Quantum Computing's Impact on Society
This week, I celebrate International Women's Day and question whether quantum computers could actually be useful for us.
International Women’s Day 2024
This International Women’s Day, after being treated to breakfast by the Durham Physics Department, I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Dame Athene Donald. She’s a renowned physicist and outspoken champion of women in STEM, especially women in academia. She gave a talk recounting her personal experiences, from becoming the first woman with a permanent position within her faculty at the University of Cambridge to being repeatedly looked down on or left out entirely during meetings. She also introduced her latest book published last year, titled Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science, which will certainly be placed on my reading list. She did also point out that whilst the book is popular with people already in the field, she feels as though it needs to get out to more teachers and parents of young children. If you know anyone in those categories, be sure to share it with them!
Can Quantum Computers Actually Benefit Society?
Google launches $5m prize to find actual uses for quantum computers | New Scientist
Whilst quantum computers have already proven to have capabilities that stretch beyond classical computers, it still stands that we haven’t found any revolutionising uses for them…yet. Google and the XPRIZE Foundation are optimistic that researchers could develop quantum algorithms that benefit humanity within the next few years, and they’re even launching a $5 million competition for the ones that have the greatest (sustainable) impact and can feasibly be computed using current or near-future technology.
In this newsletter, I wrote about the PageRank algorithm and how it forever changed the way we surf the web. Every time you make a Google search, you have PageRank to thank for showing you the websites you’re looking for. Amazingly, there’s another version of it called Quantum PageRank, which has been proven to operate in a similar way but with even greater efficiency, and it might even have uses that stretch beyond the Internet. It’s still an active area of research, but I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.