Google has teamed up with Nasa to buy only the second commercial quantum computer ever made.

It can perform tasks 3,600 times faster than normal computers and the two organisations are hoping to use it to find cures for diseases, fix climate problems and help robots better understand human speech.

The companies are hoping to unlock the power of the computer, which was built by Canadian company D-Wave, at the new Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, housed at Nasa’a Ames Research Centre in California.

Google and Nasa have bought a quantum computer from Canadian makers D-Wave. The computer is 3,600 faster than normal computers and could be used to tackle disease, climate change and develop more sophisticated robots. The two companies are launching the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab in Nasa’s Ames Research Centre, California to help unlock the computer’s power

 

A D-Wave 128-qubit processing chip. Unlike ‘bits’ found in normal computers that can only be on or off at any one time, qubits can also be in a ‘mixed state’ between these points. This means quantum computers such as the D-Wave range can peform single tasks much faster than normal computers, and perform multiple tasks at once, much more efficiently

The D-Wave One was first announced in May 2011 by the company based in Burnaby, British Colombia.

It was developed with financial backing from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

D-Wave One was bought by defence group Lockheed Martin in 2011 as part of a multi-year contract in a bid to try and solve some of its more challenging computational problems.

Google and Nasa have now bought the D-Wave Two.

D-Wave computers run on a 128-qubit processor.

Normal computers are digital and use bits to transfer information and perform tasks.

As a comparison, PCs found in homes run on 32-bit or 64-bit processors.

The ‘bits’ in modern-day computers can only ever been in an active, or an inactive state; running at one or zero.

This means that a single ‘bit’ is either on or off at any one time and they can only perform calculations individually.

Qubits work differently and can be on, off, or in a mixed state in between.

As a result, qubits are able to be in multiple places at the same time and this means they are capable of performing single tasks faster, and performing multiple tasks more effectively.

Google could use the D-Wave quantum computer to further develop the technology in its self-driving cars. This is the view the cars currently see. Future designs, created using the quantum computer, could better navigate the roads and react to obstacles in a more similar way to how human brains can

The D-Wave quantum computer could be used to help robots understand human speech and lead to more sophisticated robotic designs, like the Terminator in the classic sci-fi film

Tasks that would take normal computers years to complete can be processed in seconds using quantum computers like the D-Wave.

The D-Wave works closer to how the human brain works, but without the margin of human error.

As a result, Google and Nasa want to put the computer to work on complex tasks everyday computers have been unable to solve.

This includes developing cures for diseases, tackling the changes to Earth caused by climate change, better developing voice-activated technology and more.

In August last year, a team of Harvard University researchers were able to use the D-Wave One to solve the largest protein folding problem ever, using the quantum computer.

Protein folding is a complex system found in all living things involving amino acids.

Google in particular could use the technology to improve the reaction times and processing speeds of its self-driving cars, or develop its Google Glass technology – a wearable computer that responds to motion and voice controls.

To unlock this power, and test the computer’s potential, the two organisations have launched the Quantum Artifical Intelligence Lab at Nasa’s Ames Research Centre based in California.

D-Wave is also working on a Vesuvius quantum computer that will run on a 512-qubit processor.

Source: Dailymail

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