A quantum computer may have solved a problem in minutes that would take the fastest conventional supercomputer more than 10,000 years. A draft of a paper by Google researchers laying out the achievement leaked in recent days, setting off an avalanche of news coverage and speculation.

Microsoft Build, the company's annual developer conference is in full swing with a bunch of announcements.It's shame that Google and Microsoft can't get their act together and not run their events concurrently as I'm sure there are developers that work across both platforms. Build kicked off ahead of Google I/O and the opening day was filled wth interesting revelations of thee future of Microsoft's software and services stack.

Quantum mechanics deals with the mathematical description of the motion and interaction of subatomic particles, incorporating the concepts of quantization of energy, wave–particle duality, the uncertainty principle, and the correspondence principle.

If you just pulled a face like a perplexed and and mildly agitated monkey, this video from the exurb1a YouTube channel may provide some elucidation. It attempts to explains quantum mechanics using a concept everybody can understand: ducks.

In a hot tub in 2012, physicist Seth Lloyd pitched a quantum internet application to Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page. He called it Quoogle: a search engine that, using mathematics based on the physics of subatomic particles, returns results without ever actually knowing the query. Such an advance would require an entirely new kind of memory, called qRAM, or quantum random access memory.

A team of researchers at the University of Sydney and Microsoft just made a "microcircuit" using an entirely new phase of matter (yes you read that right), based on a theory that was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.

This is incredible.

Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that explains the behaviour of matter and energy at the atomic scale. So does "quantum technology" just mean technology based on very small things? Is it just a cool-sounding synonym for nanotechnology? No!

We are one step closer to a quantum internet, thanks to a team of Aussie researchers who have worked out how to dramatically improve the storage time of a vital component: telecom-compatible quantum memory.

Here's what that means.

There are weeks where it seems like every piece of physics news mentions quantum computing -- but we are nowhere near a quantum iPhone. You probably remember that computers can consist of billions of nanometre-scale transistors etched into silicon. Those chips used to be enormous, room-sized setups where instead of transistors, there were tubes the size of light bulbs. Physicists in the quantum computing world are still trying to pick out the best vacuum tubes.

Imagine if "big data" could predict the future, perhaps even stopping your servers from breaking down before it happens?

Sydney Scientists have demonstrated the ability to "see" the future of quantum systems, and used that knowledge to preempt their demise, in a major technical achievement they say could help bring quantum technology closer to reality.

Brief news items of note for Lifehacker readers, including: Australian scientists predict the future of quantum systems, Huawei Mate 9 Australian pricing, kitesurfer versus great white shark, why you need to get into Buddha Bowls.

A lot of stress is placed on the importance of science and technology skills for innovation in Australian enterprise and education. Innovation actually demands a cross-range of technical and non-technical skills, even more so in an age where the value of tech skills are diminished by the sheer number of people who posses them, a new report has found.

Much of the current research on the development of a quantum computer involves work at very low temperatures. The challenge to make them more practical for everyday use is to make them work at room temperature. Turns out, all you need is some mothballs.

For decades, quantum computing has been the preserve of research labs and multi-million dollar business institutions. Today, IBM made its working prototype quantum computer accessible via the internet -- and literally anyone can use it.

An international team of scientists has set a new record for the complexity possible on a quantum computing chip, bringing us one step closer to the ultra-secure telecommunications of the future.

Brief news items of note for Lifehacker readers, including: $30 Australian airfares from Tigerair, take a tour of Bristol’s Quantum Photonics lab, 50% off Black & Decker tools.