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Google has developed a quantum computer that instantly makes calculations that would take the best existing supercomputers 47 years, in a breakthrough meant to establish beyond doubt that the experimental machines can outperform conventional rivals. A paper from researchers at Google published online claims that the company’s latest technology is “beyond the capabilities of existing classical supercomputers”. Proponents of quantum computers say the technology, which relies on the peculiar states of quantum physics, can create hugely powerful machines able to battle climate change and create breakthrough drugs. However, they also threaten to undermine today’s encryption systems, making them a national...

Clown world strikes again. 13 academics have signed a letter asserting that the scientific term “quantum supremacy” is racist and shouldn’t be used. Yes, this actually happened and it’s not the Onion. A Google computer recently achieved quantum supremacy by managing to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years. However, instead of celebrating this accomplishment, some academics were instead triggered by the use of the term “quantum supremacy”. They signed a letter, which was subsequently published by Nature, claiming the term was racist. “In our view, ‘supremacy’ has overtones of...

Search giant is amassing health records from Ascension facilities in 21 states; patients not yet informed Google is engaged with one of the country’s largest health-care systems to collect and crunch the detailed personal health information of millions of Americans across 21 states.The initiative, code-named “Project Nightingale,” appears to be the largest in a series of efforts by Silicon Valley giants to gain access to personal health data and establish a toehold in the massive health-care industry. Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are also aggressively pushing into health care, though they haven’t yet struck deals of this scope.Google began the effort in secret last year with...

Here’s what quantum supremacy does—and doesn’t—mean for computing And no, super-powerful computers are not about to take over by Martin Giles Sep 24, 2019 Google Google has reportedly demonstrated for the first time that a quantum computer is capable of performing a task beyond the reach of even the most powerful conventional supercomputer in any practical time frame—a milestone known in the world of computing as “quantum supremacy.”The ominous-sounding term, which was coined by theoretical physicist John Preskill in 2012, evokes an image of Darth Vader–like machines lording it over other computers. And the news has already produced some outlandish...

Google’s announcement that it has achieved “quantum supremacy” with a 53-qubit quantum computer greases the skids for all cryptocurrency and military secrets protected by cryptography to be breakable in a stunning new development that will change the world. The Big Tech corporation’s new quantum processor took a mere 200 seconds to complete a computing task that would normally require 10,000 years on a supercomputer. The 53-qubit quantum computer can break any 53-bit cryptography in seconds, meaning Bitcoin’s 256-bit encryption is vulnerable once Google scales its quantum computing to 256 qubits, something their own scientists say will be possible by 2022....

Google researchers have reportedly achieved “quantum supremacy” The news: According to a report in the Financial Times, a team of researchers from Google led by John Martinis have demonstrated quantum supremacy for the first time. This is the point at which a quantum computer is shown to be capable of performing a task that’s beyond the reach of even the most powerful conventional supercomputer. The claim appeared in a paper that was posted on a NASA website, but the publication was then taken down. Google did not respond to a request for comment from MIT Technology Review.Why NASA? Google struck...