The US has issued a new indictment against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Hospitals in the US may soon no longer be able to keep their prices secret from patients. Industrial giant Honeywell claims they've made the world's most powerful quantum computer, but experts remain skeptical. Join Ben Bowlin for more Strange News Daily, and share your stories on Twitter: #strangedaily.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Strange News Daily. It's a production of I heart Media.
In a world full of bizarre events, unsolved mysteries, and
a billion stories from all corners of the globe, some
(00:22):
news gets lost in the shuffle. This is your gateway
to the stories on the fringe of the mainstream map.
These are your dispatches in the dark. I'm Ben Bolan,
and this is the Strange News Daily, our first story today.
(00:45):
A US federal grand jury has just returned an indictment
against Wiki leaks founder Julian Assage. The indictment accuses him
of working with hacking groups to target and publish sensitive information.
The second superseding indictment alleges Julian Assange recruited and intentionally
worked with hackers from hacking groups like Anonymous and Lull's
(01:08):
sec to provide wiki leaks with documents back in twelve
as Sane provided the leader of lull SEK with a
list of specific mail document databases, and PDF targets for
the group to hack, at least according to the indictment.
The indictment adds that Wiki leaks later published information obtained
from a data breach of an American intelligence company by
(01:31):
a hacker affiliated with lull Sec and Anonymous, and this
hacker said that Assange had indirectly asked him to hack
the company. The indictment specifically states quote to obtain information
to release on the Wiki leaks website, A Sane recruited
sources and predicted the success of Wiki Leaks impart upon
the recruitment of sources to illegally circumvent legal safeguards on information,
(01:56):
including classification restrictions and computer and network restrictions. The Justice
Department has said that this newest indictment does not add
charges to the eighteen count indictment already filed against Assange
in May of twenty nineteen, but it does, however, broaden
the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with
(02:18):
which A. Solange was previously charged. That superseding indictment accused
A Solange of working with former Army intelligence analysts Chelsea
Manning to obtain and publicly released hundreds of thousands of
pages of classified information, including the names of US operatives.
For a time, Julian Assange wasn't popping up in the
(02:40):
news very often, as he was holed up in the
Ecuadorian embassy in London. Fighting extradition charges. However, now that
Assange has been removed from the embassy and incarcerated in
the UK, many say it's only a matter of time
before he ultimately extradited to the United States. Our second
(03:12):
story takes place in the United States, and there's another
legal ruling that may be confusing to some of our
international listeners. You see, hospitals in the US will no
longer be able to use secret pricing list. Yes, it
sounds confusing, but many patients in the US go to
(03:34):
the doctor or a hospital with no idea how much
a given treatment, procedure, or associated equipment and services will cost. Recently,
a federal judge has held up a policy by the
Trump administration that requires hospitals and health insurers to publish
their negotiated prices for health services. These numbers are almost
(03:57):
always kept secret. This Polly see as part of a
larger push by the current administration to improve transparency and healthcare.
Insurers and health providers usually negotiate deals and costs behind
closed doors, which means that patients in this country rarely
know how much something will cost until after the fact.
(04:19):
Administration officials say more price transparency will lead to lower
and more predictable prices in the health industry. This is
an important point. The health industry in the U s
is inarguably broken, and there are huge ranges and what
insurers pay for services. For example, something as simple as
a blood test can cost anywhere from around ten or
(04:42):
eleven dollars to one thousand. For a more topical example,
how about coronavirus test. They can range anywhere from twenty
seven dollars to two thousand, three hundred and fifteen. In
a lawsuit filed by the American Hospital Association, they argued
the administration did not have the legal authority to require
(05:03):
the publication of negotiative prices. They argued that the publication
of these prices could have adverse effects. But this Tuesday,
the judge in the case, when Carl Nichols, disagreed. In
his decision, he found that hospitals were attacking transparency measures generally,
and that they were doing so in a bid to
(05:24):
limit patients insight into medical prices overall. In his statement,
he writes, hospitals may be affected by market changes and
need to respond to a market where consumers are more empowered.
That's not enough reason to make this rule unlawful. Nichols
was appointed to the d C District Court last year.
