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Sunday November 22, 2009 10:29 AM AEST
Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > News > Quantum computer one step closer to making today's AMD and Intel chips seem archaic
Quantum computer one step closer to making today's AMD and Intel chips seem archaic
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Quantum computer one step closer to making today's AMD and Intel chips seem archaic

by Daniel Long  on Jun 9, 2009
"Today's desktop gaming machine is a nineties super computer. For some of us that wasn't all that long ago."
 
We've heard much about quantum computing over the last decade, which promises computers worlds faster than any Intel or AMD powered machine, but it's not until recently that we're actually starting to see real progress

New approaches to the field of quantum entanglement have given Colorado scientists a boost in the right direction in formulating the world's first quantum computer

According to a report at ScienceNow, scientists from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) in Boulder, Colorado have managed to go one step closer towards showing the relationship between quantum mechanics via quantum entanglement by demonstrating the relationship between particle beams and quantum entaglement in an experiment in the lab. 

All this research means that scientists are a step closer to creating the world's first quantum supercomputer; worlds faster than any of the Intel or AMD powered machines you might be using now. 

Quantum research could result in the power to render soloutions to age old questions that need loads of data crunching (a century of climate change data for example), even though it still has it workings around macroscopic mechanics (and not so much core computing).

But to understand this scientific advance, it's probably a good idea to first explain how quantum computing actually works.

Quantum computing - a quick definition

If the concepts of quantum science sound a little complex; don't fret - you're not alone. However, this rather complex concept has the ability to change the way we calculate and forecast data.

Wikipedia describes quantum computing as a device used in the calculation of data, using quantum properties such as entanglement, to create a device that could potentially have huge civilian and military uses, particularly in cryptography.   

ScienceNow has the full story on this interesting step forward in quantum research. It's certainly a very exciting time to watching this field right now.

Quantum entaglement  theory also rates a mention in our List of the Top 10 Movies Technologies We're Still Waiting For.

 

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Comments: 2
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
totoaus
Jun 21, 2009 6:25 PM
Don't you think Quantum Computing is rather too far over the horizon for PCA? If you don't, then I'd encourage you to devote some coverage to supercomputing (say an article per quarter) as that seems to be what Quantum Computing is really going to affect, high-end supercomputers.
You could start with a solid article on the Cray CX-1, it's been on the market for a while; runs multiple Intel Xeon chips & Windows HPC software, so would be a natural for cashed up gamers, workstation users, etc. You already include a capable workstation class machine very time you look at the Mac Pro, and there are many others. IBM has the IntelliStation, HP has a range (used to be known as Kayak), then there is Sun with both Intel & SPARC system. From that you could build up to the larger Cray's, NEC SX range, IBM Power and so on.
Whether supercomputing or enterprise (mainframe) computing, there is a lot of interesting technology in Big Iron, and it is all a long way from DEAD.


Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Quantum computer one step closer to making today's AMD and Intel chips seem archaic?
We've heard much about quantum computing over the last decade, which promises computers worlds faster than any Intel or AMD powered machine, but it's not until recently that we're actually starting to see real progress


What do you think? Join the discussion.
Slatts
Jun 21, 2009 10:19 PM
Today's desktop gaming machine is a nineties super computer.
For some of us that wasn't all that long ago.
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