January/February 2019^ DISCOVER^83
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: INTEL; J.-W. PAN/USTC; IGOR BATRAKOV/SHUTTERSTOCK
April 10
Zuckerberg testifies
before Congress
about
Facebook’s
privacy
safeguards
and
Cambridge
Analytica.Space Chats
Chinese and Austrian scientists
announced in January they’d success-
fully tested the first
satellite-based
network that
used quantum
encryption to
secure trans-
missions
between
ground-
based and
satellite
stations, prov-
ing the technol-
ogy’s viability.
They sent each other
images and hosted a
75-minute video chat.Blockchain Bonkers
In 2018, we saw more than 50 new
cryptocurrencies,
which bypass
ordinary banks
and could
offer owners
quick accel-
erations of
wealth —
or a steep
dive to the
poorhouse.
The price
of a Bitcoin,
the original
cryptocurrency,
soared above $19,000
in 2017. But after months of
wild swings, it was trading at around
$6,500 in October.FURTHER AFIELD
bits, which can take one of two
values (on/off, or 1 or 0), qubits
can exist in a combination of
two states at the
same time, allowing
for greater digital
brainpower. The
more qubits, in
theory, the more
powerful a quantum
computer becomes.
“Google’s
experiments
are guiding the
ield of quantum problem-
solving,” says computer
scientist Wim van Dam of the
University of California, Santa
Barbara. “This is the story in
everybody’s mind.”
That’s because Bristlecone
is a milestone on the road to
“quantum supremacy,” the point
when a quantum machine can
best a classical one in a useful
task. We’re close: Right now,
Bristlecone can solve speciic
problems a billion times faster
than a classical computer, but
those speciic computations
aren’t necessarily useful. They’re
typically just test programs
to show the machine works,
according to physicist and
Bristlecone chief architect
John Martinis.
Quantum supremacy has
loomed for decades, but reaching
it has become more urgent,
partly thanks to the end ofMoore’s law. Fifty-three years
ago, IBM computer scientist
Gordon Moore accurately
predicted that
processing speeds
for silicon-based
transistors would
double every two
years, as more
transistors were
crammed on smaller
chips — doubling
computers’ power
each time. But
there’s a natural limit: Ever-
tinier components eventually
leave behind the predictable
everyday world and enter the
unpredictable realm of quantum
mechanics. Some estimates say
the pace of Moore’s law can
last only a few more years, but
such doomsday predictions
are regularly stayed by new
technologies. A quantum-based
extension could be another tool.
The end of Moore’s law also
poses a roadblock for artiicial
intelligence research, which
requires gargantuan processing
power for smarter applications
like fully autonomous vehicles.
The answer here may also be
quantum computing, which
some experts predict could
revolutionize machine learning.
To bring on the AI-QC merger
faster, big companies like
Google, IBM and Microsoft are
investing big bucks.May 2
Cambridge Analytica
announces it’s closing
shop. (However,
former analysts with
the company had
already launched a
similar firm, Data
Propria, in February.)May 25
The European Union
institutes its sweeping
General Data Protection
Regulation, which was
years in the making.
Facebook and Google
are accused of failing to
follow the guidelines for
data protection.July 10
The U.K.’s
Information
Commissioner’s
Office, which
regulates user
privacy, fines
Facebook 500,000
pounds (about
$640,000).Sept. 28
In its largest
data breach yet,
Facebook reports
that hackers
exploited bugs to
access the personal
information of
50 million users.Gordon Moore