Nobody would mistake me for a scientist, but I do read enough to have a working knowledge of Emerging Technologies. For instance, I recently read an article that sensationalized some findings published in the journal Nature. The title was “Brit scientists make huge break through ‘achieving teleportation’ using quantum supercomputer.” It would not be a bad idea to dismiss a headline like that. On the other hand, by reading between the lines, we can find some important clues as to what real scientists are actually working on and achieving.
Let’s talk about what is falsely implied by such a headline, and let’s talk about what new discoveries are actually revealed.
We read a lot about Quantum Computers these days. Do they exist? The short answer is only in the very earliest and rudimentary developmental stages; but a lot of very smart and well-funded people are working day and night to bring them into existence, so the early stages might soon become more of a reality. The existing quantum devices manage to accomplish some of what a quantum computer will do someday. They are called Noisy Intermediate-scale Quantum (NISQ) devices, and they are prone to interference and inaccuracy. They use photonic networks instead of electrical networks which will, when perfected, make them faster, more energy efficient, and potentially much higher capacity.
The breakthrough involves another term we hear so much about, quantum entanglement. In the laboratory NISQ devices can be induced to share logic gates, the equivalent of an electrical circuit being either open or closed. That may not sound like much, but it is probably going to be the biggest factor in determining the shape of our future.
As for teleportation, nothing larger than a photon is being teleported….yet!
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