Quantum computing attracts a lot of attention. However, computing is just one element of quantum technologies. In fact, we are entering a new quantum era where we leverage quantum states of matter down to the level of individual particles. Just entangle two photons of light and we create a communication channel that cannot be subjected to eavesdropping. Or the sensitivity of quantum particles, could be availed of to detect the phenomena that have never been sensed before.
The previous 100 years development could be called quantum 1.0. This led us to transistors and laser. Further, we got microprocessor and internet. We are now witnessing Quantum 2.0 redefining the way we communicate, compute and sense the world.
There is quantum networking. Quantum networks carry quantum information. This will pave the way for quantum internet. It could create secure communications systems. Our definition of communication will change. We can expand the amount of information we can pack into a single photon of light. These optical networks can transmit large volumes of data at low power. The networks will extend to our solar system.
A powerful quantum computer will be able to crack the widely used security measures. A cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC) will take more than a decade to arrive. We have to think how information is to be protected from quantum attacks.
Quantum sensing will allow us to detect natural phenomena that we have never been able to measure so far e.g. electrical impulses in CNS or fluctuations of gravity on the earth.
Applied quantum mechanics will accelerate the pace of innovation since we will be able to harness matter at the quantum level. The earliest quantum innovation was a transistor developed at Nokia Bell Labs in 1947. It led to microprocessor, the Internet and the digital world.
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