Quantum Computing

IBM has unveiled the Eagle, the world’s most powerful quantum processor. Boasting 127 quantum bits (qubits), the Eagle is a major step towards commercial quantum computers outperforming traditional machines.

An Australian/German company is developing powerful quantum accelerators the size of graphics cards. They work at room temperature, undercutting and outperforming today's huge, cryo-cooled quantum supercomputers, promising industry-wide disruption.

A quantum internet could one day allow quantum computers to team up and tackle some gigantic problems. Researchers at Toshiba are a step closer, demonstrating quantum communications sent over a record-breaking 600 km (373 miles) of optic fiber.

Progress on quantum computers may soon stall. Cosmic rays streaming to Earth can interfere with the integrity of information in quantum computers, and now an MIT team has shown just how vulnerable they are and what it might take to protect them.

Current-gen quantum computing "qubits" need to be kept incredibly cold – below 0.1 Kelvin (-273.05 °C/-459.5 °F). But new "hot qubits" developed at UNSW can work 15 times hotter, opening the door to radically smaller, cheaper quantum computers.

Scientists have achieved quantum teleportation between two computer chips for the first time, sending information between them without being physically or electronically connected. The feat opens the door for quantum computers and quantum internet.

Scientists have found a way to produce quantum states in ordinary, everyday electronics without exotic materials or equipment. This raises the possibility that quantum information technologies can be created using current devices.

Google has announced that it has achieved “quantum supremacy,” the point where a quantum computer successfully performs an operation considered impossible for traditional computers. But rival IBM disagrees that this has been achieved at all.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have found a superconducting material naturally stable in two states at once, which is useful for quantum computers.

Practical quantum computers may be another step closer to reality, thanks again to graphene. The bits of information in quantum computers (qubits) can exist in two states at once, and now researchers have managed to record just how long that superposition state can last in a qubit made of graphene.

Having provided access to a quantum processor through the cloud for a year, IBM is revealing a new generation of processors. A 16-qubit processor will increase the processing power available through the cloud, while the second is twice as powerful again and designed for commercial applications.

The next big breakthrough for electronics is likely to be quantum computers, but there are still plenty of hurdles to jump before they become a reality. A team from Aalto University in Finland may have cleared one of those obstacles, developing a “nanorefrigerator” to help cool components down.