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Programmable Quantum Computer Created

Posted by Soulskill on from the four-out-of-five-ain't-bad dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A team at NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) used berylium ions, lasers and electrodes to develop a quantum system that performed 160 randomly chosen routines. Other quantum systems to date have only been able to perform single, prescribed tasks. Other researchers say the system could be scaled up. 'The researchers ran each program 900 times. On average, the quantum computer operated accurately 79 percent of the time, the team reported in their paper.'"

2 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Re:79% accuracy ... by tomhudson · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    79% accurate. That's pretty useless.

    Not useless at all, just have it solve the same problem 5 or 15 times and go with the answer that it gives most often.

    That's TOTALLY moronic. That's like saying "get 5 or 15 people to guess your birthday and go with the answer that it gives most often."

    Go and ask 510 Americans to point to New York on a map, and go with the answers that they give the most often.

    Despite nearly constant news coverage since the war there began in 2003, 63 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 failed to correctly locate the country (Iraq) on a map of the Middle East. Seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel.

    Nine in ten couldn't find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.

    And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa.

    Remember the December 2004 tsunami and the widespread images of devastation in Indonesia?

    Three-quarters of respondents failed to find that country on a map.

    A third of the respondents could not find Louisiana, and 48 percent couldn't locate Mississippi on a map of the United States, even though Hurricane Katrina put these southeastern states in the spotlight in 2005.

    And what about India, which features prominently in the job-outsourcing debate? Forty-seven percent of young Americans were unable to locate where their jobs may go on a map of Asia

    Heck, many Americans can't even find the USofA on a map.

    "That thing definitely looked familiar," said autoworker and father of three Ed McConnell. "And my gut told me there were probably a whole bunch of Americans there. So I had to go with 'Iraq.'"

    Good thing he's not in charge of the big red button - he'd nuke you'all.

    Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security sees the Gallup/Harris poll results as a blessing in disguise. According to Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation would be better off if these numbers skewed even higher.

    "Personally, I believe if fewer people in this world could spot America on a map, we'd have a much better chance of avoiding national tragedies like 9/11," said Chertoff. "You can't attack a country you can't find."

    How stupid can you get?

    Well, turns out even stupider than that:

    Asked for the name of the U.S. capital, those polled placed Washington, D.C., fifth behind "Minneapolis-St. Paul," "Mount Rushmore," "America City," and "Whitewater."

    So, according to your "go-with-the-flow" theory, the capital of the US is Minneapolis-St. Paul.

  2. Re:79% accuracy ... by dem0n1 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    So, according to your "go-with-the-flow" theory, the capital of the US is Minneapolis-St. Paul.

    Does that mean Al Franken is the President then?

    --
    Why save your soul when you can sell it for a profit?