Tag Archives: open source

Entanglement issues and open source synthetic biology

According to current thought, entanglement makes quantum computing possible and the more of it you have, the more powerful the quantum computing. Scientists, David Goss at the Institute of Mathematical Physics in Braunschweig, Germany; S. T. Flammia at the Perimter Institute in Waterloo, Canada; and Jens Eisert at the University of Postdam, Germany) have recently published findings which suggest that there is such a thing as too much entanglement. There’s more in the article on physorg.com including this description of entanglement,

Entanglement, explains both Eisert and Gross, represents correlations in behavior. One system is related to another on a global scale, each affecting the other. In quantum computing, the way systems are entangled – correlated – can help scientists perform powerful computational tasks. However, entanglement is about more than just correlations. “Entanglement introduces a certain randomness into the system,” Gross says. “This randomness appears in the measurement outcomes. However, as the entanglement goes up, so does the randomness. When entanglement increases to a certain point, there is so much randomness that the system ends up being about as useful as coins tossed into the air. You don’t get any useful information.”

Now onto synthetic biology. The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) has a June 17, 2009 event (9:30 am to 10:30 am PST) titled, Synthetic Biology: Feasibility of the Open Source Movement.

According to the website description, this event is about IP issues and synthetic biology. From the website,

Will this open source movement succeed? Are life sciences companies ready for open source? What level of intellectual property (IP) protection is necessary to secure industry and venture capital involvement and promote innovation? And does open source raise broader social issues? On June 17, a panel of representatives from various sectors will discuss the major challenges to future IP developments related to synthetic biology, identify key steps to addressing these challenges, and examine a number of current tensions surrounding issues of use and ownership.

The focus will be on US law, which is significantly different than Canadian law but if you’re interested, there will likely be a webcast posted on their site afterward or if you’re in Washington, DC, you can RSVP here to attend.