

In 2022, China’s consumer price index grew by 2%, a fraction of the increases reported in the United States, the eurozone and Britain. It is also lower than those of other emerging economies.

Amid a global food crisis, the country has secured a bumper harvest for the 19th year in a row, with its grain output at about 686.53 billion kg in 2022, up 0.5% from 2021.

A total of 11.86 million, 12.69 million, and 12.06 million new urban jobs were created in 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively, all surpassing the targets set for each year.

Despite the gloomy global investment environment, China remains one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world.

Foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 6.3% y-o-y to 1.23 trillion yuan (RM768.8bil) in 2022.

China has now become a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions, with its total trade of goods up 7.7% y-o-y in 2022, topping the world for six consecutive years.

Recently, multiple international investment banks and financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Barclays, and Natixis, have upwardly revised their forecast for China’s economic growth rate in 2023, betting on the country’s rosy prospects and strong resilience. — Xinhua

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Sunday, January 29, 2023

A New Zealand story that Asean can learn from

New Zealand - Wikipedia

Wellington

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reacts following the announcement of her resignation at the War Memorial Hall in Napier, New Zealand, on Jan. 19. (Reuters/AAP Image/Ben McLay)

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won the hearts of Muslims across the globe when she, wearing a headscarf, comforted the families of victims of the massacre in two mosques by a white supremacist in Christchurch in 2019. Last Thursday, she again astonished an even larger audience with her abrupt resignation, although she stands a great chance to win the upcoming election in October.

The mother of four-year-old Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford has undoubtedly made a name for herself as an icon of statesmanship. She has played a role model of a leader who not only does her best for her nation, but also knows when to fade away to ensure a sustainable succession. She could have sought a third term, but she shows she is not hungry for power.

"The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It's that simple," the 42-year-old politician said of her reason to step down.

With a population of 5 million, New Zealand is a tiny nation. But its economic size ranks the country among the world’s richest. The country is a permanent dialogue partner of ASEAN along with the United States, China, the European Union, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Russia and India. Unlike close neighbor Australia, which acts as the deputy sheriff of the US, New Zealand has distanced itself from the rivalry of major powers.

Through her exemplary decision, Ardern has taught politicians, male and female, a lesson that they should be ready to leave office when the public do not want them anymore, or else the people will force them to go. Some leaders are willing to step down but prepare their own men or children as successors, but this is clearly not the case in New Zealand under Ardern.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo may have to ask his die-hard supporters who have been pushing for his term extension to reflect on Ardern’s bold decision. To prevent rampant abuse of power, which was rampant during the New Order authoritarian rule, the Constitution was amended in 1999 to limit presidential tenure to only twice.

In fact, Indonesian political culture knows no resignation. Politicians or officials tend to cling on power as long as possible by justifying all means.

Ardern won the Labor Party leadership shortly before she won the 2017 election. Her party further won the 2020 election. At that time she was facing at least three major challenges which she could overcome: The 2019 shooting spree of Muslims, the COVID-19 pandemic and the eruption of the White Island Volcano. Her strict lockdown policy to contain the COVID-19 transmission was much criticized, but later she proved she was right and her critics wrong.

The Labor Party elected Education Minister Chris Hipkins as Ardern’s successor on Sunday. The party hopes Ardern’s graceful exit will help it win the October election.

The world loves to see her as a true mother of New Zealand. Her ability to simultaneously perform her state and personal responsibilities, as a mother and wife, inspired and was looked up to by women all over the world. From the beginning, she has proven that women can break the glass ceiling when it comes to the highest office, which in advanced democracies like the US has not yet happened.

She has taught a precious lesson to world leaders that they should know when to call it quits. A true leader will not wait until his or her people force them to go. And we all owe it to Ardern’s beautiful mind.

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Thursday, January 26, 2023

Hello Health Minister - Dr Zaleha Mustafa, Crisis at hospital emergency units !

Bursting at the seams: The Emergency Department at most public hospitals are packed and there are hardly any beds available. — SHAARI CHEMAT/The Star

PETALING JAYA: It’s like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie: patients holding on to their own IV bags, in pain from their illness or wounds, some standing while others sit on the hard hospital floor.

They’re all waiting long hours to be treated or to be admitted into a government hospital ward.

Some have allegedly been turned away from inpatient treatment due to a lack of beds.

These are among the claims shared by the public on social media as people experienced overcrowding in government hospitals when seeking treatment, as public healthcare facilities are stretched to bursting point with a high number of patient arrivals.

ALSO READ: Groups: GPs can help ease emergency dept case load

On Jan 18, the Twitter account of the group championing rights for contract doctors, @HKontrak (HartalDoktorKontrak), shared a picture of fully occupied beds and a packed emergency department at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL).

“Received this picture from someone who went to the HKL emergency department. I believe this happened somewhere else as well.

