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Red-faced Iranians caught out in the quantum scam

by on12 June 2023


Interwebs give the Iranian military its roughest handling since Alexander the Great

Iran’s military has been caught out pushing a comedy invention saying that it was “the first product of the quantum processing algorithm” of the Imam Khomeini Naval University of Nowshahr.

Don’t get us wrong, the Iranian military has come up with some rather good cheap inventions in the past, and its cut-price drones have been a significant feature in the Russian-Ukrainian war whenever there was a hospital, school, or block of flats the Russians needed blowing up. But electronics sealed under glass presented to the cheers of all was not that sort of innovation. In fact, it was a bog standard development board, available widely online for around $600.

According to multiple state-linked news agencies in Iran, the computer will help Iran detect disturbances on the surface of the water using “algorithms.” Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari showed off the board during the ceremony and spoke of Iran’s recent breakthroughs in quantum technology.

But the quantum device appears to be a development board manufactured by Diligent. The brand “ZedBoard” appears clearly in pictures. According to the company’s website, the ZedBoard has everything the beginning developer needs to start working in Android, Linux, and Windows.

It does not appear to come with any of the advanced qubits that make up a quantum computer, and suggested uses include "video processing, reconfigurable computing, motor control, software acceleration," among others.

You can match the Iranian military’s quantum board abilities by buying one on Amazon for $589.

This isn’t the first time Iran has shown off tech with a less than credible pedigree. In 2020, the Iranian Army revealed a device it claimed could detect COVID and AIDS. It appeared to be similar to another device that was previously sold as a bomb detector.

 

Last modified on 12 June 2023
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