Question: Can you explain a recent development or innovation in the field of computer science that has caught your attention?

Neil Barnby answered on 31 May 2024:

The recent development that has caught my attention is Quantum Computing.
This is extremely fast computing and works a bit different to normal computers. In a normal computer you use ‘bits’ which are like tiny switches that can be either off ‘0’ or on ‘1’. these switches help the computer do all the work by creating paths across switches. A computer is made of millions of these switches that work very fast.
In quantum computing it uses something called ‘qubits’ that can be both on and off at the same time, thanks to something called superposition. this means they can look at several possibilities all at once, which make them super fast.
Imagine yo are trying to find your way out of a maze. In a traditional computer it is like searching down every path until you find the exit (though unlike humans the computer would only try each path once and remember all the paths it has tried). But a Quantum Computer is like being ble to see the maze from above, as it would see all of the paths at the same time and find the quickest way out almost instantly.
Google’s Quantum computer is about 158 million times faster than the world’s fastest supercomputer.