2 November 2019 | New Scientist | 3IT ISN’T often that scientific
breakthroughs sound like the next
James Bond movie, but quantum
supremacy has all the makings of an
espionage blockbuster: an online leak,
bitter enemies and the potential to save
or destroy the world. Well, sort of.
With the announcement of the first
quantum computer capable of doing
calculations beyond those of even
the best supercomputers, Google
has secured yet another place in the
history books, even with rival IBM
biting at its heels (see page 6). To help
set out what this milestone means –
and what it doesn’t – we have put
together a special report on all things
quantum computing.
If qubits leave you queasy, start
with our cheat sheet (see page 7),
which will put you in a super positionof understanding. Our timeline,
meanwhile, lays out the past, present
and future of these marvellous
machines (see pages 6-9). It really
is a history that is still being written,
with a host of tech giants and start-ups
competing to build the first actuallyuseful quantum device (see page 8).
Google’s, it turns out, is essentially
only good for bragging rights.
Could such a machine really change
the world? It has been claimed that
quantum computers will break the
internet, but it isn’t that straightforward
(see page 9). At this point, you might bewondering what quantum computers
are actually good for – thankfully, we
have that covered too (also on page 9).
A powerful enough quantum device
could transform pharmaceuticals and
farming or even play the stock market.
It is exciting, but we must strike a note
of caution. Quantum computers are
complex, difficult machines, and the
“Q” word lends itself to magical thinking.
There is a risk, which we explore on page
21, that the hype train could horribly
backfire, leading to a “quantum winter”
that sets the field back decades.
So really, the future of quantum
computing won’t be a Bond
blockbuster – fast-paced and full of
explosions. It will be more like a slowly
evolving prestige TV show with lots
of complex characters and a gradual
change into a new paradigm. ❚The big Q
Quantum supremacy has arrived – now what?
The leader
“ Google has secured yet
another place in the history
books, even with rival IBM
biting at its heels”EDITORIAL
Chief executive Nina Wright
Finance director Jenni Prince
Chief technology officer Chris Corderoy
Marketing director Jo Adams
Human resources Shirley Spencer
HR coordinator Serena Robinson
Facilities manager Ricci Welch
Executive assistant Lorraine Lodge
Receptionist Alice Catling
Non-exec chair Bernard Gray
Senior non-exec director Louise RogersMANAGEMENTCONTACT US
newscientist.com/contact
General & media enquiries
US Tel +1 617 283 3213
210 Broadway #201, Cambridge, MA 02139
UK Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1200
25 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9ES
Australia PO Box 2315, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012
US Newsstand
Tel +1 973 909 5819
Distributed by Time Inc. Retail, a division of Meredith
Corporation, 6 Upper Pond Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054
Syndication
Tribune Content Agency
Tel 1-800-346-8798 Email [email protected]
Subscriptions
newscientist.com/subscribe
Tel 1 888 822 3242
Email [email protected]
Post New Scientist, PO Box 3806, Chesterfield MO 63006-PUBLISHING & COMMERCIAL
Display advertising
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1291 Email [email protected]
Commercial director Chris Martin
Display sales manager Justin Viljoen
Lynne Garcia, Bethany Stuart, Henry Vowden,
(ANZ) Richard Holliman
Recruitment advertising
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1204 Email [email protected]
Nicola Cubeddu, Viren Vadgama,
(US) Jeanne Shapiro
New Scientist Live
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1245 Email [email protected]
Events director Adrian Newton
Creative director Valerie Jamieson
Event manager Henry Gomm
Sales director Jacqui McCarron
Exhibition sales manager Rosie Bolam
Marketing manager Katie Cappella
Events team support manager Rose Garton
Marketing executive Jessica Lazenby-Murphy
Marketing
Head of campaign marketing James Nicholson
Poppy Lepora
Head of customer experience Emma Robinson
Head of data analytics Tom Tiner
Web development
Maria Moreno Garrido, Tom McQuillan, Amardeep Sian© 2019 New Scientist Ltd, England. New Scientist ISSN 0262 4079 is
published weekly except for the last week in December by New Scientist Ltd,
England. New Scientist (Online) ISSN 2059 5387. New Scientist Limited,
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016
Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and other mailing offices
Postmaster: Send address changes to New Scientist, PO Box 3806,
Chesterfield, MO 63006-9953, USA.
Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in USA by
Fry Communications Inc, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055Editor Emily Wilson
Executive editor Richard Webb
Creative director Craig Mackie
News
News editor Penny Sarchet
Editors Jacob Aron, Timothy Revell
Reporters (UK) Jessica Hamzelou, Michael Le Page,
Donna Lu, Adam Vaughan, Clare Wilson
(US) Leah Crane, Chelsea Whyte
(Aus) Alice Klein, Ruby Prosser Scully
Interns Gege Li, Layal Liverpool, Jason Arunn Murugesu
Digital
Digital editor Conrad Quilty-Harper
Web team Lilian Anekwe, Anne Marie Conlon,
David Stock, Sam Wong
Features
Head of features Catherine de Lange (parental leave)
and Rowan Hooper
Acting head of features Tiffany O’Callaghan
Editors Gilead Amit, Julia Brown,
Kate Douglas, Alison George, Joshua Howgego
Feature writers Daniel Cossins, Graham Lawton
Culture and Community
Editors Liz Else, Mike Holderness, Simon Ings
Subeditors
Chief subeditor Eleanor Parsons
Bethan Ackerley, Tom Campbell, Chris Simms, Jon White
Design
Art editor Kathryn Brazier
Joe Hetzel, Dave Johnston, Ryan Wills
Picture desk
Picture editor Susan Banton
Production
Production manager Alan Blagrove
Robin Burton, Melanie Green