Google's quantum computer test shows 100-million-fold speed-up

[HEXUS]

Appears to prove the potential value of the controversial D-Wave 2X quantum computer.

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[AlexKitch]

This entire article went straight over my head.

[zaph0d]

I think it means that google's algorithm solves 100 problems in parralel in less time that the other algorithms 100-million times quicker.

It can't run Crysis but might be able to be used as a physics accellerator block

[lumireleon]

can I use it to mine BitCoins instead of an R9 290X?

[plexabit]

can I use it to mine BitCoins instead of an R9 290X?

"In other news, a 100-million-dollar quantum computer pays for itself in 10 seconds by mining Bitcoin."

[zaph0d]

"In other news, a 100-million-dollar quantum computer pays for itself in 10 seconds by mining Bitcoin."

"Breaking News Just In! One week after their quantum computer paid for itself with Bitcoins, said computer became self-aware and is now mounting an attempt to control the human populace. I for one welcome our new overlords in hopes of maintaining myself in the life to which I am accustomed"

[kalniel]

So looking at the picture, shouldn't the headline be 'shiny quantum computer comes with wooden ladder to reach the on switch'?

[sertin12]

can I use it to mine BitCoins instead of an R9 290X?

"In other news, a 100-million-dollar quantum computer pays for itself in 10 seconds by mining Bitcoin."

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they had mined bit coins to help fund their research hahaha.

[Axle_Grease]

OMG! Until now I thought a quantum computer was still a loose-knit bunch of parts scattered around a university lab somewhere with which students in white coats experiment to get their BSc. I had no idea there was a company that actually builds the finished product to sell to other companies and organizations. That's fantastic. This D-Wave x2 machine has some impressive cooling inside. The CPU is kept at just 0.0015 degree Kelvin which is currently 210C lower than what the Corsair H110 can do for my CPU. And that's without any overclocking!

[Jace007]

Bah!! This couldn't even Run Crysis .. its only optimised for single specific problems Ars Tech or new scientist had some detailed info on this Rust bucket, Saying that systems powering Watson were more user friendly & more capable than this. This is more of a stepping stone for things to come, D-waves competitors have better systems coming out in the pipeline. This hype is Google saying that they got there first.

[whatif]

This entire article went straight over my head.

And I suppose this simple explanation does to :-) [sorry - just being a smart aleck]
Quote - Quantum Annealing by Hidetoshi Nishimori
"Quantum annealing is a computational paradigm to search for the minimum of a cost function (multivariable function to be minimized) through a control of quantum fluctuations. Quantum annealing is used mainly for combinatorial optimization problems with discrete variables. Many practically important problems can be formulated as combinatorial optimization, typically machine learning for pattern recognition, natural language processing, medical diagnosis, etc. Finding efficient methods to solve combinatorial optimization problems is therefore very important, and this is one of the reasons why quantum annealing attracts much attention.
To perform quantum annealing, one writes the cost function in terms of the Ising model of statistical mechanics. The Hamiltonian (energy function) of the Ising model should be chosen such that its lowest-energy state (ground state) represents the solution to the combinatorial optimization problem. A term representing quantum-mechanical fluctuations is then added to the Hamiltonian to induce quantum transitions between the states."

This is much better.
Here is a short video explaining in a "relatively" and "comparatively" easier to understand way ( http://www.dwavesys.com/blog/2015/10...ling-explained ), this is done by one of the fellows from D-Wave. This is well spoken with a better explanation and should help those who want to better understand what is going on here.
And here is a link to the testing procedure performed to obtain this claim by Google - http://www.gizmag.com/d-wave-quantum...ranking/27476/ .

And I agree, what is the point if you are unable to load games :-).
My questions are - where do the graphics cards go? Is there going to be a Quantum Graphics processor invented next? How much is it going to cost to upgrade to working one of these? What sort of cooler do I need to reach 20 milliKelvin above absolute zero that the D-Wave chip operates at?

[RAJA666]

If I am not wrong this is not a quantum computer.