1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000  Welcome to Crash News.  2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,120  Ever feel like your phone or laptop is lightning fast?  3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,360  - Oh yeah, they feel pretty quick these days.  4 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:09,200  - Well, buckle up, because we're about to talk  5 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,120  about something that could make even supercomputers  6 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:14,280  feel like, I don't know, an abacus.  7 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,560  - Right, we're talking a whole different league.  8 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:17,400  - Exactly.  9 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,320  Today, we're diving headfirst  10 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,320  into a potentially revolutionary announcement.  11 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:24,640  Microsoft says they've created  12 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,320  the world's first quantum processor,  13 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,560  powered by something called topological qubits.  14 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:31,960  It's named Majorana-1.  15 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,880  - Majorana-1, yeah, big news in the quantum world.  16 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,160  - And this isn't just a slightly faster chip,  17 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:38,760  it seems like a completely different way  18 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:40,200  of thinking about computation.  19 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,560  - It really is, a fundamentally different approach.  20 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,360  - You sent us a fascinating stack of articles on this,  21 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,520  and our mission today is basically to unpack  22 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,560  what this news really means.  23 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:55,080  Why are these topological qubits suddenly such a big deal?  24 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,680  And is this the dawn of a real quantum future?  25 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:00,520  Or maybe just another interesting step  26 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:02,680  on what seems like a very, very long road.  27 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,040  - That's the key question, isn't it?  28 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:05,600  Hype versus reality.  29 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:07,640  - We're gonna try and break down the complex science  30 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:08,720  bit by bit.  31 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,000  We'll use some analogies, maybe a fun fact or two,  32 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,120  just to keep things engaging.  33 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:14,080  - Sounds good.  34 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:15,880  Analogies definitely help with this stuff.  35 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:17,640  - Think of it like this.  36 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,120  The computers you use now, they work with bits.  37 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,480  Simple on or off switches, zero or one.  38 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,800  - Right, classical bits, very straightforward.  39 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,520  - Quantum computers, though, use qubits,  40 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:30,880  and these are way more flexible.  41 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,440  They can be on, off, or somehow both at the same time.  42 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,760  - That's the weird part, yeah, superposition.  43 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:38,600  - But the catch has always been that these qubits  44 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,880  are incredibly fragile, delicate.  45 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:43,360  - It's extremely delicate.  46 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:44,800  That's been the Achilles' heel.  47 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:46,760  - Or at least they were, potentially.  