Quantum computing may be leaping out of the lab soon:
Quantum computing has long seemed like one of those technologies that are 20 years away, and always will be. But 2017 could be the year that the field sheds its research-only image. Computing giants Google and Microsoft recently hired a host of leading lights, and have set challenging goals for this year. Their ambition reflects a broader transition taking place at start-ups and academic research labs alike: to move from pure science towards engineering. "People are really building things," says Christopher Monroe, a physicist at the University of Maryland in College Park who co-founded the start-up IonQ in 2015. "I've never seen anything like that. It's no longer just research."
Google started working on a form of quantum computing that harnesses superconductivity in 2014. It hopes this year, or shortly after, to perform a computation that is beyond even the most powerful 'classical' supercomputers — an elusive milestone known as quantum supremacy. Its rival, Microsoft, is betting on an intriguing but unproven concept, topological quantum computing, and hopes to perform a first demonstration of the technology.
Separate article about IonQ.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 09 2017, @11:04PM
No. Until one of these so called "quantum" computers demonstrates the ability to process quantum logic gates [wikipedia.org] under the scrutiny of a reputable academic organization, it's safe to assume they are simply running a funding scam. So far, not a single so-called "quantum" computer has been able to do anything that cannot be done in a classic electronic chip. Using exotic methods to represent traditional bits does not magically turn them into qbits.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Monday January 09 2017, @11:08PM
Google and Microsoft are running a scam, or being scammed?
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:23AM
You say that as if large institutions with more money than they know what to do with have not been scammed by junk science peddlers before.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:56AM
No, I'm asking you whether you specifically believe these companies are being duped. I'm not interested in insinuations and loose possibilities.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @05:45PM
That would depend entirely on what they think D-Wave is selling them.