“Patients coming in nonstop. Overcrowded. Doctors? Obviously not enough. We are still waiting for action from @Zaliha_DrZ @KKMPutrajaya,” the caption read, referring to Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa’s social media handle.

The post claimed that there a was more than 24-hour wait to be admitted into a ward, with almost 100 patients stranded in the emergency department during peak hours.

ALSO READ: Ministry: We will seek comprehensive solutions to tackle the problems

“Are we going to do something or just leave it to collapse?” the tweet said.

Another Twitter user, @hippochan94, said she saw a similar occurrence at another government hospital in the Klang Valley.

“Just yesterday I had a patient with acute appendicitis sitting on the floor with a bottle of drip in his hands, and a three-year-old kid with dengue who had to stand with the drip in her father’s hands. It is that bad. Medical officer to patient ratio 1:30,” she tweeted on Jan 18.

ALSO READ: Hospital emergency depts need sustainable system to ease congestion, ministry told

Azimah Abdullah Zawawi, in a Facebook post on Jan 17, said she was disappointed by the poor treatment of her son at Hospital Pasir Mas in Kelantan after he was involved in an accident.

She claimed that her son was not given proper treatment and the family told to take him home with only an outpatient follow-up scheduled for the next day, despite his poor condition.

She said the doctor refused to give inpatient treatment as the hospital was packed and didn’t have any beds available.

“An hour after I received a call that my son was involved in an accident, I arrived at the hospital and saw my son sitting in a wheelchair, with his face bleeding, vomit [on his front] and looking frail, with his clothes covered in blood.

“During treatment [to stitch her son’s mouth injuries], my son was left alone without supervision and with his mouth open for about 30 to 40 minutes,” she said.

ALSO READ: Health clinics operating beyond office hours to reduce hospital congestion

She said she later took her son to be treated at another hospital after failing to persuade the attending doctor to admit him.

At the second hospital, her son’s stitches were redone and a wound on the stomach, which was overlooked at the previous hospital, was cleaned. She said she will submit a formal complaint to the Health Ministry via the Public Complaints Management System.

Public healthcare expert Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar, who went for a follow-up medical examination at a government specialist clinic last month, said it took him more than three hours to finish the examination, after taking a number to queue for his turn at 9am.

“Everything finished at 12.30pm. Many people were queueing up and many were also standing because there were not enough seats.

“The specialist room was also shared with medical officers. It was crowded too,” he said in a Facebook post on Dec 22 last year.

He said some examinations not available at the hospital were outsourced to a private facility at an estimated cost of RM120.

“The staff was not sure whether the cost of outsourced service is paid by the hospital or not,” he said.

Dr Zainal said he hopes the government will transform the national healthcare service system by taking into account all aspects, including services, resources, environment and financing.

On Jan 14, Yong Peng assemblyman Ling Tian Soon said Hospital Sultanah Aminah in Johor Baru is among government hospitals facing constant overcrowding.

“The hospital is full of patients even early in the morning as patients come with their families to get treatment.

“With the assistance provided by the Johor state government in placing additional chairs, it has provided comfort for patients and families as they wait for their turn,” he said.

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Sunday, January 22, 2023

Quantum tech for cybersecurity; Baidu launches quantum computer in China and gives people ...

A safer future: Crucial to enhance cybersecurity with quantum technology. -123rf.com

THE launch of quantum computer Qianshi is a milestone in the development of quantum technology.

For the first time, a quantum computer is accessible in the public ICT network, and people are able to connect to it using their personal devices. It has only 10 quantum bits (qubits), with capabilities of a traditional computer (Baidu launches quantum computer in China and gives people access via PC, smartphone or the cloud, The Star, Aug 26, 2022).

Quantum computers can be far more powerful than any supercomputer, capable of breaking any conventional encryptions within a short period. In the lab, quantum computers with performance matching the supercomputers on specific problems have been realised.

This should be alarming to the fintech and banking sectors as the current encryptions in financial transactions based on the RSA cryptosystem are no longer secure.

The capability of the quantum computer is attributed to the way it computes that is different from conventional computing algorithms.

Making use of quantum entanglement or the superposition of a number of possibilities (called quantum states) from many qubits, one can search everywhere for an answer “at once” and get the answer almost instantaneously, without having to go through multiple searches in sequence.Scientists around the world are actively engaged in the education, research and innovation of quantum information science and technology, driven by awareness of its awesome potentials.

The race for developing quantum technology has started long ago, focusing mainly on quantum computation, quantum communication and quantum sensing or metrology. In December 2013, the United Kingdom government invested £370mil (RM1.96bil) in quantum technologies over five years.

The European Commission followed suit in 2016, and invested £1bil (RM5.30bil) over the next 10 years. China launched a quantum satellite in August 2016 and initiated a big plan to connect cities with secure communication networks. In December 2018, the United States Senate passed the National Quantum Initiative, allocating US$1.275bil (RM5.47bil) over five years for quantum information science research and education. Our neighbour Singapore is far ahead, having started the Centre for Quantum Technologies since 2007. In September 2020, Thailand announced US$6mil (RM25.73mil) to develop quantum technology over eight years.

