Scientists build world's first quantum machine

12-29-2010 • Terrence Aym

Can something be in two places at once? Can something be in two separate states at once? According to Einstein and the weird Twilight Zone rules of the quantum world the answer has always been a definite maybe. The math supported the concept and scientific study of the quanta relies upon it being true. Now, two scientists have proved it in what's being hailed by the journal Science as the scientific breakthrough of the year. Although a laudable sentiment, that praise might just be a bit of an understatement because what physicists Andrew Cleland and John Martinis from the University of California at Santa Barbara achieved is possibly the foundation for the technological applications of quantum theory--a veritable quantum revolution.