ColdEdge’s Helium-Ditching Dragon
Helium cryogenics belongs in a museum.
Got unpredictable helium supply? The Quantum Dragon hates that. Fortunately, ColdEdge Technologies has closed-cycle cryocoolers, which have allowed him to dedicate a museum exhibit to helium-based cryogenics. He does the tours himself. As bonuses, ColdEdge’s approach is friendlier to his treasure pile and the environment.
This week’s premium content:
In this edition:
- Aaaaannnd now I’m hungry.
- No Corporate Theater
- Ising machines are a scam.
- The ChatGPT Roast of [Insert Name Here]
- The Evolution of Qiskit’s Legendary #BreakingChanges
- Quantum Lie Detector
- Marco Pistoia To Speak at Quantum + AI
- Q+AI Includes Dinner Cruise on New York Harbor for All Registrants
- Qunova is going into production.
- Lighthouse Wallpaper
- 2025 Qubits by 4000
- The Accidental Quantum Adventurer
- Recalibrate your Bullshitometer
- Ice cream for all. Quantum for all.
- Optimization and Coffee Mugs
- Zapata AI Job Seekers… only 1 left on this list!
Aaaaannnd now I’m hungry.
“Into the quantum realm,” written by Diana Kwon and published in Fermilab’s and SLAC’s Symmetry Magazine, may or may not be a fine article about quantum computing “enabling scientists to tackle previously elusive physics problems.” The illustrations by Sandbox Studio, Chicago are making me too hungry to read it.
No Corporate Theater
Blair Robertson of IQM is hiring a Senior Manager, Strategy, and I feel his pain. I know a company that spent tens of thousands of dollars on a new logo, only to argue vehemently over the shade of green. I almost didn’t realize this was a poem, so bonus points for that. This link might require a LinkedIn account.
Ising machines are a scam.
Dr. Nikita Nemkov started a debate about QUBOs, but I’m ignoring the counterpoints and keeping this out of the Quantum Noise Detector. I don’t usually poop directly on QUBOs, but I routinely poop on everything that uses them, so I might as well abstract a layer and just poop on QUBOs. This link might require a LinkedIn account.
The ChatGPT Roast of [Insert Name Here]
Inspired by Sergio Gago asking ChatGPT to roast himself, I asked it to roast me. But I asked for brutality, taunted it to become harsher, cleaned it up a bit, and then removed my name so that everyone may enjoy these zingers.
The Evolution of Qiskit’s Legendary #BreakingChanges
Pablo Conte’s “The Evolution of IBM’s Quantum Information Software Kit (Qiskit): A Review of its Applications” glosses over the most significant aspect of Qiskit’s evolution, which is the fact that updates are guaranteed to break your code every 3-6 months. It’s infuriating. This link might require a LinkedIn account.
Quantum Lie Detector
I’ve encountered a variation of this issue: how do we know that cloud-based quantum computers are actually quantum computers? Small-scale systems can be classically emulated and can even have noise models applied. I wrote this article over 2 years ago, but it still holds up.
Marco Pistoia To Speak at Quantum + AI
Marco Pistoia of IonQ has been added to the speaker roster at Q+AI taking place in New York City October 19-21, 2025. Additional new speakers are: Shaukat Ali (Simula Research Laboratory); Ekatrina Almasque (Blankpage Capital), Samuel Yen-Chi Chen (Wells Fargo); Nicolas Harrigan (NVIDIA); Andy Leaver (Arqit); and Cezary Mazurek (Poznan Supercomputing). Over 70 speakers are part of the three-day event. For additional information contact www.iqtevent.com.
Q+AI Includes Dinner Cruise on New York Harbor for All Registrants
Quantum + AI and its companion event Quantum + Crypto offer several networking opportunities including a great evening experience on 19 October – A dinner cruise around New York Harbor starting at 6pm. All registrants are welcome aboard! Additional information about the conference can be found at www.iqtevent.com.
Qunova is going into production.
You may have seen that Qunova Computing just raised $10M. You may have missed, however, that one of its investors is putting its money where its proverbial mouth is.
Lighthouse Wallpaper
I seem to have seen enough images of IQM superconducting quantum computers that the first thing I noticed in this post by GALAXY Systemy Informatyczne Sp. z o.o. was Poland’s system’s lighthouse wallpaper. The second thing I noticed is the ceiling height. This link might require a LinkedIn account.
2025 Qubits by 4000
Thanks to Dr. Bob Sutor for sharing this probable transposition error. Unfortunately, reversing the numbers wouldn’t matter, as IBM isn’t going to have 4,000 qubits in 2025 either. Lest we forget that Osprey, Condor, and System Two have all disappointed. This link might require a LinkedIn account.
The Accidental Quantum Adventurer
I’m so vain, I think this article by Frank La Vigne is about me.
Recalibrate your Bullshitometer
Do I really have to explain why a post containing these words must absolutely appear in this newsletter? It’s not even just the words, for that matter. Dr. James Palles-Dimmock also provides an image of a bullshitometer. I’m stealing it and will honor him by applying it liberally. This link might require a LinkedIn account.
Ice cream for all. Quantum for all.
The Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) makes a compelling case for sharing ice cream. I mean quantum science. I mean both. Anyway, as the author of Quantum Ice Cream, I cannot applaud this tweet enough. This link might require a Twitter account.
Optimization and Coffee Mugs
Mark McGuire doesn’t use the word “quantum” until the second-to-last paragraph, but an obese Viking cat drinking excessive coffee needs to be in this newsletter.
Zapata AI Job Seekers… only 1 left on this list!
If you were laid off by Zapata AI and would like a free listing in this newsletter, please reach out and let me know. I’ll maintain a list in The Quantum Dragon until everyone on the list has been gainfully employed elsewhere or is otherwise no longer actively job seeking. I might extend this offer to all job seekers, but I’ll start with these layoffs.
- Shawn Gibford Industrial PHDc: Quantum Applications in the Life Sciences