48 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,760  Microsoft's approach is considered a real moonshot  49 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:50,640  in the quantum world.  50 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,440  - It is, very ambitious.  51 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,600  High risk, potentially high reward.  52 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,040  - So we're gonna explore why that is.  53 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,400  Let's start right at the beginning.  54 00:01:58,400 --> 00:01:59,840  What even is quantum computing,  55 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,400  and why should you, our listener, care about it?  56 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:03,840  - Okay, yeah, perfect place to start.  57 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,480  So our classical computers, the ones in our phones,  58 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,760  laptops, even massive data centers,  59 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:11,800  they're amazing for most things.  60 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,160  - Sure, emails, spreadsheets, games.  61 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,640  - Right, but there are certain problems,  62 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:20,480  really complex ones, where even the biggest supercomputers  63 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:21,440  just hit a wall.  64 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:22,840  - Like what kind of problems?  65 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,720  - Imagine trying to design a totally new material,  66 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,000  predicting exactly how every atom will behave,  67 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,480  or simulating precisely how a complex drug molecule  68 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,200  interacts with proteins in your body.  69 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,360  - Okay, yeah, that sounds incredibly complex.  70 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:37,200  - It is.  71 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,000  For some of these problems, a classical computer  72 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,440  would literally take longer than the age of the universe  73 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:42,660  to find the answer.  74 00:02:42,660 --> 00:02:45,640  They just can't handle that level of complexity efficiently.  75 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:46,880  - Wow, okay.  76 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,080  So you just grind to a halt.  77 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,940  - Pretty much, and that's where quantum computing comes in.  78 00:02:50,940 --> 00:02:52,700  - It offers a completely different way  79 00:02:52,700 --> 00:02:56,300  to tackle these currently, well, impossible problems.  80 00:02:56,300 --> 00:02:58,000  - And then the payoff could be huge.  81 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:58,900  - Think about it.  82 00:02:58,900 --> 00:03:01,760  Designing self-healing materials from the ground up,  83 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,140  or developing hyper-efficient fertilizers  84 00:03:04,140 --> 00:03:06,300  for more sustainable agriculture,  85 00:03:06,300 --> 00:03:09,060  discovering new medicines or safer industrial--  86 00:03:09,060 --> 00:03:11,630  without years and years of lab work.  87 00:03:11,630 --> 00:03:14,170  - Those are some massive potential breakthroughs.  88 00:03:14,170 --> 00:03:15,930  - Exactly, these are the kinds of things  89 00:03:15,930 --> 00:03:18,470  quantum computing promises to unlock someday.  90 00:03:18,470 --> 00:03:20,230  - Okay, so what makes them so different?  91 00:03:20,230 --> 00:03:22,230  You mentioned qubits instead of bits.  92 00:03:22,230 --> 00:03:23,090  Let's break that down.  93 00:03:23,090 --> 00:03:25,310  - Right, so classical bits are simple,  94 00:03:25,310 --> 00:03:28,230  either a zero or a one, on or off.  95 00:03:28,230 --> 00:03:29,710  - Got it, binary.  96 00:03:29,710 --> 00:03:31,730  - Quantum computers use qubits,  97 00:03:31,730 --> 00:03:33,870  and qubit, because of quantum mechanics,  98 00:03:33,870 --> 00:03:36,310  isn't forced to be just a zero or a one.  99 00:03:36,310 --> 00:03:39,750  It can exist in a combination of both states simultaneously.  100 00:03:39,750 --> 00:03:42,190  - Both at once, how does that even work?  101 00:03:42,190 --> 00:03:45,270  - It's a quantum phenomenon called superposition.  102 00:03:45,270 --> 00:03:47,510  Think of it like a spinning coin before it lands.  103 00:03:47,510 --> 00:03:49,270  It's neither heads nor tails.  