Have
you ever thought about the computer 's development
limit? Do you think people could improve computer parameters indefinitely?
Currently our computers, tablets, phones can only do one thing at a time.
They read one bit, then next one and so on.
During the process millions or maybe trillions of bits are combined to
give us what we want, but the bits are always read in order. When the computer
is looking for an answer, it analyses one batch of ones and zeros, tries
another set of zeros and ones and repeats this process until it finds the
answer. For this reason, computers can search for a solution to a problem for
an incredibly long time. Imagine we could process all the sets of ones and
zeros, not sequentially but at once - at the same time. I want to introduce to you
a quantum computer, which performs complex calculations thousands of times
faster than the currently existing supercomputers.
A quantum computer developed by D-Wave Systems.
Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/google-buys-a-quantum-computer/?_r=0
Some
information about quantum computing and qubits:
The
quantum computer was constructed by researchers from Finland in Aalto
University. It doesn’t use qubits, contrary to its predecessor created last year by a Canadian
quantum computers potentate named D-Wave Systems. Qubits are quantum bits which can simultaneously have two states, the state 0
or 1. The newest Finnish quantum computer doesn’t use qubits but qutrits which
use three states 0, 1 and 2. This
allowed to speed up calculations executed on a quantum computer.
A quantum computer
chip
Source: http://www.livescience.com/32080-google-nasa-quantum-computer-d-wave.html
You
must be interested in how the Finnish scientists made qutrits? Well, they
made them by shooting two pulses of light at a group of entangled atoms. One pulse
took them from the lowest energy(0) state, to a middle energy(1) one and the
second pulse put them in higher energy(2) state. The pulses allowed the atoms
to access all three of the energies, making them qutrits. Unfortunately
scientists discovered that state 1 is rather unstable, because if the atoms are
too long at this state, they have a chance of turning into the initial
state(0). Researchers didn’t give up and created a walk around to
this problem. They have sent the pulses in the wrong order. Firstly they took
the atoms from the middle energy(1) to the highest
state(2). Then they took one of them from 0 to 1. This can be compared to a
backing out of a parking space scenario. We start by going forward first. Our
common sense should tell us this is impossible, but atoms don’t care! This is
just quantum mechanics.
The chip of a D-Wave
Quantum computer.
Source: www.wired.com
The
chip above is attached to a radiator like this:
Source: www.wired.com
Quantum
computers are able to solve most complicated scientific problems and could be
used to unlock every digital treasury in the world. They could become very
useful in cryptography, since cryptography is based on encoding data in large
combinations of numbers - the quantum computer can resolve such tasks almost
instantaneously. Every bank system, every password, or an email on any computer
connected to the network could be in jeopardy. On the other, scientific side,
quantum computers can
be used for financial analysis, logistical planning, searching for Earth-like
planets or improving weather forecasts.
This
seemingly physics defying method made it possible for the scientists to
construct a much more advanced quantum computer than the one based on qubits.
Now we could only wait to the response from the other pioneer – D-Wave.
Questions:
1. Have you ever heard about the quantum computer? What do
you think about it?
2. Have you read recently something
interesting regarding new technological discovery?
3. Have you heard about any Polish technological discovery ?
Sources:
ReplyDeleteI' ve never heard about the quantum computer. I think it's a good equipment, but as always there are always pros and cons. Advantages are speed and and its computational power, the downside is the size of the device. recently I didn't read anything about technological discoveries, but yesterday, I watched a programme on TVNBiS, about polish app. One of them was created by young, 19 years old, polish boy. It was created for the dumb people, app have almost 40 thousands characters. Performs a similar function to the messenger except that is for dumb people. The seconed app called "Spontan" it is app created by young girl, this app. It is designed to encourage shared in real time. In those days, social media is more lonely than before they arised. About question 3rd, when I answered the 2nd question.
ReplyDeleteI' ve never heard about the quantum computer. I think it's a good equipment, but as always there are always pros and cons. Advantages are speed and and its computational power, the downside is the size of the device. recently I didn't read anything about technological discoveries, but yesterday, I watched a programme on TVNBiS, about polish app. One of them was created by young, 19 years old, polish boy. It was created for the dumb people, app have almost 40 thousands characters. Performs a similar function to the messenger except that is for dumb people. The seconed app called "Spontan" it is app created by young girl, this app. It is designed to encourage shared in real time. In those days, social media is more lonely than before they arised. About question 3rd, when I answered the 2nd question.
1. Yes, I did. It was quite long time ago, something around 10 years. It's still quite hard to imagine that all the operations which currently takes ages can be performed in a seconds, but for me the logic inside it is quite hard to understand, as in theory it looks quite easy, but how to implement that in real hardware ? that's why I very appreciate efforts which company's like D-wave do, as it's not an easy way.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, I read lot about new technologies, as I very like to read all new-tech articles. It's intresting how rapidly people are inventing new things which can soon change our lives.