(05:44):
He also rejected the hospitals other arguments that new rules
would create overwhelming administrative burdens and that increased transparency might
actually drive up prices. He also added quote traditional economic
analysis suggested to the agency that informed customers would put
pressure on providers to lower costs and increase the quality
(06:06):
of care. The effects of price transparency policies remain unsettled
amongst health economists, industry insiders, and policy wonks. The current
US administration argues that published prices will help empower individual
patients as well as employers, since employers buy health insurance
for their workers, and that this can create market pressure
(06:28):
to discourage over charging or price gouging. But research on
price transparency has not shown any large scale effects. The
research is still limited, but take for example, a study
of a new Hampshire law that required published prices for
common services. It showed that transparency lead to very very
(06:51):
modest price reductions, and research from other fields, including things
as varied as Danish concrete or Chile and gasoline, found
that publishing negotiative prices can sometimes backfire, and markets where
there aren't many competitors, so it'll just lead to a
reason prices. Nichols said that the evidence in the record
(07:12):
is not definitive. Improving the transparency can lower prices, but
that it was more persuasive than a decades old case
study involving Danish ready mixed concrete contracts. Oh the shade there.
This hospital rule is part of the administration's bid to
control health costs through transparency. It's an effort that's become
(07:32):
a health policy priority for the current president. The hospital
rule was preceded by an Executive Order on Price Transparency
and Healthcare, unveiled at a White House event where patients
spoke about their experiences with surprise medical bills. In most cases,
as you can imagine, these are not pleasant surprises. Alex
(07:55):
has Are, the current Secretary of Health and Human Services,
applauds the court's decisions with today's when we will continue
delivering on the President's promise to give patients easy access
to healthcare prices. Especially when patients are seeking needed care
during a public health emergency, is more important than ever
that they have ready access to the actual prices of
(08:15):
healthcare services. The Hospital Association plans to appeal this decision,
Melinda Hatton, a senior vice president and general counsel of
the association, said the proposal does nothing to help patients
understand their out of pocket cost. It also imposes significant
burdens on hospitals at a time when resources are stretched thin.
(08:37):
There was, in this decision no conversation about single payer healthcare.
This price transparency rule is scheduled to go into effect
in January of next year. Our third story today, you've
(09:03):
probably heard of the company Honeywell. Despite its name, it's
best known for making control systems for homes or businesses
or planes. Recently, they've claimed an additional accolade, saying that
they have built the world's most powerful quantum computer. Other
researchers are still skeptical about this claim, but for Honeywell itself,
(09:25):
this is a step toward integrating quantum computing into everyday operations.
Honeywell measured its computer's capabilities using an IBM crafted metric
called quantum volume. Quantum volume takes into account the number
of quantum bits or you know, hilariously called cubits that
(09:47):
every computer has, and it looks at the error rate
of the computer how long this system can spend calculating
before the cubit stopped working, and a couple of other
crucial properties. Measuring quantum volume involves running about two hundred
and twenty different algorithms on a computer. Tony Utly, the
president of Honeywell Quantum Solutions, says that Honeywell's quantum computer
(10:11):
has a volume of sixty four that's twice as high
as the next quantum volume to be recorded, which was
measured in an IBM quantum computer. Like other quantum computers,
this one might eventually be useful for calculations that deal
with gigantic amounts of data. Utly says, there are three
classes of problems that we are focused on right now, optimization,
(10:35):
machine learning, and chemistry and material science. We can do
those problems shrunk down to a size that fits our
quantum computer today, and then as we increase the quantum volume,
will be able to do those problems at bigger scales. However,
it's important to note this particular computer is not yet
able to perform calculations that would give a classical computer trouble.
(10:58):
That's a feat called quantum supreme to see. First claimed
by Google in October of last year, Google's Sycamore quantum
computer used fifty three cubits to achieve quantum supremacy, while
Honeywell's machine so far only has six cubits. Having the
highest quantum volume may mean that Honeywell's cubits are remarkably
(11:20):
accurate and can calculate for a long time, but it
doesn't necessarily make it the most powerful quantum computer out there.
Scott Aronson at the University of Texas at Austin tends
to agree with this statement, saying quantum volume is not
the worst measure, but what I personally care about much
more than that or any other invented measure, is what
(11:41):
you can actually do with the device that's hard for
a classical computer to simulate. He adds, by the ladder measure,
the Honeywell device is not even close to the best
out there. Utly admits that Honeywell's device can't yet do
anything that's impossible for a classical computer, but he says
this is an important step to board quantum computers that
(12:01):
are practically useful. He sums it up with an appeal
towards the future, saying Honeywell is in a lot of
industries that we know are going to be profoundly impacted
by quantum computing. To be able to eventually insert this
technology into our own work, we need to prepare now
prescient or preposterous. It seems that's up to the future
(12:23):
to tell. That's all for now, we've been asking you
to chime in with suggestions for stories you think your
fellow listeners might enjoy, to hit us with your best
or worst dad jokes, and to let us know what's
going on in your neck of the Global woods. Tell
us all about it hashtag Strange Daily on Twitter, or
reach out to me directly. I'm at Ben Bullin HSW
(12:46):
on Twitter or at Ben Bullen on Instagram. Thanks as
always to our super producer Dylan Fagan, our research associate
Sam T. Garden, most importantly, thanks to you. I'm Ben Bullin.