The global investment in quantum science and technology has reached almost US$30bil (RM128.64bil) with a projected global quantum technology market of US$42.4bil (RM181.81bil) by 2027.

Notable companies like Microsoft, IBM, Google and D-Wave that have invested heavily in developing quantum computer have made rapid advancements and breakthroughs, with some having been listed in the stock markets. In November 2021, IBM unveiled its 127-qubit quantum processor Eagle, claimed to be capable of solving complex problems that a traditional computer is unable to solve. Just recently, in 2022, the University of New South Wales, Australia, and Quantinuum have made major strides to improve the reliability of quantum computation process.

While the true power of quantum computers has not been demonstrated yet, the days of public concern for data security are not far away.

Fortunately, quantum physics provides us with an unconditionally secure technique against hacking by a quantum computer. Known as quantum key distribution (QKD) technology, it is now available in the market.

It uses quantum properties of light to transfer information in the form of encrypted keys that cannot be eavesdropped by anyone.

This technology protects confidential information against any potential hacking. The current effort is to extend the secure communication distance to hundreds of kilometres via existing fibre optics network.

We can expect to have a regional-scale quantum Internet and a long-distance quantum communication network that promises secure links for government agencies, financial hubs between cities and the possibility of epolling.

As the way people work and businesses operate has transformed to be more reliant on ICT and online communications since the Covid-19 pandemic, boosting the level of cybersecurity with quantum technology is becoming more important than ever.

C.H. RAYMOND OOI

Professor Quantum & Laser Science group

Department of Physics, Faculty of Science

Universiti Malaya

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Baidu launches quantum computer in China and gives people access via PC, smartphone or the cloud

Chinese tech giant Baidu launched a self-developed quantum computer in Beijing on Friday.

In addition, it built a system enabling everyone to gain access to the quantum computer with any device, including a smartphone.

The computer has just 10 qubits, fewer units for quantum computing than more advanced systems built by China’s top universities and Western companies, such as Google and IBM.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Chinese tech giant Baidu to release self-driving car in 2023

But China’s leading quantum scientist said there were high hopes for the new system because it was a brave first step towards bringing the futuristic technology out of the laboratory.

“We have already achieved superiority with the performance of quantum computers surpassing supercomputers on specific problems and further progress, such as programmable quantum computers, needs cooperation from industry leaders and academic researchers,” said Pan Jianwei, a leading quantum scientist with the University of Science and Technology of China.

“I’m glad to see investment from China’s enterprises promote exploration,” said Pan, who led the development of the world’s first quantum satellite, Mozi.

The quantum computer is called Qianshi and can be accessed by a Baidu app from the Apple, Huawei or Xiaomi stores. Users can download the software and send their own computing task, such as a quantum circuit experiment, to “Qianshi”.

The Baidu quantum computer uses superconducting materials to generate an extremely low temperature for the quantum processor unit, which is similar to a CPU in a traditional computer.

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The superconducting fridge cools the QPU to near absolute zero degree through a multi-cascade cooling system, so the coherent quantum bit is not affected by thermal noise caused by high temperatures.

“It is the world’s first integrated solution for both the hardware and software of quantum calculation,” said Duan Runyao, director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, Baidu.

“The system is accessible from PC, phones and cloud. While users could enjoy the convenience of the software framework provided by Baidu, they could choose a suitable hardware for their calculation,” he said.

For now, apart from the Qianshi QPU, two separate chips – from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology – are also connected to the system.

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The new system may accelerate fundamental research in this area, according to Duan.

“Integration, automation and visualisation are the main technical features. The system helps with the standardisation of daily operation, and the chip initialisation efficiency is improved at least 100 times for researchers,” he said.

Progress on hardware also provides opportunities for commercial and industrial users.

“In the past, we had limited options for hardware and some online services from the US were not open to Chinese researchers. We hope Baidu’s device will promote our research in the academic world,” said Ji Zhengfeng, an expert in quantum computing theory with Tsinghua University.

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Quantum computing has many applications. The classic computer, for instance, takes more than 100,000 years to solve the RSA public key password, a widely studied password algorithm. A fully functioning quantum computer in the future will only take 1 second to find the password, according to some estimates.

According to Duan, the industrial scale of quantum computing in the world will reach 800 billion yuan (US$116 billion) by 2031, and most large global enterprises will adapt quantum computing technology within a decade.

“In the future, when scientists use 100 qubits, problems in AI and portfolio optimisation could be solved. With 1,000 qubits, cryptographic security and chemical pharmacy will be possible. With 10,000 qubits, global weather forecasting and big data processing will become common,” Duan said.

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