Quantum Computing: One step closer
Sunday, February 19, 2012 by Neilo | Discussion: Personal Computing
Came across this article in the Sydney Morning Herald today, and i'm duly impressed!
Nano-transistor breakthrough to offer billion times faster computer
I knew nano technology was going be huge ( 
) but this breakthrough goes beyond what i thought i would see in my life time.
I understand any real world quantum computing would still be many years ahead of us, but this is a great start and a huge step!
Their efforts sure do take Moore's law to the extreme.
Reply #2 Sunday, February 19, 2012 9:58 PM
(whistles tune to "santa baby" hehe)
Nano baby, Just plop a quantum PC onto my lap.
Been an awful long wait Nano Baby,
so hurry down the assembly-line.....no more maybe's...........oooooo.....Nano baby! 
Reply #3 Monday, February 20, 2012 3:49 AM
The research application alone with this form of computing power should lead to massive breakthroughs in just about every field!
So by the time someone figures out how to build a Flux Capacitor, i'll be able to afford one!
Reply #4 Monday, February 20, 2012 4:46 AM
They've taken Moore's Law to the limit. Atoms now then the particles that make the atom them the ones that make the particles. You can't get any smaller than quarks.
Check out this link. Freakin' amazing. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer1.htm
Reply #5 Monday, February 20, 2012 4:52 AM
Whenever people talk about quantum computers my attention span just goes to zero. It's not that I don't care about great achievements like that, it's just that I feel like I need a degree in molecular physics just to understand what the hell is going on. I wonder if that's the way of the future, a few tens of thousands of people in the world who understands how things work. Me? I'm just along for the ride.
Reply #6 Monday, February 20, 2012 6:16 AM
Quantum computers are insane aweomse-
Render movie scenes in seconds cutting down movie production time and costs for movies like avatar down to seconds.
e.g it took 40,000 processors and 104 terabytes of RAM to render Avatar and the energy and heat discharged is insane hot requiring water cooling.
That number could go down to one iQ processor to render Avatar
Problem solving and diagnosis in the medical field to develop cure to diseases.
More efficient vehicles on land , sea, air and space. -probably automated trains, ships, airlines o0- obviously a co pilot is in place just incase.
Reply #7 Monday, February 20, 2012 6:47 AM
This is where i predict the most jaw dropping discoveries will be made.
nice link too btw!!
Errrr.....Does this equal Skynet!!!
I'm with you Heavenfall, i don't understand the nuances of any part of quantum anything, i just know that it's a big deal and i want to see and use and play with the goodies that it will bring!!!
Fantastic link Uvah..thankyou!
Reply #8 Monday, February 20, 2012 1:15 PM
Well, I highly doubt that transistors will ever be made out of just quarks. Quarks are inseperable at any kind of rational energy level. which would make it costly. Also, making one out of sub-atomic particles is also unlikely. To make a semi-conductor, you need to have part of the thing conducting and part non-conducting, and the ability to switch between the 2. This is reliant on having multiple particles grouped tightly together to give such dynamics. The only way I can see that going down is an atom, but there might be artificially constructed atoms built to work in a specific way.
As for quantum computing... well, for those that dont know, the general idea was that since a quantum system is so difficult to figure out, the thought goes that if you could then control a quantum system, in a particular way, it would be equivelent to carrying out a difficult calculation.
Next, we'll start seeing 'spintronics'. The idea here is that not only does an electron carry a charge to the processor (or wherever it's going), but it also has a spin (this is a strange use of the word and is difficult to understand. just think of it as a category for now). A particular kind of spin is labeled '1' and another '0'. So now, each electron carries twice the information it did before.
So, basically, we start to control more and more of what we already have in the system and use it to carry more information. eventually some of the weird quantum affects will be present in the system and will also be used to compute things better. this is when we will have a quantum computer.
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Reply #1 Sunday, February 19, 2012 7:55 PM
Now all to do now is to make it pratical in manufacturing than we too can acquire such technology.