We'll see you tomorrow. Until then, stay Strange, h
Strange News Daily. It's a production of I heart Media.
In a world full of bizarre events, unsolved mysteries, and
a billion stories from all corners of the globe, some
(00:22):
news gets lost in the shuffle. This is your gateway
to the stories on the fringe of the mainstream map.
These are your dispatches in the dark. I'm Ben Bolan,
and this is the Strange News Daily, our first story today.
(00:45):
A US federal grand jury has just returned an indictment
against Wiki leaks founder Julian Assage. The indictment accuses him
of working with hacking groups to target and publish sensitive information.
The second superseding indictment alleges Julian Assange recruited and intentionally
worked with hackers from hacking groups like Anonymous and Lull's
(01:08):
sec to provide wiki leaks with documents back in twelve
as Sane provided the leader of lull SEK with a
list of specific mail document databases, and PDF targets for
the group to hack, at least according to the indictment.
The indictment adds that Wiki leaks later published information obtained
from a data breach of an American intelligence company by
(01:31):
a hacker affiliated with lull Sec and Anonymous, and this
hacker said that Assange had indirectly asked him to hack
the company. The indictment specifically states quote to obtain information
to release on the Wiki leaks website, A Sane recruited
sources and predicted the success of Wiki Leaks impart upon
the recruitment of sources to illegally circumvent legal safeguards on information,
(01:56):
including classification restrictions and computer and network restrictions. The Justice
Department has said that this newest indictment does not add
charges to the eighteen count indictment already filed against Assange
in May of twenty nineteen, but it does, however, broaden
the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with
(02:18):
which A. Solange was previously charged. That superseding indictment accused
A Solange of working with former Army intelligence analysts Chelsea
Manning to obtain and publicly released hundreds of thousands of
pages of classified information, including the names of US operatives.
For a time, Julian Assange wasn't popping up in the
(02:40):
news very often, as he was holed up in the
Ecuadorian embassy in London. Fighting extradition charges. However, now that
Assange has been removed from the embassy and incarcerated in
the UK, many say it's only a matter of time
before he ultimately extradited to the United States. Our second
(03:12):
story takes place in the United States, and there's another
legal ruling that may be confusing to some of our
international listeners. You see, hospitals in the US will no
longer be able to use secret pricing list. Yes, it
sounds confusing, but many patients in the US go to
(03:34):
the doctor or a hospital with no idea how much
a given treatment, procedure, or associated equipment and services will cost. Recently,
a federal judge has held up a policy by the
Trump administration that requires hospitals and health insurers to publish
their negotiated prices for health services. These numbers are almost
(03:57):
always kept secret. This Polly see as part of a
larger push by the current administration to improve transparency and healthcare.
Insurers and health providers usually negotiate deals and costs behind
closed doors, which means that patients in this country rarely
know how much something will cost until after the fact.
(04:19):
Administration officials say more price transparency will lead to lower
and more predictable prices in the health industry. This is
an important point. The health industry in the U s
is inarguably broken, and there are huge ranges and what
insurers pay for services. For example, something as simple as
a blood test can cost anywhere from around ten or
(04:42):
eleven dollars to one thousand. For a more topical example,
how about coronavirus test. They can range anywhere from twenty
seven dollars to two thousand, three hundred and fifteen. In
a lawsuit filed by the American Hospital Association, they argued
the administration did not have the legal authority to require
(05:03):
the publication of negotiative prices. They argued that the publication
of these prices could have adverse effects. But this Tuesday,
the judge in the case, when Carl Nichols, disagreed. In
his decision, he found that hospitals were attacking transparency measures generally,
and that they were doing so in a bid to
(05:24):
limit patients insight into medical prices overall. In his statement,
he writes, hospitals may be affected by market changes and
need to respond to a market where consumers are more empowered.
That's not enough reason to make this rule unlawful. Nichols
was appointed to the d C District Court last year.
(05:44):
He also rejected the hospitals other arguments that new rules
would create overwhelming administrative burdens and that increased transparency might
actually drive up prices. He also added quote traditional economic
analysis suggested to the agency that informed customers would put
pressure on providers to lower costs and increase the quality
(06:06):
of care. The effects of price transparency policies remain unsettled
amongst health economists, industry insiders, and policy wonks. The current
US administration argues that published prices will help empower individual
patients as well as employers, since employers buy health insurance
for their workers, and that this can create market pressure
(06:28):
to discourage over charging or price gouging. But research on
price transparency has not shown any large scale effects. The
research is still limited, but take for example, a study
of a new Hampshire law that required published prices for
common services. It showed that transparency lead to very very
(06:51):
modest price reductions, and research from other fields, including things
as varied as Danish concrete or Chile and gasoline, found
that publishing negotiative prices can sometimes backfire, and markets where
there aren't many competitors, so it'll just lead to a
reason prices. Nichols said that the evidence in the record
(07:12):
is not definitive. Improving the transparency can lower prices, but
that it was more persuasive than a decades old case
study involving Danish ready mixed concrete contracts. Oh the shade there.
