
Here’s How Quantum Computing Will Change the World - bootload
http://www.digitaltonto.com/2016/heres-how-quantum-computing-will-change-the-world/
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thatcherc
The application of quantum computing that most excites me is the possibility
of simulating chemical systems. In this Google Research blog post [1], the
author mentions that with 100 reliable qubits, one could simulate the process
by which bacteria fix nitrogen. It's not as cool and futuristic as powering AI
and breaking RSA, but the post mentions that we humans spend 1-2% of the
world's energy fixing nitrogen industrially. The energy savings (or the amount
of nitrogen we could fix for fertilizer) would be tremendous if we could use
the process bacteria use on an industrial scale.

It seems to me that there are likely many other applications of quantum
computer like this one that, while they don't appear in pop-science articles
as much as applications in AI and crypto, would change the world in a huge
way. Hopefully those applications will become more evident as the power of
quantum computers increases.

[1] - [https://research.googleblog.com/2016/07/towards-exact-
quantu...](https://research.googleblog.com/2016/07/towards-exact-quantum-
description-of.html)

~~~
hueving
I'm sure the sensationalism will catch on. "Quantum Computers Solve World
Hunger"

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adrenalinelol
Is the sensational headline necessary?

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meira
(1998)

