9 Mind-Blowing Tech Projects That Prove The Future Is Now
1. Quantum Computers
On July 20, 1969, we put a man on the moon, using computers no more powerful than a modern pocket calculator. It’s amazing to think what we can accomplish with even primitive computing power. Imagine what we could accomplish with a computer billions of times more powerful than that?
Current computers run on electrical circuits using binary (1 or 0) code. Quantum computers, on the other hand, use Qubits. These subatomic particles are kept in extreme cold - just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero (–273.15°C or –459.67°F) where they maintain a superposition. That is, they are both a 1 and a 0 at the same time. This speeds up computer processing time exponentially. For example, while experts argue that it’s not yet a proper quantum computer, Google’s D-Wave 2 prototype that uses qubits is 100 000 000 times faster than current computers.
Microsoft has it’s own primitive quantum computer, with 30 qubits, named LIQUi|> (no, that’s not a typo). This is freely available for people to experiment with to better understand the principles of quantum computing.
Although a full-scale quantum computer is some time off, Google and Microsoft’s efforts are paving the way for a future that makes modern computers look like ENIAC, the room-sized computer unveiled in 1946 that could make calculations 2400 times faster than a human. If we can put people on the moon with the computing equivalent of a calculator, quantum computers may make our ambitions for mars and beyond much more realizable in the near future.
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