In this edition of our open source news roundup, we take a look at funding for open source quantum computing, an alliance for open source smart cities, and more.
Open source quantum computing fund launched
Quantum computing was one of those buzzwords that seemed to be everywhere in the technology world until recently. Interest in it hasn't petered out. It's probably as strong as ever. And development of open source quantum computing software just got a big boost from the Unitary Fund.
The Fund, which backs projects that "will benefit humanity that leverages near-term quantum computing," is offering $2,000 (USD) to successful applicants. That money is intended to "fill in some of the gaps in institutional funding," says program organizer Will Zeng. He adds that it's "a gift. It's not an equity investment or loan, and I won't own any of your intellectual property."
If you're interested, you can apply for a grant at the Unitary Fund website.
Alliance for open source smart cities announced
If you're going to turn your city into a so-called "smart city" using the Internet of Things (IoT), you'll want to "free end customers of their dependence on single-source suppliers" with open source. That's the goal of the recently-announced uCIFI Alliance.
The Alliance, whose members met in Amsterdam at the end of June 2018, wants to develop "simple, cost-efficient, open source wireless networking references." It plans to do that by drafting interoperability standards for data and interfaces. It also wants to create a specification for "an open source sub-GHz long-distance mesh network" that will "provide both device-to-device and device-to-cloud IoT communication."
Researchers develop open source imaging system
You're a researcher who needs some specialized equipment, but you don't have the budget to buy it. So what do you do? You turn to open source technologies, which is what Isaac Nuñez and Tamara Matute of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile did. They helped create a "multi-fluorescence imaging system from readily available, low-cost components."
The imaging system uses "cheap LEDs, filters and a Raspberry Pi camera," along with software developed in Python, to "study the dynamic genetic responses of cells." The system, according to Nuñez and Matute, "is inexpensive, making it "possible to manufacture and use it in educational contexts where there is generally little or no access to technology."
You can read the paper Nuñez and Matute co-authored with five other colleagues, which describes their experiments and the hardware and software they used.
In other news
- How Magento changed its open source approach to get 50% community contributions
- Could more open source in schools help plug the skills gap?
- How the Apache license allows open source to thrive
- Toyota donates $100,000 for open-source self-driving simulator
- This 22-Year-Old Spanish Programmer is Building an Open Source, Secure Alternative to Facebook
Thanks, as always, to Opensource.com staff members and moderators for their help this week. Make sure to check out our event calendar to see what's happening next week in open source.
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