Breakthru in quantum computing: salty nanoscale bar magnets!

[caraher]

5. Skepticism and excitement are both legitimate responses

Every research group needs to puff up the importance of their work to build/maintain a reputation and keep the funding flowing. That's not cynicism, it's survival, and so every miracle breakthrough warrants substantial critical scrutiny. Over the years there has been a succession of favored physical substrates for quantum computing, and it's exactly these nagging practical issues that knock each one down in turn and drives the search for the Next Big Thing.

But that's not to say there isn't progress. Congratulations are in order for each new avenue discovered and explored. We're building a road map in the dark, and only decades from now will we really be able to see with full clarity which were the blind alleys.

Also, not everyone on DU is an "internet nobody" - many of us do hold advanced degrees in the sciences.