Scientists from QuTech and Eindhoven University of Technology have taken a next step in qubit research. Qubits are one of the building blocks of a future quantum computer. The researchers have published their results last week in Nature.

A conventional computer performs operations using bits, which can be either zero or one. A quantum computer, on the other hand, uses quantum bits or ‘qubits’. Qubits can be photons, or electrons, or any system that can exist in so-called quantum states.

Because these states can exist simultaneously—as opposed to conventional bits—it allows you to hold much more information and create an immense computer power. This is especially useful in calculations with many different outcomes, such as medicine research or material science.

Read more here.