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Uncategorized Thursday, April 26th 2012 at 7:08 pm

Tiny Quantum Computer Crystal Is As Powerful As A Digital Computer The Size Of The Universe

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Quantum computing is a big deal. Unlike cramming more and more components closer together on chips, quantum computing will increase processing power by orders of magnitude. It would forever change the face of computing as we know it. Still not hitting home? How about this: Scientists have designed a 300 atom quantum-computing crystal so powerful that in order for a conventional computer to match it, that computer would have to be the size of the known universe. Yeah.

It sounds crazy, but if you know a little bit about quantum computing, it makes sense. The real beauty of quantum computing is its ability to scale. Unlike bits, which can only have one value at a time (0 or 1), qubits can have 2 values at any given time. Because of this, the power of a quantum computer scales exponentially as you add qubits, making it very easy to get to ludicrously high levels of computing power.

But before you go getting too excited, there are a few things to note. The crystal — the specifics of which were recently published in Nature – has been designed, but not actually built or put to use. And even if it were, we still have a way to go in understanding the fundamental basics of quantum computing. It was a big deal when IBM finally got up to 95% accuracy with quantum computers, and we probably should get to at least 99% before anyone starts building. That’s not to mention that the things crazy quantum computers are good at computing are things that are practically impossible to check any other way.

All said, we can stow this away in the folder marked “awesome things related to quantum computing that sound awesome and are awesome, but don’t directly impact the likelihood that I’ll be able to play with a quantum computer in the next 15 years or so.” Still, a breakthrough is a breakthrough, and it’s baffling to think what you could do with a computer that, in a way, is as powerful as the universe is large. Let’s just hope we can get one of those up, running, and comprehensible soon.

(via ABC Science)

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  • DigitalAge

    will the “new” internet switch over to quantum computing?

  • Anonymous

    You know what else scales exponentially? Our ability to destroy ourselves!

    Just kidding. But, also, no I’m not.

  • Marsta58

    “It decided our fate in a nanosecond.  Extermination.” 

  • Rachel Gitlevich

    Star Trek future strikes again…

  • Mike

    Just for clarity…as the author of the study…

    The device *HAS* been built and tested.  It’s just that the testing we’ve done is at a relatively simple level.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=110401237 Joshua Burkett

    So will this mean my AOL will go faster?

  • 13thgeneral

    now, all we need is a bio-mechanical cybernetic body, and then download our consciousness into.

  • Tomisimo

    I dont believe that people in power will lett this out to general population, just imagine if this falls into wrong hands, allthough it is in one. Our sorry asses will have to do with puny 64bit systems for next 50yrs.