3. Yes, I've heard. One of them is about a method of Graphen production, which is unique in a world scale and polish scientists already got a patent so this technology can be only used in cooperation with them.
It is amazing that Polish scientist have produced a higher quality Graphen. This material is a great heat and electricity conductor. It also removes radioactive contamination and it has bactericidal properties.
Delete1. Yes i did but i didn't go into details too much. I think that for five or maybe ten years it could be supplied to datacenters.
ReplyDelete2. Unfortunately not. I mainly read about the technology that is already avaible for everyone not only at lab.
3. I heard about Graphene about which also Krzysztof mentioned. It is great achievement that Poles have been the first in Europe to patent an industrial technology for producing graphene.
Polish scientists have investigated other ways of material processing lately. Recently Olga Malinkiewicz discovered a new method of processing minerals called perovskites. They could allow us to easily draw energy from the sun because this material can cover every surface.
Delete1. No, I'm interested in technologies which are present on a commercial market rather than in laboratories.
ReplyDelete2. As I've said previously - I prefer currently used technologies, but e.g. an article about new functions in Oracl DB - yes.
3. Hmm, I see It was mentioned by my colleagues but yes - Graphene :)
Like most of my colleagues I’ve never heard about quantum computers. When I was reading your article I was trying to image the power of this computer and I must admit I failed to do this. Probably we won’t see this kind of computers for many many years (I mean for public use like in schools or colleges not individual) but they have great potential. As you have written they could be used for any kind of analysis, rendering 3D models and many many more.
ReplyDeleteLately, I didn’t have time to read about any great discoveries but I’ve found an app called Klikk. Here is a video showing how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fte62J_zkY. Its main purpose is to convince users not to take a bad quality photo every few seconds but to prepare to it for a while and make sure it will be perfect. The idea behind this app is right but I don’t think it will have many users. We live in times of Facebook and Snapchat so sharing almost every minute of our life is a quite popular trend and I don’t think it will change in near future.
I red about quantum computers few years ago. It was an article in some popular science magazine, where they foresaw that such computers should be in use in near future. It seems that we still have to wait for quantum computers to become more popular :) However, I am aware that these computers will be used mostly by scientists and to be honest I doubt that common people would ever need such computing power. But who knows...
ReplyDeleteI used to read science a lot of popular science articles, but recently I prefer more down-to-earth approach.
1. I also read about quantum computers couple years ago. I didn't give it much attention because all of information in the article was rather theoritical.
ReplyDelete2. Not strictly about new technologies but about new achivments of mankind. I read about SpaceX program. Few days ago, company of Elon Musk managed to land rocket, coming back from space, on barge that was floating on ocean. It was next step to conquer space!
3. As most people above I heard about graphen. Maybe in future we could use it in commercial ways.
1. Yes, I have heard about Quantum Computer, but I haven’t known so much information’s about it as you presented here. I am always trying to get to know modern technology so reading about such thing is always pleasure to me.
ReplyDeleteI think that problem of memory lack has passed away. Few years ago developers had to worry about memory used by their programs. Now, even using ordinary PC’s we have a lot of flexibility in programming, we don’t have to think about memory. It of course has its advantages and disadvantages. I think that Quantum Computer has a lot of benefits, it can help us accelerate the work in many areas of our lives. I'm glad that the technology is developing so fast.
2. Yes, please check my presentation called” Eternal 5D data storage”
3. I recently heard about game created by Polish developers called “Superhot”. Maybe this is not a technological discover, but it shows how capable engineers we have, and how they create things that become known around world.
1. Yes I have heard about Quantum Computer, but I didn't go into details too much. I think that Quantum Computers can introduce us to a new phase of development, but they can also be a threat to all cryptographic security, which are using today. Before quantum computers will not protect us practically none of the used so far algorithms, they can be quickly broken.
ReplyDelete2. Some time ago I read about a new application which is developed by Microsoft. This is an application for blind people.The application works with the high resolution camera in the glasses. It uses Microsoft APIs to artificial intelligence that could ... tell people what is in front of them. There you can see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2mC-NUAmMk
3. I have recently heard about the Nauroon - special mask for polyphasic sleep. This mask can monitor our sleep, helps to adjust the time to go to bed and the time at which we will wake up in the morning, tells us how long and when we should take a nap. The mask is reportedly tested in Japan.
I haven't heard before about the NeuroOn. This is a great invention for people who are deprived of sleep. I'm afraid that polyphasic sleep is not healthy for our body in the long run.
Deleteestions:
ReplyDelete1. Have you ever heard about the quantum computer? What do you think about it?
