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The Download: Quantum computing for health, and why the world doesn’t recycle more nuclear waste

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Why This Matters

Advancements in quantum computing hold the potential to revolutionize healthcare by solving complex problems beyond classical computers' capabilities, signaling a significant leap forward for medical research and personalized medicine. Meanwhile, challenges in recycling nuclear waste highlight ongoing environmental and resource management issues, emphasizing the need for more efficient and cost-effective solutions in nuclear sustainability.

Key Takeaways

The prize will go to the quantum computer that can solve real health care problems that conventional “classical” computers are unable to solve. But there can be only one big winner—if there is a winner at all. Read the full story.

—Michael Brooks

Why the world doesn't recycle more nuclear waste

There’s still a lot of usable uranium in spent nuclear fuel when it’s pulled out of reactors. Recycling could reduce both the waste and the need to mine new material, but the process is costly, complicated, and not fully efficient.

Find out why it’s such an issue. —Casey Crownhart

This story is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

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Director Kash Patel said it’s led to “valuable intelligence.” (Politico)

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