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Article: Quantum bits: assembling a quantum computer. (computer based on quantum mechanics)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- January 14, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"I call it the Oxford flu," Rolf Landauer declared at a recent workshop on physics and computation. "In a large audience like this, there are always a few carriers of the new epidemic, and I want to give you a vaccination."
This was Landauer's way of injecting a dose of reality into a heady brew of theory and speculation about the prospects of constructing a quantum computer. A fellow at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Landauer has long served up antidotes to the unbridled euphoria and unwarranted optimism that often accompany visions of future technologies.
"We have to be honest about the problems in new, adventurous ...