Folks, hopefully you saw the December 3rd 60 Minutes segment on Quantum computing. If not, I’ll be updating you with the interesting, if not scary details discussed – Merry Christmas! It seems that IBM, Google, Microsoft and China are the major players developing this technology that will take us to new stratospheres of computing power. The technology moves away from the traditional transistor based architecture that has been around for three quarters of a century…give or take a decade. The CPU complexes are called QuBits. And you will be able to link many thousands of these QuBits together to create computers that are over a million times faster than today’s most speedy computers. I have to say, the gear looks super impressive, like something out of Star Trek. Unfortunately, one of the requirements to be able to have these Qubits run so fast is that they need to be kept at a temperature of 400 degrees below zero. For comparison, that’s colder than deep space where your closest sun is more than a lifetime’s drive away. Think about having this technology for your home computer. On the upside you could cancel your AC maintenance contract. On the downside you’ll need to get additional health insurance, as you’ll be having a heart attack every month when PSE&G sends you their electric bill. But at 400 below zero, you could think of it as you doing your part to end global warming!
One problem they talked about was that currently, the technology makes mistakes, a lot of them. It reminds me of the 90s, when the then new Intel Pentium chip first came out. As long as you didn’t need to do high-precision division (whatever that is) you were fine. Still, it made me feel like I wanted my IRA to be managed by someone using good old paper and pencil. It brought new meaning to the phrase “Old School.” They’re hoping that in the next five years, with the help of summer school classes, they can teach the technology to do arithmetic accurately.
On the 60 minutes program they also had an interview with a senior person from the Cleveland Clinic who is supporting the technology in the hopes of using it to eventually solve some of healthcare’s greatest challenges, like cancer and autoimmune disease. The solution to many of these challenges revolves around having enough processing power to address the molecular complexity of the human being. Similarly, when the Human Genome Project first began in 1990 they estimated that with the fastest CPU technology available, it would take about 13 years to crack the first human genome. And they were correct. With today’s CPU technology, (400 below not required) you can crack your own personal human genome in a few days. And just in case you were wondering, it’s not particularly cheap, yet. The challenges of cancer and autoimmune disease are even more complex, but with computers that will be a million times faster, it looks promising…as long as the after school math help is effective.
But, and there is always a but, as much as this technology has great positive potential, it could also be extremely efficient at cracking encryption codes on our credit cards. We’ll all need to ensure we have the room in our homes for a large safe to hold all of our gold, as credit cards and electronic banking will become obsolete. “Beware of the NoGoodNicks!”
I choose to remain positive and look forward to the day when I have a Quantum based iPhone that can keep my pina colada cold on the beach! Happy Holidays!