This hospital rule is part of the administration's bid to
control health costs through transparency. It's an effort that's become
(07:32):
a health policy priority for the current president. The hospital
rule was preceded by an Executive Order on Price Transparency
and Healthcare, unveiled at a White House event where patients
spoke about their experiences with surprise medical bills. In most cases,
as you can imagine, these are not pleasant surprises. Alex
(07:55):
has Are, the current Secretary of Health and Human Services,
applauds the court's decisions with today's when we will continue
delivering on the President's promise to give patients easy access
to healthcare prices. Especially when patients are seeking needed care
during a public health emergency, is more important than ever
that they have ready access to the actual prices of
(08:15):
healthcare services. The Hospital Association plans to appeal this decision,
Melinda Hatton, a senior vice president and general counsel of
the association, said the proposal does nothing to help patients
understand their out of pocket cost. It also imposes significant
burdens on hospitals at a time when resources are stretched thin.
(08:37):
There was, in this decision no conversation about single payer healthcare.
This price transparency rule is scheduled to go into effect
in January of next year. Our third story today, you've
(09:03):
probably heard of the company Honeywell. Despite its name, it's
best known for making control systems for homes or businesses
or planes. Recently, they've claimed an additional accolade, saying that
they have built the world's most powerful quantum computer. Other
researchers are still skeptical about this claim, but for Honeywell itself,
(09:25):
this is a step toward integrating quantum computing into everyday operations.
Honeywell measured its computer's capabilities using an IBM crafted metric
called quantum volume. Quantum volume takes into account the number
of quantum bits or you know, hilariously called cubits that
(09:47):
every computer has, and it looks at the error rate
of the computer how long this system can spend calculating
before the cubit stopped working, and a couple of other
crucial properties. Measuring quantum volume involves running about two hundred
and twenty different algorithms on a computer. Tony Utly, the
president of Honeywell Quantum Solutions, says that Honeywell's quantum computer
(10:11):
has a volume of sixty four that's twice as high
as the next quantum volume to be recorded, which was
measured in an IBM quantum computer. Like other quantum computers,
this one might eventually be useful for calculations that deal
with gigantic amounts of data. Utly says, there are three
classes of problems that we are focused on right now, optimization,
(10:35):
machine learning, and chemistry and material science. We can do
those problems shrunk down to a size that fits our
quantum computer today, and then as we increase the quantum volume,
will be able to do those problems at bigger scales. However,
it's important to note this particular computer is not yet
able to perform calculations that would give a classical computer trouble.
(10:58):
That's a feat called quantum supreme to see. First claimed
by Google in October of last year, Google's Sycamore quantum
computer used fifty three cubits to achieve quantum supremacy, while
Honeywell's machine so far only has six cubits. Having the
highest quantum volume may mean that Honeywell's cubits are remarkably
(11:20):
accurate and can calculate for a long time, but it
doesn't necessarily make it the most powerful quantum computer out there.
Scott Aronson at the University of Texas at Austin tends
to agree with this statement, saying quantum volume is not
the worst measure, but what I personally care about much
more than that or any other invented measure, is what
(11:41):
you can actually do with the device that's hard for
a classical computer to simulate. He adds, by the ladder measure,
the Honeywell device is not even close to the best
out there. Utly admits that Honeywell's device can't yet do
anything that's impossible for a classical computer, but he says
this is an important step to board quantum computers that
(12:01):
are practically useful. He sums it up with an appeal
towards the future, saying Honeywell is in a lot of
industries that we know are going to be profoundly impacted
by quantum computing. To be able to eventually insert this
technology into our own work, we need to prepare now
prescient or preposterous. It seems that's up to the future
(12:23):
to tell. That's all for now, we've been asking you
to chime in with suggestions for stories you think your
fellow listeners might enjoy, to hit us with your best
or worst dad jokes, and to let us know what's
going on in your neck of the Global woods. Tell
us all about it hashtag Strange Daily on Twitter, or
reach out to me directly. I'm at Ben Bullin HSW
(12:46):
on Twitter or at Ben Bullen on Instagram. Thanks as
always to our super producer Dylan Fagan, our research associate
Sam T. Garden, most importantly, thanks to you. I'm Ben Bullin.
We'll see you tomorrow. Until then, stay Strange, h
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