First Electronic Quantum Processor Created 205
ScienceDaily is reporting that the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor has been created by a team led by Yale University researchers. "Working with a group of theoretical physicists led by Steven Girvin, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics & Applied Physics, the team manufactured two artificial atoms, or qubits ('quantum bits'). While each qubit is actually made up of a billion aluminum atoms, it acts like a single atom that can occupy two different energy states. These states are akin to the '1' and '0' or 'on' and 'off' states of regular bits employed by conventional computers. Because of the counterintuitive laws of quantum mechanics, however, scientists can effectively place qubits in a 'superposition' of multiple states at the same time, allowing for greater information storage and processing power."
Article is incorrect. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Problem Solved (Score:2, Insightful)
It's obvious the egg came first. Dinosaurs laid eggs. Dinosaurs lived before birds, including chickens, evolved. So eggs existed before chickens did.
Re:Problem Solved (Score:4, Insightful)
New question: what came first the dinosaur or the egg?
Doesn't change much does it?
Bose-einstein condensate? (Score:4, Insightful)
While each qubit is actually made up of a billion aluminum atoms, it acts like a single atom that can occupy two different energy states.
This sounds a like a bose-einstein condensate, where many atoms will act is if though they are all part of a larger, single atom. Also, it gains some pretty interesting properties, neither of which can be described exactly as solid, liquid or gas.
The article didn't mention anything about near absolute zero temps, though.
Re:Problem Solved (Score:3, Insightful)
The question should be: which came first, the chicken or the chicken egg?
Re:Yay! (Score:1, Insightful)
All that requires an operating system. I suggest Hurd.
Re:Problem Solved (Score:3, Insightful)
That depends on what makes it a chicken egg, what's inside it, or what produced it.