MAROKO133 Hot ai: Legend of ‘rainbow cup’ comes to life: Amateur detectorist finds 2,200-y

📌 MAROKO133 Update ai: Legend of ‘rainbow cup’ comes to life: Amateur detectorist

The 2,200-year-old rare gold coin, tied to an ancient legend, is officially the oldest Celtic coin ever discovered in Saxony, offering fresh insights into early trade between the region and the Celts.

In July 2025, certified metal detectorist Daniel Fest unearthed the Celtic gold coin in a field near Leipzig, Germany. Alerting the authorities immediately, they spent several months analyzing the charmed artifact before officially announcing the discovery to the public on October 27, 2025.

Made of pure gold, the presence of a Celtic coin in Saxony is considered “a rarity,” according to state archaeologist Barbara Klepsch. Until now, only 11 Celtic coins had been found, illuminating an intriguing slice of its ancient history, specifically when Saxony traded with the Celts.

“The gold coin is a tangible piece of our history and provides new insights into trade with the Celts,” the Saxon State Minister stated in a press release. Its unique bowl-like shape earned it the nickname “rainbow cups,” which is a nod to ancient folklore suggesting a treasure lies at the end of the rainbow, making it a potential sign of luck.

The lucky charm at the end of the rainbow

If you’ve ever wondered about the origin of the story regarding “lucky charms” awaiting at a rainbow’s end, this extraordinary gold coin found in Saxony has effectively brought the legend to life.

“The legend likely arose because heavy rainstorms would wash these coins out of the soil onto farmers’ fields,” Ancient Origins reports.

The State Office for Archaeology of Saxony presented the rare treasure, found in mint condition, to the press—a 2-gram piece, crafted from nearly pure gold. The coin represents a shining example of exemplary collaboration between certified metal detectorists and the State Office, as well as between Saxony and the Celts.

According to a press release, the obverse depicts a stylized head, which is most likely a stag. The reverse shows an open-neck ring with thickened ends, a star with rounded corners, and a sphere. Identified as a “Celtic quarter stater,” it was likely minted in northern Bohemia in the 3rd century BCE, which was one of the main Celtic centers at the time, as per Archaeology News.

A status symbol

While archaeologists initially referred to the gleaming gold artifact as a coin, they now believe it most likely belonged to a member of the upper class and represented status or a sign of wealth reserved for elites, rather than being used for day-to-day circulation, as per Ancient Origins.

Until recently, only two Celtic coins were known in Saxony, though one has since been lost. However, in recent years, surveys have unearthed nine other Celtic coins, though they aren’t all alike. One of the others is also made of gold but was undecorated, with a similar curve in its shape, so it is also known as a “rainbow cup.”

Previously, a silver coin—a cluster quinarius discovered near Zauschwitz in 2007—was considered the oldest coin in Saxony. This new gold find, however, provides proof that even older coins existed in Saxony, making the Gundorf Rainbow Cup currently the oldest coin in the state.

“It tells of the exchange and of the people who once lived here. Such discoveries bring our past to life and allow us to understand our cultural roots. I thank the volunteer who discovered and reported this find with great care and a strong sense of responsibility. This volunteer commitment demonstrates the contribution our citizens make to the research and protection of our cultural heritage,” the Saxon State Minister concluded in a press release.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com

📌 MAROKO133 Breaking ai: US team finds ‘super-polynomial’ problems that even quant

Quantum computers are often seen as the ultimate problem-solvers, capable of tackling calculations that would take classical machines millennia. By leveraging quantum bits, or qubits, which exploit superposition and entanglement, they can process countless possibilities at once and deliver results at astonishing speeds. 

Yet even these powerful machines have limits, and now, researcher Thomas Schuster and his team at the California Institute of Technology have identified a problem that quantum computers can’t crack efficiently: determining the phases of matter from unknown quantum states. 

Their findings, published on the arXiv preprint server, reveal that some quantum challenges remain stubbornly beyond quantum reach.

The complex world of quantum states at absolute zero

While distinguishing liquids from gases is simple in everyday life, the quantum world presents far greater challenges. Quantum phases of matter emerge at absolute zero, with their behavior governed entirely by quantum mechanics and its inherent fluctuations. These phases include a variety of forms, such as topological and non-equilibrium phases, each with unique properties. 

The study authors emphasize that quantum mechanics has uncovered entirely new states of matter, including topological order and symmetry-protected topological phases, and that identifying and understanding these phases is critical for both fundamental physics and the development of next-generation quantum technologies, Phys.org reported.

Certain quantum phases, such as topological order, are notoriously difficult for computers to identify. The challenge grows with the correlation length, a measure of how far the properties of a quantum system influence each other. 

The study shows that as this range, denoted ξ, increases, the computational time required rises exponentially. When ξ grows faster than the logarithm of the system size, the time needed becomes super-polynomial, effectively making the problem impossible to solve in any reasonable timeframe. This highlights the limits of even the most advanced quantum computers when tackling complex quantum phases.

Quantum computers may struggle to reveal key aspects of physical reality

The Caltech researchers also note that some classical and quantum states have well-defined phases of matter, yet no efficient quantum experiment can identify them, revealing intrinsic limits in recognizing certain complex quantum phases.

This year, Schuster and his team examined randomness in quantum computing and uncovered fundamental limits. They found that key physical properties – like evolution time, phases of matter, and causal structure – are likely too difficult to measure using standard quantum experiments, prompting profound questions about how we observe and understand the physical world.

The study suggests that certain properties of the universe may be difficult, or even impossible, to fully understand, highlighting fundamental limits in our ability to probe and measure nature. Furthermore, next steps could focus on identifying which physical properties make phase recognition easier in practice, despite the theoretical difficulty, or exploring ways to make phase identification more practical for real-world quantum systems.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com