Quantum computing gets real: It could even shorten your airport connection
One day, you might avoid a missed flight connection because of the weird ability of very small particles to act as though they are in two places at once. This bizarre behavior of the subatomic world is what allows so-called quantum computers to perform some calculations far, far faster than their conventional counterparts. It also could soon be helping smooth some problems in our daily lives.
Ordinary computers store information as binary digits, or bits, which can be either zeros or ones. Quantum computers use qubits, or quantum bits, which are much richer objects. Their values can be a complex mixture of zero and one because they rely on this behavior of atoms and smaller particles.
Qubits can also coordinate their actions with other qubits instantaneously, no matter how far apart they are—a phenomenon that Albert Einstein called “spooky action at a distance." Eventually, quantum computers could make it possible to engineer materials at the molecular level and crack many of the defenses used to secure the internet. The massive, high-quality machines needed to perform these tasks are likely still at least a decade away. But recently, quantum computers from companies including IBM and D-Wave Systems have beaten the world’s most powerful conventional computers at some calculations relevant to physics.
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