My writing schedule has been interrupted recently due to a short illness. As a result, I’ve published little new over the last two weeks. This week I instead link to two of my older articles. From next week I will be back to writing as normal.
How Quantum Computers Work and What They Mean for the Future
Quantum is hard. That is perhaps to put things lightly — the subject is often bizarre, defies common sense, and predicts all sorts of things that should, by rights, be utterly impossible. Computers that include the quantum bit, it logically follows, should be just as weird and baffling.
And yes, at times quantum computing can be a strange subject. It is also difficult — some of the best engineers in the world have struggled for decades to build a simple working quantum computer. But despite all that, quantum computing promises to change the world, so it is worth making an effort to understand.
In what follows I’ve tried to present the basic concepts of quantum computing as simply as possible. It is true that the result is not always simple. There’s a limit on how easy some things are to explain. But in the whole I’ve tried to be true to Einstein’s adage — things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
The Carrington Scenario
Across half the planet power grids suddenly surge. Currents and voltages fluctuate wildly, threatening to overwhelm vital equipment. Before long electrical networks start falling — and the world plunges into a blackout without historical precedent.
The damage to the power system takes months to repair. Without reliable access to electricity, the lifeblood of modern existence, society and the economy grind to a halt. Financial markets crash as the lack of electricity interrupts food, fuel and transportation services. Within weeks, economic collapse, global unrest and mass starvation are unavoidable.
This, the Carrington Scenario, might seem catastrophic, but it is almost certain to happen in the next few decades. The culprit is our Sun, which though mostly benign and life-giving, is bound to occasional fits of violent temper. Every now and then, following an eleven-year cycle of activity, the Sun hurls vast clouds of super hot and highly magnetic material into space.
Best of the rest…
As researchers learn more about the way bioelectricity runs our cells, strange possibilities are opening up for the future of biology. Might we learn how to program animals, just as we program computers? Could we extend that terrifying prospect to humans too? In an intriguing and thought-provoking essay, Matthew Hutson explores the concept of bioelectricity and its applications to our own biology.
Modern physics raises deep philosophical questions about free will and reality. Many recent physicists, Stephen Hawking among them, have argued that free will is nothing more than an illusion; that ultimately, we have no choice over our actions. What might be the consequences for society if this is true? Oliver Burkeman investigates in The Guardian.
China’s space program is rapidly growing, highlighted by the uncontrolled re-entry of a large rocket a few weeks ago. Not only has the country recently landed a rover on Mars, but it is also building a new space station high above the Earth, as explained by Neel Patel in the MIT Technology Review.
So much reporting around health, science and space exploration is unrealistic, hyperbolic and misleading. These are complicated topics, and there are often no easy or straight forward answers. Instead what is needed is analysis, discussion and an exploration of the possible ways forward.
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