Intel recently announced they've developed a quantum computer chip.
There's also been a number of other recent quantum computing breakthroughs and companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft and others are investing heavily in the space. So are the Chinese.
These efforts are nicely covered in a 2 part series on quantum computing from the Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything podcast.
Despite recently investigating the state of quantum computing, we don't claim to even begin to understand the math or physics behind it.
But that's OK. Even Einstein struggled with quantum physics. He famously called quantum entanglement, which is used in quantum computers, "spooky action at a distance".
A fairly simple explanation of quantum computing is they rely on particles called quantum bits, or qubits.
Regular computers store information in bits, represented in 0’s and 1’s. So can qubits.
But qubits can also hold both values in a single qubit at the same time, which makes no sense but really happens. It's called superposition in quantum mechanics.
Because of this ability, quantum computers solve problems by laying out all of the possibilities simultaneously and measuring the results. This makes them potentially stunningly faster than traditional computers.
So fast, that the term "quantum supremacy" describes the point at which a quantum computer is able to solve problems which are so complex they are impossible to solve using traditional computers. Many are speculating this will happen within the next 5-10 years.
The good news is quantum computing would greatly improve many things, including weather forecasting, financial analysis, logistical planning, drug discovery and curing disease.
The bad news is quantum computers will be able to easily crack even the most advanced and complex forms of security encryption.
If this happens, no digital security system will be secure - which is very frightening. The term "Y2Q" has been coined to describe the time at which all encryption systems will need to be changed.
More good news is researchers are working on quantum encryption. This type of cryptography will, in theory, be secure. But it's unclear which will arrive first - quantum computers that break can break encryption or quantum encryption.
There are already a number of specialized quantum computers in use today. D-Wave systems, for example, has been in market for several years.
But building and operating a quantum computer is not easy. Qubits are delicate and easily disrupted by changes in temperature, noise, frequency and motion. They also only operate at temperatures near absolute zero.
So don't expect to have a quantum cellphone or notebook anytime soon.
Their video below provides a tour of quantum computing pioneer D-Wave's quantum lab and systems.
Comments