THE QUANTUM LEAP
Time|February 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue)
Quantum computing will transform our worldand create a 21st century "space race"
CHARLIE CAMPBELL
THE QUANTUM LEAP

ONE OF THE SECRETS TO BUILDING THE WORLD’S most powerful computer is probably perched by your bathroom sink.

At IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York State’s Westchester County, scientists always keep a box of dental floss—Reach is the preferred brand—close by in case they need to tinker with their oil-drum-size quantum computers, the latest of which can complete certain tasks millions of times as fast as your laptop.

Inside the shimmering aluminum canister of IBM’s System One, which sits shielded by the same kind of protective glass as the Mona Lisa, are three cylinders of diminishing circumference, rather like a set of Russian dolls. Together, these encase a chandelier of looping silver wires that cascade through chunky gold plates to a quantum chip in the base. To work properly, this chip requires super cooling to 0.015 kelvins—a smidgen above absolute zero and colder than outer space. Most materials contract or grow brittle and snap under such intense chill. But ordinary dental floss, it turns out, maintains its integrity remarkably well if you need to secure wayward wires.

“But only the unwaxed, unflavored kind,” says Jay Gambetta, IBM’s vice president of quantum. “Otherwise, released vapors mess everything up.”

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue)-Ausgabe von Time.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue)-Ausgabe von Time.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS TIMEAlle anzeigen
A Filmmaker's Quest to Unmask Bitcoin's Creator - Who is Bitcoin's founder, Satoshi Nakamoto? the question has perplexed and excited cryptocurrency fans ever since Bitcoin was created by someone with that username in 2009.
Time

A Filmmaker's Quest to Unmask Bitcoin's Creator - Who is Bitcoin's founder, Satoshi Nakamoto? the question has perplexed and excited cryptocurrency fans ever since Bitcoin was created by someone with that username in 2009.

Who is Bitcoin’s founder, Satoshi Nakamoto? the question has perplexed and excited cryptocurrency fans ever since Bitcoin was created by someone with that username in 2009.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
Unmasking prediabetes - Type 2 diabetes doesn't always arrive with a bang. It can develop slowly but eventually result in marked side effects like extreme thirst and hunger, frequent urination, blurry vision, tingling sensations, and fatigue.
Time

Unmasking prediabetes - Type 2 diabetes doesn't always arrive with a bang. It can develop slowly but eventually result in marked side effects like extreme thirst and hunger, frequent urination, blurry vision, tingling sensations, and fatigue.

Type 2 diabetes doesn’t always arrive with a bang. It can develop slowly but eventually result in marked side effects like extreme thirst and hunger, frequent urination, blurry vision, tingling sensations, and fatigue.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
Animals understand death too - In 2018, field researchers in Uganda came across an unusual sight: a female chimpanzee carrying an infant she had recently given birth to that was affected by albinism, an extremely uncommon condition in this species that gives their fur a striking white color.
Time

Animals understand death too - In 2018, field researchers in Uganda came across an unusual sight: a female chimpanzee carrying an infant she had recently given birth to that was affected by albinism, an extremely uncommon condition in this species that gives their fur a striking white color.

In 2018, field researchers in Uganda came across an unusual sight: a female chimpanzee carrying an infant she had recently given birth to that was affected by albinism, an extremely uncommon condition in this species that gives their fur a striking white color.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
The Petro State - Colombia's first leftist leader wants to end oil
Time

The Petro State - Colombia's first leftist leader wants to end oil

Last year, Colombian president Gustavo Petro watched in dismay as a political and economic crisis unfolded on the other side of his country’s eastern border. Global powers had imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil exports after the country’s autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, allegedly A his re-election. As hyperinflation fueled turmoil, millions of refugees poured into Colombia to escape.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
Fortress Democracy - Despite efforts at home and abroad to undermine faith in U.S. elections, this year's vote is set to be the most secure and reliable ever. Thank new laws, fail-safes, and courageous election officials
Time

Fortress Democracy - Despite efforts at home and abroad to undermine faith in U.S. elections, this year's vote is set to be the most secure and reliable ever. Thank new laws, fail-safes, and courageous election officials

Despite efforts at home and abroad to undermine faith in U.S. elections, this year’s vote is set to be the most secure and reliable ever. Thank new laws, fail-safes, and courageous election officials

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
The Beauty of Being Alone - There's a lot of fear around spending time alone. Alone time can make people itchy with boredom.
Time

The Beauty of Being Alone - There's a lot of fear around spending time alone. Alone time can make people itchy with boredom.

Recent articles and studies warn us about the dangers of loneliness—one 2017 study by Julianne Holt- Lunstad at BYU’s Social Connection and Health Lab claims loneliness is as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy published an advisory all about the epidemic of loneliness in America. It details the genuine risks of chronic loneliness, such as increased rates of anxiety and depression, as well as dementia in older adults

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
What is 'American Malaria' and Are You at Risk? - Few things will leave you feeling quite so icky as returning from a jaunt outside and finding a tick clinging to your skin
Time

What is 'American Malaria' and Are You at Risk? - Few things will leave you feeling quite so icky as returning from a jaunt outside and finding a tick clinging to your skin

Babesiosis, is causing particular concern. The disease is colloquially known as “American malaria,” partly because of its widening spread and partly because of its clinical profile. Like malaria, it can lead to headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, altered mental state, anemia, low blood pressure, respiratory distress, and more.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
A strip-club fairy tale with a generous heart
Time

A strip-club fairy tale with a generous heart

THERE ARE FEW FILMMAKERS AS OPENHEARTED, as stone-soup inventive, as Sean Baker.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
Fanfare for the gentle man
Time

Fanfare for the gentle man

IN WE LIVE IN TIME, THE ROMANTIC drama whose slow October rollout has swept up moviegoers in a tidal wave of tears, Andrew Garfield plays a divorced man who finds love in a hopeless place.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024
On fathers, and the limits of forgiveness
Time

On fathers, and the limits of forgiveness

IN 2016, TITUS KAPHAR MADE THE Jerome Project, a short documentary in which he confronts how his father’s abuse and drug use harmed his childhood.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 11, 2024