Tianhe-2 is the one of the world’s fastest supercomputers. Its 3.2 million Intel cores, which takes up space roughly equivalent to half a football field, are capable of processing 34 quadrillion calculations per second.

But the future of computing could fit into a traditional computer rack, or perhaps an even smaller box, kept at temperatures colder than interstellar space. While nowhere near as powerful as Tianhe-2—yet—the idea of quantum computing has scientists abuzz, and for good reason.

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