À l'occasion du Black Friday, notre partenaire Surfshark propose des promotions conséquentes sur ses produits dès aujourd’hui et pendant les prochaines semaines.

Retrouvez-les à l’adresse suivante : https://surfshark.com/fr/deals

Surfshark est un VPN (réseau privé virtuel) qui vous permet de naviguer en toute sécurité et anonymat sur Internet. Grâce à un chiffrement avancé et une interface simple à utiliser, même les débutants peuvent protéger facilement leurs données personnelles et leur vie privée en ligne.

Vous pouvez protéger tous vos appareils : un seul abonnement peut être activé sur un nombre illimité d’appareils Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV et plus encore sans aucune limitation de bande passante. Aucun autre service ne facilite autant la protection complète d’un foyer.

N’oublions pas ses outils de confidentialité intégrés, comme :

• CleanWeb : bloque pubs et trackers
• MultiHop (double VPN)
• Kill Switch
• Protection complète possible avec Surfshark One+ (antivirus, protection d’identité et surveillance de fuite de données)

Surfshark est donc maintenant en offre promotionnelle, vous permettant d'économiser 88 % sur un forfait de 2 ans. Un seul abonnement pouvant être utilisé sur un nombre illimité d'appareils sans contrôle de débit - Mac, iPhone, et Apple TV inclus.

Voici en détails l’offre VPN Black Friday 2025 Surfshark :

• Surfshark VPN : abonnement de 2 ans pour 1,99€/mois + 3 mois supplémentaires gratuits
• Surfshark One : abonnement de 2 ans pour 2,19€/mois + 3 mois gratuits (inclut VPN, antivirus et fonctionnalités avancées de protection)
• Surfshark One+ : abonnement de 2 ans pour 4,19€/mois + 3 mois gratuits

C’est l’un des tarifs les plus bas jamais proposés pour un VPN dit "premium".

Les deux Mac les plus attendus pour 2026 sont les MacBook Air M5 et le MacBook A18.

MacBook Air M5

La génération M5 amène de bien meilleures performances face au M4.
Les MacBook Air sont le cœur de marché des Mac.
Le MacBook Air M5 est donc très attendu.

Je pense que c'est une erreur, le MacBook Air M4 est un excellent produit, aucun besoin d'attendre, et en revanche le MacBook Air M5 avec sa puissance de traitement théorique pourrait ne pas répondre aux attentes, ni même égaler le M4 sur des charges de travail lourdes sur la durée!

Le M5 a un TDP proche de 28W, quand 22W sur le M4.
Si sur le MacBook Pro 14" ventilé activement ça ne pose pas problème, rien n'est moins sûr sur un MacBook Air refroidi passivement: comme avec le M3 on pourrait être très très déçu.

MacBook A18 12" ou 13"

Ce que moi j'attend le plus: un Mac simplifié de différentes manières, avec un SoC équivalent au M1, lequel rempli encore aujourd'hui parfaitement sa fonction, et plus abordable.

Les matériaux, la présentation, l'écran, les microphones et haut-parleurs, les entrées-sorties, et évidemment comparé au MacBook Air M4 (ou futur M5) : il y aura des compromis différents !

Mais ça devrait rester un Mac et dans les usages simples en 16Go/512Go donner toute satisfaction en usage informatique, tout comme un MacBook Air 13" M1 16Go/512Go le fait.
Probablement un écran moins bon, enfin ça serait appelé un excellent écran sur un PC pas cher, microphones et haut parleurs encore moins bons (plus mauvais), et la présentation peut-être cheap.

Puis les entrées-sorties, on se souvient du MacBook 12" et son port (son seul port) USB Type C avec son second port mini-Jack 3.5mm pour casque.
Adaptateur Apple USB Type C -> HDMI + USB + alimentation obligatoire!
Je ne doute pas que Apple remette le couvert, et peut-être même se débarrasse du port pour casque au passage, au nom de la courageuse modernité... Apple a un superbe courage !

Mais en restant un Mac, en étant très abordable et pas mal performant quand-même, qui me suffirait comme machine secondaire. Avec des adaptateurs. Pas un, plusieurs. À payer en sus.
Le prix d'entrée moins cher, les adaptateurs en sus, le chargeur en sus, et un seul port pas si fiable que ça sur la durée...

