Google chose Santa Barbara to host its Quantum AI computing project

Google’s quantum computer completes a 10,000-year task in about 3 minutes

Google used its 53-qubit processor on an extremely difficult problem for traditional computers to simulate to showcase quantum supremacy. IBM later challenged Google’s claim by arguing that its Summit supercomputer could solve the same problem in just 2.5 days using a more efficient method.

Efforts to find Majorana particles may finally lead to reliable quantum computers

Though the particle—which is its own antiparticle—remains theoretical, scientists from Microsoft to Google continue developing systems to mimic this property towards building error-resistant quantum computers. Scientists at UCSB have been attempting to get the particle using just pencil lead and Scotch tape.

Over 400 tech companies call Santa Barbara home

The city boasts a strong talent pipeline from UCSB, established tech companies like Sonos and Procore and dozens of startups. Search for any company in Santa Barbara with this regularly-updated directory.

Qubits let quantum computers process massive datasets all at once

The quantum phenomena of superposition and entanglement enable qubits to act in 0 and 1 binary states simultaneously and influence each other instantly. These features give quantum computers incredible power, though keeping them stable is a major challenge.

IBM Quantum’s dilution refrigerators keep quantum processors colder than space

In IBM’s quantum lab, quantum processors are kept at a temperature of 15 millikelvin using dilution refrigerators. These refrigerators use nested thermal layers, cryogens like liquid nitrogen and helium, and powerful compressors to maintain the ultra-cold temperatures required for qubit stability and performance.

The funding behind Google's origin, including an NSF digital libraries grant

Over $4.5M in funding from the National Science Foundation was allocated to the Stanford Integrated Digital Library Project, which aimed to develop the infrastructure for an accessible universal library of digital information sources. Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were working on this project when developing the PageRank search algorithm.

Mixed reality technology helped make repairs to a quantum physics facility in space

In 2021, astronaut Megan McArthur used a HoloLens to work alongside Earth-based engineers and make hardware replacements to the International Space Station's Cold Atom Lab, the first quantum science facility in Earth orbit. The facility cools atoms to near absolute zero to perform quantum chemistry experiments in a microgravity environment.

Take a tour of Google's headquarters

With its vibrant and cutting-edge design, the so-called "Googleplex" is synonymous with Silicon Valley and surrounds employees with lush green space and unique artwork. Amenities include massage therapy, a medical clinic, and nap pods to inspire creativity.

The world's first commercial biological computer combines neurons with silicon

Australian start-up Cortical Labs unveiled CL1, a hybrid chip designed to help scientists study brain function in real-time. The 800,000 lab-grown neurons on the chip are kept viable for six months via a built-in life support system.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

DNA computing allows for storage and processing of massive amounts of data

Although costly and less efficient for simpler tasks, as of 2025, DNA could hold 455 exabytes of data with near limitless parallel computation potential in small data centers. Every movie ever made would fit inside the volume of a single sugar cube.

NVIDIA named several computer chip architectures after Grace Hopper

Unveiled in 2023, the GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip, designed for generative AI applications in data center-scale systems, combines a Grace CPU with a Hopper GPU to create a coherent memory model. This allows the Hopper to access Grace data directly, reducing the need to repeatedly copy data back and forth and vastly improving performance.

As of 2025, the internet is entering its fourth phase, with three more to go

Since the inception of the internet as a tool for connecting teams of researchers, technological and infrastructure advancements have progressively increased connectivity. Connections between computers, mobile devices, all devices, and now AI agents will be succeeded by an internet that integrates perception and the senses toward an eventual quantum internet.

Since 2017, Virgo has helped LIGO localize astronomical phenomena

The detector near Pisa, Italy, coordinates its experimental runs with those in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. Scientists can triangulate the locations of celestial events that generate gravitational waves using signal arrival times, just as earthquake locations can be determined from measurements at three seismic stations.

OpenAI helped kick-start an AI arms race in Silicon Valley

Led by CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI's mission is to "ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity" by making its products open to all users. In 2023, the $86B company behind the chatbot ChatGPT consisted of a for-profit arm under its nonprofit governing board.

Play 'Quick, Draw!' to help train Google's neural networks

Players are tasked with drawing objects, and Google’s AI—which has been trained on millions of user-submitted doodles—tries to guess what’s being sketched. Over 50 million drawings across 345 categories have been created and can be reviewed by users.

Santa Barbara divers helped innovate deepwater diving technology

Divers in the Santa Barbara channel innovated a more efficient type of diving helmet in the 1960s that used helium to allow for longer, deeper excursions for oil surveying, abalone collecting, and more. These innovators have since set the standard worldwide for military and industrial diving.

Santa Barbara once had a thriving Chinatown and Japantown

In the late 1800s, the city had an influx of immigrants from China and Japan, prompting the growth of areas dominated by their respective cultures. Earthquakes and world wars, as well as a push for Spanish Colonial architecture, led to their eventual decline.

Google Search includes over 50 Easter eggs hidden behind specific search terms

Some queries—besides providing search results—trigger additional effects on the site, including tilting the page after searching for "askew," having the page perform dance moves to the song after searching for "[cha-cha slide]," and the ability to play a version of block breaker after searching for "Atari breakout."

The Grace Hopper subsea cable transmits internet traffic across the Atlantic

Running between the US, UK, and Spain, the cable is part of an extensive underwater network of fiber optic connections that transmit data across the world at light speed. Equipped with 16 fiber pairs, the private cable was Google's first-ever subsea connection to Spain.

How the Martha Graham Company experiments with technology

The dance company was the first major group to livestream rehearsals and has collaborated with Google on a version of Graham's "Lamentation" that superimposes past performances on the present-day dancer.

Blurriness in the James Webb Space Telescope's infrared imaging was fixed by AI

Australian researchers developed the Aperture Masking Interferometry Generative Observations AI algorithm to sharpen images affected by electronic distortions in the JWST's Aperture Masking Interferometer.

Track Santa and his industrious elves

Starting in December, you can follow along with Santa’s trek across the globe. Spend time on the map, play games, and even translate your holiday messages into other languages.

The history and operation of SIGABA, the US counterpart of the Nazi Enigma machine

Developed by the US Army and US Navy, over 10,000 of these machines were deployed by the end of World War II to encrypt messages for the armed forces using three series of rotors. The device would continue to be used until the 1950s, while personal computers were shown to possess enough computing power to crack it by 2021.

Data center companies are worsening housing undersupply in some regional markets

With large capital to spend, technology giants have disrupted the real estate market, driving up prices by outbidding commercial and residential developers and intensifying competition for available land. A property purchased over several years for $50M in Prince William County, Virginia, was sold to Amazon for $700M in 2025.

IBM helped turn Rio de Janeiro into a smart city before it hosted the World Cup

In response to the deadly floods and mudslides in 2010, Brazil and IBM developed a multimillion-dollar plan to modernize Rio's emergency management infrastructure. An operations center utilizes advanced weather forecasting, surveillance, and real-time data to surveil and respond to events such as severe storms more accurately.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.