1For many decades, computers have become steadily faster by shrinking their tiny electronic components year after year.
2Yet engineers are now approaching fundamental physical limits that traditional computer designs simply cannot overcome.
3Quantum computing offers a completely different and revolutionary way of processing information at enormous speed for certain tasks.
4Instead of ordinary bits, a quantum computer uses quantum bits that behave in very strange ways.
5A single quantum bit can represent several different states at exactly the same moment, unlike a normal bit.
6This means that certain problems could be solved millions of times faster than before, at least in theory.
7Drug companies hope to design powerful new medicines with the help of such machines one day.
8Banks, meanwhile, worry that quantum computers might one day break the security systems they depend on.
9The machines themselves are extremely delicate and must be kept incredibly cold at all times to function.
10Only a small handful of advanced laboratories around the world can operate such machines reliably today.
11Still, many experts believe that practical quantum computers are drawing steadily closer to reality every year.