Physics Around the Clock: Adventures in the Science of Everyday Living
By Michael Banks

Why do Cheerios tend to stick together while floating in a bowl of milk? Why does a runner’s ponytail swing side to side? These might not be the most pressing questions in physics, but getting to the answers is both fun and provides insights into important scientific concepts. These are just two examples of everyday physics that Physics World news editor Michael Banks explores in his book Physics Around the Clock, which begins with the physics (and chemistry) of your morning coffee and ends with a formula for predicting the winner of those cookery competitions that are mainstays of evening television. Hamish Johnston

• 2025 The History Press
• You can hear from Michael Banks talking about his book on the Physics World Weekly podcast

Quantum 2.0: the Past, Present and Future of Quantum Physics
By Paul Davies

You might wonder why the world needs yet another book about quantum mechanics, but for physicists there’s no better guide than Paul Davies. Based for the last two decades at Arizona State University in the US, in Quantum 2.0 Davies tackles the basics of quantum physics – along with its mysteries, applications and philosophical implications – with great clarity and insight. The book ends with truly strange topics such as quantum Cheshire cats and delayed-choice quantum erasers – see if you prefer his descriptions to those we’ve attempted in Physics World this year. Matin Durrani

• 2025 Pelican
• You can hear from Paul Davies in the November episode of the Physics World Stories podcast

Can You Get Music on the Moon? the Amazing Science of Sound and Space
By Sheila Kanani, illustrated by Liz Kay

Why do dogs bark but wolves howl? How do stars “sing”? Why does thunder rumble? This delightful, fact-filled children’s book answers these questions and many more, taking readers on an adventure through sound and space. Written by planetary scientist Sheila Kanani and illustrated by Liz Kay, Can you get Music on the Moon? reveals not only how sound is produced but why it can make us feel certain things. Each of the 100 or so pages brims with charming illustrations that illuminate the many ways that sound is all around us. Michael Banks

• 2025 Puffin Books

A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0
By Bill Bryson

Alongside books such as Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time and Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, British-American author Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything is one of the bestselling popular-science books of the last 50 years. First published in 2003, the book became a fan favourite of readers across the world and across disciplines as Bryson wove together a clear and humorous narrative of our universe. Now, 22 years later, he has released an updated and revised volume – A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 – that covers major updates in science from the past two decades. This includes the discovery of the Higgs boson and the latest on dark-matter research. The new edition is still imbued with all the wit and wisdom of the original, making it the perfect Christmas present for scientists and anyone else curious about the world around us. Tushna Commissariat

• 2025 Doubleday

The post Breakfast physics, delving into quantum 2.0, the science of sound, an update to everything: micro reviews of recent books appeared first on Physics World.

In this episode of Physics World Stories, theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author Paul Davies discusses his latest book, Quantum 2.0: the Past, Present and Future of Quantum Physics. A Regents Professor at Arizona State University, Davies reflects on how the first quantum revolution transformed our understanding of nature – and what the next one might bring.

He explores how emerging quantum technologies are beginning to merge with artificial intelligence, raising new ethical and philosophical questions. Could quantum AI help tackle climate change or tackle issues like hunger? And how far should we go in outsourcing planetary management to machines that may well prioritize their own survival?

Davies also turns his gaze to the arts, imagining a future where quantum ideas inspire music, theatre and performance. From jazz improvized by quantum algorithms to plays whose endings depend on quantum outcomes, creativity itself could enter a new superposition.

Hosted by Andrew Glester, this episode blends cutting-edge science and imagination in trademark Paul Davies style.

The post Quantum 2.0: Paul Davies on the next revolution in physics appeared first on Physics World.

Photodetectors convert light into electrical signals and are essential in technologies ranging from consumer electronics and communications to healthcare. They also play a vital role in scientific research. Researchers are continually working to improve their sensitivity, response speed, spectral range, and design efficiency.

