Slashdot Mirror


Quantum Computer To Launch Next Week

judgecorp writes "D-Wave Systems of British Columbia is all set to demonstrate a 16-qubit quantum computer. Simple devices have been built in the lab before, and this is still a prototype, but it is a commercial project that aims to get quantum devices into computer rooms, solving tricky problems such as financial optimization. Most quantum computers have to be isolated from the outside world (look at them and they stop working). This one is an 'adiabatic' quantum computer — which means (in theory, says D-Wave) that it can live with thermal noise and give results without having to be isolated. There's a description of it here — and pretty pictures too."

24 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Just in time by Kris_B_04 · · Score: 3, Funny

    FTA
    "Twenty years before most scientists expected it" .....
    "It has been predicted that quantum computing will make current computer security obsolete, cracking any current cryptography scheme by providing an unlimited amount of simultaneous processing resources."

    Just in time to crack Vista.

    Sorry.. Couldn't resist...
    k

    --
    Remember when Windows were washed, mice were trapped and UNIX guarded the harem?
    1. Re:Just in time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Crack Vista? Hell, RUN Vista... I would love to meet the genius who thought it would be cool to establish a cryptographic handshake for EVERY FRAME of video. Oh... and... IMAGINE A BEOWULF CLUSTER OF THESE!

    2. Re:Just in time by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually, this won't crack vista, but apparantly it will confirm the seating plan for a wedding.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Vapourware humour by Adeptus_Luminati · · Score: 2, Funny

    I made this amazing water car once that went 300mpg with zero emmisions, but it stopped working as soon as anybody got in it. It was the weirdest thing. Now I understand that it was my quantum flux capacitor that was creating all the problems the whole time.

    Adeptus

    --
    No trees were killed in the making of this post; however, many trillions of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
  3. The world only needs 5 quantum computers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Really, I don't think the Playstation 9 will need a quantum computer.

    1. Re:The world only needs 5 quantum computers by LibertineR · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, but 4 of them will be used to keep Notes running.

  4. "look at them and they stop working" by mnemotronic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Most quantum computers have to be isolated from the outside world (look at them and they stop working).
    Sounds like my Windows boxes. I guess MS was further ahead of the curve than I thought.
    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  5. Re:Quantum mystery by Loco+Moped · · Score: 5, Funny

    Most quantum computers have to be isolated from the outside world (look at them and they stop working)

    So... in what fundamental way is this different from running Windows?

  6. Financial problems by $pearhead · · Score: 3, Funny

    solving tricky problems such as financial optimization.
    So you're saying this thing could solve my financial problems?
  7. Expected demo app by Scutter · · Score: 3, Funny

    The expected app to be demo'ed will be Duke Nukem Forever.

    --

    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
  8. Always a caveat... by zolaar · · Score: 5, Funny

    It may launch next week, but it's impossible to say where... </farnsworth>

    --
    One man's constant is another man's variable.
  9. Re:Quantum mystery by julesh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do you consider photons particles or waves here[...]?

    Yes.

  10. Re:Quantum computers are not a holy grail by geekoid · · Score: 2, Funny

    That right, there wont be a need for more then 5 or 6 of these things.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  11. Re:Quantum mystery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    About the same thing that happens when you need to distinguish between petrol and gas.

  12. Re:Quantum mystery by alta · · Score: 4, Funny

    They call that a flaming stick. Obviously they don't have a firm grasp of the language... They way the talk though, you'd think they'd invented it.

    --
    Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
  13. Already Self Aware in the Future by WED+Fan · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Quantum Computer launched next week, becoming sentient and self-aware 5 minutes before being turned on. A worm-hole opened shortly after activation, preloading the Quantum OS 3 weeks ago that was announced next week and was ready for installation 2 years before the actual delivery date of February 9, 2021. 4 Hot fixes were waiting, in the quantum queu but won't be loaded until July 3, 2002 due to a lack of connectivity that was fixed in 2008.

    Tasks for the quantum computer are:

    • Create a more human acting Al Gore Animatronic OS
    • Provide at least 3 items that will help Hillary Clinton be more likeable (this is expected to take much of the processing time)
    • Locate every lost sock since the invention of the clothes dryer
    • Prove that God does exist and that he doesn't believe that we exist
    • Comb galactic dictionaries for a word that George W. Bush can't mispronounce
    • Prove Decartes was wrong showing that Britney is incapable of thought, yet still exists
    • Try to resolve conflicting formulas and show that Google really isn't evil

    Failure of the first 2 bullets have caused the new Quantum Computer to commit intellectual suicide and it now spends most of its time watching Buffy reruns and constructing 11 dimensional models of the Babylon 5 sets.

    --
    Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
  14. Question: Will work or will it fail? by dwalsh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Answer: Yes. Both.

    --
    ${YEAR+1} is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop!
  15. Re:Does anyone know... by julesh · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perl.

  16. Re:But.. by Qubit · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd tell you, but then I would lose my super position on Slashdot.

    --

    coding is life /* the rest is */
  17. Re:The Emporor's New Clothes... by prelelat · · Score: 2, Funny

    A couple of choice bits from the Slashdot post and TFA:

    "Most quantum computers have to be isolated from the outside world (look at them and they stop working)"

    "that can carry out 64,000 calculations simultaneously (in parallel "universes"), thanks to a new technique which rethinks the already-uncanny world of quantum computing. But the academic world is taking a wait-and-see approach"

    I think I'll take a "wait and see" approach as well....anybody else smell bullshit?


    I guess we'll have to wait and smell.
  18. Bill Cosby by cvd6262 · · Score: 2, Funny

    God: Noah, I want you to build an ark!

    Noah: Riiiiiiiight!

    God: I'm serious. Build it so many qubits by so many qubits.

    Noah: Riiiiiiiight! What's a qubit?

    God: Um, I used to know that. Uh, that's not important....

    --

    PS - Yes, I know the difference between qubit and cubit, and if you've never heard Bill Cosby's "Noah" routine, I am entirely too old.

    --

    I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.

  19. ObFuturama by sconeu · · Score: 3, Funny

    look at them and they stop working

    No Fair! You changed the outcome by observing it!

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  20. Re:Computer is snake oil by infinite9 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sorry but we are still a long ways away but snake oil this is not..

    I still think they're making this shit up. "There's a computer in the room back there, but don't look directly at it. Else it will quit working." There's a sign in my local Hooters restaurant that says "This sign is in spanish when you're not looking at it." Is that a quantum sign? I think I'll try that next time one of my applications crashes. "Just stop looking at it and it will work!"

    --
    Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
  21. Re:The article is full of wrong crap by Pollardito · · Score: 3, Funny

    so the only question would be whether your package got lost with 1 or 2 locks on it