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Science In Action: The Quantum Space Age Takes Off

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Wireless Charging

15/06/2017 GMT

The Quantum Space Age Takes Off

BBC World Service - Science In Action, The Quantum Space Age Takes Off

A Chinese satellite mission brings us one step closer to unbreakable encryption

A Chinese satellite mission brings us one step closer to unbreakable encryption. Also, charging loses its wires, ‘electronic blood’, and how women are misrepresented by science.

Quantum encryption, the most secure encryption we know of, takes off into space with a new Chinese satellite mission. Until now, sensitive data has been transmitted through fibre cables. But over large distances the delicate quantum states of the encryption corrupts in the cables. There’s a better solution - shooting information between satellites in space and back down to Earth.

Sexism in Science
In her new book, Angela Saini tackles head-on the science that too often has fuelled false assumptions and stereotypes about differences between the sexes. We explore subjects ranging from whether baby girls really are more emotionally intelligent than boys to what science actually informs us about the female brain.

Wireless Charging 
New technology from Stanford University allows wireless chargers to ‘beam’ energy directly into electrical devices while they move around. Will the technology finally rid us of tangled cables? And, scientists speculate that the technology could one day charge electric cars while driving.

Bloody Computers
Computers of the future could be powered by "electronic blood" - much as our brains are powered by real blood - if developments at IBM Research are successful. The "blood" carries electrical energy to the computer chips as a fluid through tubes rather than as currents through wires. But it also carries away heat, solving one of the major holdups in modern electronic, fried circuits.

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Louisa Field

Picture: Satellite And Sunrise In Space, credit: BlackJack3D

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