A new quantum computer sets a high watermark for accuracy – are we on the verge of a big breakthrough?

A new quantum computer sets a high watermark for accuracy – are we on the verge of a big breakthrough?

In a laboratory in Broomfield, Colorado, 98 atoms are suspended in mid-air, held in place by electric fields and cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero. Each atom is far smaller than anything the naked eye could ever see, yet each carries information in a form that has no counterpart in classical physics. Together, they form Helios, a new quantum computer built by the British-American company Quantinuum. Quantum computers use the power of…