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History of computers: Timeline of key events & technological breakthroughs
By Timothy Williamson last updated
Reference The history of computers began with primitive designs in the early 19th century and went on to change the world during the 20th century.

Record-breaking feat means information lasts 15 times longer in new kind of quantum processor than those used by Google and IBM
By Tristan Greene published
The novel design for the new qubit uses the chemical element tantalum in tandem with a special silicon substrate, creating what researchers say are the most coherent superconducting qubits to date.

New 'DNA cassette tape' can store up to 1.5 million times more data than a smartphone — and the data can last 20,000 years if frozen
By Fiona Jackson published
Scientists have discovered that over half a mile of DNA could hold over 360,000 terabytes of data.

Breakthrough 3D wiring architecture enables 10,000-qubit quantum processors
By Tristan Greene published
The novel 3D wiring architecture and chip fabrication method enable quantum processing units containing 10,000 qubits to fit in a smaller space than today's 100-qubit chips.

New 'physics shortcut' lets laptops tackle quantum problems once reserved for supercomputers and AI
By Owen Hughes published
Physicists have transformed a decades-old technique for simplifying quantum equations into a reusable, user-friendly "conversion table" that works on a laptop and returns results within hours.

New semiconductor could allow classical and quantum computing on the same chip, thanks to superconductivity breakthrough
By Anna Demming published
Researchers believe they can fit 25 million Josephson junctions — a useful component for quantum computing — on one two-inch wafer with this approach.

Scientists say they've eliminated a major AI bottleneck — now they can process calculations 'at the speed of light'
By Tristan Greene published
A new architecture replaces traditional bottlenecks with a passive, single-shot light-speed operation that could become the foundational hardware for AGI, scientists argue.

Dream of quantum internet inches closer after breakthrough helps beam information over fiber-optic networks
By Owen Hughes published
Built from a single erbium atom, a hybrid quantum bit encodes data magnetically and beams it through fiber-optic wavelengths.

Quantum computing will make cryptography obsolete. But computer scientists are working to make them unhackable.
By Joanna Thompson published
When quantum computers become commonplace, current cryptographic systems will become obsolete. Scientists are racing to get ahead of the problem and keep our data secure.

IBM unveils two new quantum processors — including one that offers a blueprint for fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet published
IBM has released two new complex quantum processors alongside a new framework that would allow us to track the first demonstration of quantum advantage.
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