Will 2018 be a year of scientific breakthroughs – or frustrations? | Philip Ball
by Philip Ball from on (#3CEWT)
From quantum computers that'll make conventional machines redundant to a map of the brain, these are some of the key issues for science in the coming year
This will be the year when we see a quantum computer solve a computational problem that conventional computers can't, using the rules of quantum mechanics to manipulate data, potentially making them much more powerful than classical devices. Many researchers think that the prototype devices built during the past year will soon be able to achieve "quantum supremacy" - the solution of a task that would take a classical computer an impractical length of time. This doesn't mean that quantum computers are yet ready to take over the computer industry, but this will be the year that they start to become a genuine commercial proposition.
Continue reading...