5 Ways Quantum Computing is Set to Shape Our Future
Posted on Thursday, August 22, 2019 and filed under Articles
Tech giants around the world are starting to invest heavily in the world of quantum computing.
IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and Google are some of the companies that are leading the charge in the quantum race.
The simplest explanation of quantum computing would be that it’s the systematic use of quantum mechanics for computation – using superposition and entanglement of qubits (a quantum bit) to create more states of binary ones and zeroes, thus increasing your encoding capacity.
Quantum computing is set to not only revolutionize modern computers but also open up new avenues for science.
It may pave the way for new technologies, like quantum entanglement based communications, which would allow near-instantaneous data transfer, regardless of the distance between the two points.
Imagine NASA not having to wait between 4 to 24 minutes to send commands to their Mars rovers.
Quantum computing will bring about a massive change to several industries, some of that positive and some of it negative.
Encryption and Cryptography
Traditional computers are limited in their encrypting and decrypting capabilities.
The day quantum computers show up, they will, at first, pose a global threat to the world economy. All of our current encryptions are based on passwords that modern supercomputers would take hundreds of years to break.
A quantum computer could do that in a matter of hours – or even minutes.
Seeing as our entire economy depends on these encryptions, quantum computers in the wrong hands could do more harm than good.
Likewise, it would also open up new ways to encrypt our data.
Quantum encrypted data would be impossible to crack. It could also help with cryptography and would even be able to crack lost languages, as well as, their translations.
Forecasting of Weather
There are several environmental variables when weather forecasts are being calculated.
Even the most powerful supercomputers of today can’t take all these variables into account, which is why our weather and climate predictions are never 100% accurate.
Quantum computers, on the other hand, would be capable of assessing ALL environmental data and could provide near-perfect weather and climate forecasts.
This could help us avert potential natural disasters and the loss of life that ensues.
Space Exploration
Modern day computers take years to compute the massive amounts of data brought in by telescopes.
The recently released image of the M87 supermassive black hole took almost 2 years to synthesize because of the sheer size of the data collected.
A quantum computer could theoretically do it in under a minute.
Space exploration requires massive computation power in all its efforts, whether it is ground-based research or a proper deep-space mission.
Quantum computers would not only reduce time constraints but also make space exploration more efficient and convenient, in general.
Medical Research
The human body is extremely complex, making it almost impossible to simulate how our bodies would react to a particular drug, under certain conditions.
Modern computers cannot accurately assess all this information, which is why it takes year and billions of dollars to develop new drugs.
Quantum computers could potentially make immense progress in decoding the human genome, which would help make accurate predictions on how specific drugs would affect particular individuals.
This could lead to a significant improvement in the treatment of many conditions and health risks.
Revolutionize Traveling
Quantum Computers will effectively change the way cars are driven, and airplanes are flown.
Modern self-driving cars rely on limited data-sets and algorithms, which restricts the number of scenarios it can predict.
Quantum computers, however, can assess all possible scenarios in a given situation – which means that self-driving cars would essentially be accident-proof.
Furthermore, quantum computers will be used to develop better and more efficient cars and traffic flow systems.
In the same way, quantum computers will also be able to assess all aeronautical scenarios, making the routing and scheduling of aircraft not only easier but also more efficient.