I think it will be the next big thing. Having those computers will help us solve more complex problems in shorter period of time.
2. Have you read recently something interesting regarding new technological discovery?
Yeah, I've read about using microbots made of graphene that would help clean waters from pollution.
http://news.discovery.com/tech/graphene-microbots-built-to-scour-water-of-heavy-metals-160412.htm
3. Have you heard about any Polish technological discovery ?
Well like most, I've heard about graphene, also I think that EPAR Bumper is something people should know about :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDiWFqM94gM
1. Yes, I've heard about it. This morning, to be honest, when I read this article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tvp.info/24935621/small-talk-o-komputerach-kwantowych-kanadyjski-premier-nie-dal-sie-zagiac-dziennikarzowi
It's about Canadian Prime Minister who was asked about this matter during a press conference. It's not a type of a question that PMs are usually asked, but it was no problem for him to answer this question. Now everyone's in awe of him and his knowledge.
2. I try to be up to date on this matter. That's why I follow: http://www.livescience.com/news/ where there's a ton of articles about science discoveries. What caught my attention recently are the ones about earthquakes. I and my colleagues wondered why there are so few earthquakes in Europe and on this website I found many interesting pieces about how there are so many earthquakes outside of Europe. It's a great website to learn new stuff.
3. The first thing that comes to my mind, and I think it's the same for most people in Poland, it's graphene. As I know polish scientists didn't discover it, but they found a way to make it stronger, which might lead to mass production of this material at low cost. Graphene can be used to improve many modern products as smartphones or computers, so it's really fascinating what this breakthrough might help achieve.
I agree with you that on the site www.livescience.com there is a lof of fantastic and informative articles. Regarding graphen you are right. Polish scientists didn't invent Graphen but they achieved cheaper production of graphen based technology.
Delete1. Yes, I've heard about it. This morning, to be honest, when I read this article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tvp.info/24935621/small-talk-o-komputerach-kwantowych-kanadyjski-premier-nie-dal-sie-zagiac-dziennikarzowi
It's about Canadian Prime Minister who was asked about this matter during a press conference. It's not a type of a question that PMs are usually asked, but it was no problem for him to answer this question. Now everyone's in awe of him and his knowledge.
2. I try to be up to date on this matter. That's why I follow: http://www.livescience.com/news/ where there's a ton of articles about science discoveries. What caught my attention recently are the ones about earthquakes. I and my colleagues wondered why there are so few earthquakes in Europe and on this website I found many interesting pieces about how there are so many earthquakes outside of Europe. It's a great website to learn new stuff.
3. The first thing that comes to my mind, and I think it's the same for most people in Poland, it's graphene. As I know polish scientists didn't discover it, but they found a way to make it stronger, which might lead to mass production of this material at low cost. Graphene can be used to improve many modern products as smartphones or computers, so it's really fascinating what this breakthrough might help achieve.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. Yes , I heard earlier about quantum computer, but never read the details about it. Thanks for this article , much closer to me how the quantum computer works, and what changes will put in our live.
ReplyDelete2.
Honestly I do not read too much about new technologies , only read about things that interest me and I need to buy eg . New technology in mobile .
3. Also like its predecessors, I heard about the invention of graphene by Polish inventors. From what I know , Polish scientists have invented many things , eg . Blue Ray . Unfortunately, foreign companies quickly get a patent and attribute the merits for themselves.
1. Have you ever heard about the quantum computer? What do you think about it?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have heard about it, like few other colleagues. I think it has unimaginable computing power that will help solve lots of problems that we can’t compute on nowadays computers. But probably we need to wait for that few more years ;)
2. Have you read recently something interesting regarding new technological discovery?
Not really, recently I’m reading articles which are connected to my master thesis.
3. Have you heard about any Polish technological discovery ?
Like others I will say: Polish method of Graphene production ;)
Hi Karolina,
ReplyDeleteGreat article, thank you.
1. I red about quantum computers few years ago. I haven’t known so much information’s about it as you presented here.
2. Unfortunately not. I mainly read about the technology that is already avaible.
3. As most of my colleagues above I heard about graphen. I hope that in future we could use it in commercial way.
1. Have you ever heard about the quantum computer? What do you think about it?
ReplyDeleteYes, but I didn't go into the details. Thank you for your article, I learned a few new things. Probably in a few years, quantum computers will gain in popularity.
2. Have you read recently something interesting regarding new technological discovery?
Unfortunately no. I had mostly focused on things from mass-market, not from laboratory or from the very distant future.
3. Have you heard about any Polish technological discovery?
Yes, I've heard about graphene, but it's mentioned about it in above comments. Also Polish discovery is not any great. Other nations also came to similar things on graphene.