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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/technology/google-quantum-computing.html
"On Monday, Google unveiled a new
quantumcomputer that may end this back-and-forth race with traditional machines and that points to a future in which quantum computers could drive advances in areas like drug discovery and artificial intelligence.
Google said its quantum computer, based on a computer chip called Willow, needed less than five minutes to perform a mathematical calculation that one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers could not complete in 10 SEPTILLION years (A septillion is 1 followed by 24 zeroes...
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), a length of time that exceeds the age of the known universe...
“When quantum computing was originally envisioned, many people — including many leaders in the field — felt that it would never be a practical thing,” said mikhail lukin, a professor of physics at Harvard University and a co-founder of the quantum computing start-up QuEra Computing Inc. “What has happened over the last year shows that it is no longer science fiction.”...
Google’s quantum computer also uses a form of error correction — a way of reducing mistakes — that could allow this kind of machine to reach its potential. In a research paper published on Monday in the science journal Nature Magazine, Google said its machine had surpassed the “error correction threshold,” a milestone that scientists have been working toward for decades."