Since the discovery of graphene’s remarkable electrical properties, there has been growing interest in using graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials to advance photodetection technologies. When light interacts with these materials, it excites electrons that must travel to a nearby contact electrode to generate an electrical signal. The ease with which this occurs depends on the work functions of the materials involved, specifically, the difference between them, known as the Schottky barrier height. Selecting an optimal combination of 2D material and electrode can minimize this barrier, enhancing the photodetector’s sensitivity and speed. Unfortunately, traditional electrode materials have fixed work functions which are limiting 2D photodetector technology.

PEDOT:PSS is a widely used electrode material in photodetectors due to its low cost, flexibility, and transparency. In this study, the researchers have developed PEDOT:PSS electrodes with tunable work functions ranging from 5.1 to 3.2 eV, making them compatible with a variety of 2D materials and ideal for optimizing device performance in metal-semiconductor-metal architectures. In addition, their thorough investigation demonstrates that the produced photodetectors performed excellently, with a significant forward current flow (rectification ratio ~10⁵), a strong conversion of light to electrical output (responsivity up to 1.8 A/W), and an exceptionally high I_light/I_dark ratio of 10⁸. Furthermore, the detectors were highly sensitive with low noise, had very fast response times (as fast as 3.2 μs), and thanks to the transparency of PEDOT:PSS, showed extended sensitivity into the near-infrared region.

This study demonstrates a tunable, transparent polymer electrode that enhances the performance and versatility of 2D photodetectors, offering a promising path toward flexible, self-powered, and wearable optoelectronic systems, and paving the way for next-generation intelligent interactive technologies.

Do you want to learn more about this topic?

Two-dimensional material/group-III nitride hetero-structures and devices by Tingting Lin, Yi Zeng, Xinyu Liao, Jing Li, Changjian Zhou and Wenliang Wang (2025)

The post Flexible electrodes for the future of light detection appeared first on Physics World.

Quantum Conference Key Agreement (QCKA) is a cryptographic method that allows multiple parties to establish a shared secret key using quantum technology. This key can then be used for secure communication among the parties.

Unlike traditional methods that rely on classical cryptographic techniques, QCKA leverages the principles of quantum mechanics, particularly multipartite entanglement, to ensure security.

A key aspect of QCKA is creating and distributing entangled quantum states among the parties. These entangled states have unique properties that make it impossible for an eavesdropper to intercept the key without being detected.

Researchers measure the efficiency and performance of the key agreement protocol using a metric known as the key rate.

One problem with state-of-the-art QCKA schemes is that this key rate decreases exponentially with the number of users.

Previous solutions to this problem, based on single-photon interference, have come at the cost of requiring global phase locking. This makes them impractical to put in place experimentally.

However, the authors of this new study have been able to circumvent this requirement, by adopting an asynchronous pairing strategy. Put simply, this means that measurements taken by different parties in different places do not need to happen at exactly at the same time.

Their solution effectively removes the need for global phase locking while still maintaining the favourable scaling of the key rate as in other protocols based on single-photon interference.

The new scheme represents an important step towards realising QCKA at long distances by allowing for much more practical experimental configurations.

The post Quantum cryptography in practice appeared first on Physics World.

L'Agence américaine de protection de l’environnement a publié un document dans lequel elle annonce avoir réalisé un contrôle de l'usine de semi-conducteurs d'Apple située à Santa Clara.

Elle y a relevé ces manquements:

• Caractérisation incorrecte de déchets dangereux.
• manquement à des restrictions d'élimination de déchets.
• Détenir un permis pour stocker des déchets dangereux pendant plus de 90 jours.
• Contrôler les émissions atmosphériques d'un réservoir de déchets de solvants.
• Étiquetez et datez correctement les conteneurs de déchets dangereux.
• Respectez les normes de gestion des conteneurs de déchets dangereux.
• Effectuer et documenter les inspections quotidiennes des réservoirs de déchets dangereux.

Pour cela Apple a écopé d'une amende de 261283$.

L'inspection a eu lieu suite à la plainte d'un riverain accusant les émanations de l'usine de l'avoir rendu malade. Il faut dire qu'elle est en pleine zone urbaine.

De son côté Apple a déclaré que ces problèmes ne provoquent aucun danger pour l'environnement et qu'elle reste très attachée à sa protection.