Off topic:

… A quantum computer program has produced an answer without actually running.

The idea behind the feat, first proposed in 1998, is to put a quantum computer into a “superposition”, a state in which it is both running and not running … With the right set-up, the theory suggested, the computer would sometimes get an answer out of the computer even though the program did not run. And now researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have improved on the original design and built a non-running quantum computer that really works.

… This scheme could have an advantage over straightforward quantum computing. “A non-running computer produces fewer errors,” says Hosten.

(link)

Funny, my last Windows computer was frequently in a state of simultaneously running and not running … that was no bug, it was Windows Quantum ™!

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H/t: Slashdot

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 23rd, 2006 at 12:47 pm by A Senior Administration Official and is filed under Off Topic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.