On December 8th 2015, NASA and Google announced that they had made a breakthrough in quantum computing. The new computer is called the D-Wave 2X and is currently being housed at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near Mountain View California. An experiment using the D-Wave 2X found that the new computer can solve a problem 100 million times faster than a conventional computer.
Quantum computing relies on the use of particles called quantum bits or qubits. these qubits can exist in more than two physical states at the same time. Problems solved by a quantum computer are done so as the result of quantum annealing, This is the process of feeding AI (artificial intelligence) or optimization problems into the D-Wave 2X. The superposition of the qubits allows the the D-Wave 2X to examine as many as 1,000 variables at once.
The D-Wave 2x stands about 10 feet high and is about the size of a garden shed. While its awesome computing speed represents a major advancement in super computing, there are a few drawbacks. Quantum computers use particles that are subject to problems with predictions and quantum properties such as entanglement. The D-Wave 2X has to be super cooled to a temperature that's 150 time colder than deep space, which means that a stockpile of liquid helium would also be necessary.
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