104 00:03:49,270 --> 00:03:51,430  It's kind of both until you measure it.  105 00:03:51,430 --> 00:03:52,990  - Okay, that's a bit mind-bending.  106 00:03:52,990 --> 00:03:54,670  So this superposition is the key.  107 00:03:54,670 --> 00:03:56,310  - It's one of the keys, yeah.  108 00:03:56,310 --> 00:03:59,190  This ability to hold multiple values at once  109 00:03:59,190 --> 00:04:01,230  allows quantum computers to explore  110 00:04:01,230 --> 00:04:04,370  a vast number of possibilities simultaneously  111 00:04:04,370 --> 00:04:05,950  for certain types of problems.  112 00:04:05,950 --> 00:04:08,510  - Ah, so instead of checking paths one by one  113 00:04:08,510 --> 00:04:09,990  like a classical computer.  114 00:04:09,990 --> 00:04:12,190  - The quantum computer can effectively check  115 00:04:12,190 --> 00:04:14,910  huge numbers of them all at the same time.  116 00:04:14,910 --> 00:04:17,270  That's where the potential for incredible speed ups  117 00:04:17,270 --> 00:04:18,110  comes from.  118 00:04:18,110 --> 00:04:19,310  - For specific problems though, right?  119 00:04:19,310 --> 00:04:20,370  Not for everything.  120 00:04:20,370 --> 00:04:22,670  - Exactly, it's not gonna make your web browsing  121 00:04:22,670 --> 00:04:25,630  faster necessarily, it's for these really complex  122 00:04:25,630 --> 00:04:27,670  simulation and optimization problems.  123 00:04:27,670 --> 00:04:29,850  But, there's a big but.  124 00:04:29,850 --> 00:04:32,370  - I sense the catch coming, the fragility thing.  125 00:04:32,370 --> 00:04:33,210  - You got it.  126 00:04:33,210 --> 00:04:36,730  - This quantum superposition state is incredibly delicate.  127 00:04:36,730 --> 00:04:40,730  Quipits are like divas, they need perfect conditions.  128 00:04:40,730 --> 00:04:42,270  - Frangel, how so?  129 00:04:42,270 --> 00:04:44,530  What makes them so difficult to work with?  130 00:04:44,530 --> 00:04:48,090  - They are extraordinarily sensitive to their environment.  131 00:04:48,090 --> 00:04:51,490  Even the tiniest disturbance, that little vibration,  132 00:04:51,490 --> 00:04:55,170  a stray bit of heat, a tiny fluctuation in a magnetic field  133 00:04:55,170 --> 00:04:57,010  can knock them out of their quantum state.  134 00:04:57,010 --> 00:04:58,810  - So they just stop being quantum.  135 00:04:58,810 --> 00:05:00,610  - Pretty much, it's called decoherence.  136 00:05:00,610 --> 00:05:02,530  The quipit loses its superposition,  137 00:05:02,530 --> 00:05:05,050  it's quantum magic, and collapses back  138 00:05:05,050 --> 00:05:07,210  into behaving like a regular old zero or one.  139 00:05:07,210 --> 00:05:08,970  - And then you lose the whole advantage.  140 00:05:08,970 --> 00:05:10,850  - Boom, calculation ruined.  141 00:05:10,850 --> 00:05:12,490  It's like trying to build, I don't know,  142 00:05:12,490 --> 00:05:14,970  a delicate ice sculpture in the middle of a heat wave.  143 00:05:14,970 --> 00:05:15,910  - Okay, I see.  144 00:05:15,910 --> 00:05:19,270  So building a stable, reliable quantum computer  145 00:05:19,270 --> 00:05:22,010  is a massive challenge because of this decoherence.  146 00:05:22,010 --> 00:05:24,790  - It's arguably the biggest challenge the field faces,  147 00:05:24,790 --> 00:05:26,690  keeping these quibits stable long enough  148 00:05:26,690 --> 00:05:28,450  to do useful calculations.  149 00:05:28,450 --> 00:05:30,610  - So this is where Microsoft's approach comes in,  150 00:05:30,610 --> 00:05:31,650  being different.  151 00:05:31,650 --> 00:05:34,410  They're trying to tackle this fragility head on  152 00:05:34,410 --> 00:05:36,010  with topological quibits.  153 00:05:36,010 --> 00:05:37,290  - Precisely.  154 00:05:37,290 --> 00:05:39,450  While lots of other very smart people  155 00:05:39,450 --> 00:05:42,470  at places like Google, IBM, and various startups  156 00:05:42,470 --> 00:05:45,250  are making really good progress with other quibit types,  157 00:05:45,250 --> 00:05:47,930  like superconducting circuits or tracked ions.  158 00:05:47,930 --> 00:05:48,890  - Right, I've heard of those.  159 00:05:48,890 --> 00:05:50,650  - They're essentially trying to build  160 00:05:50,650 --> 00:05:53,170  better and better refrigerators and shielding  161 00:05:53,170 --> 00:05:55,130  to protect those fragile quibits  162 00:05:55,130 --> 00:05:58,170  and developing complex error correction codes.  163 00:05:58,170 --> 00:06:01,690  Microsoft took a step back, maybe over a decade ago,  164 00:06:01,690 --> 00:06:04,610  and pursued a radically different path.  165 00:06:04,610 --> 00:06:07,190  Their idea was, what if we could build a quibit  166 00:06:07,190 --> 00:06:09,690  that is inherently protected from noise?  167 00:06:09,690 --> 00:06:10,570  - Built-in protection.  168 00:06:10,570 --> 00:06:13,150  - Yeah, using principles from a field of physics  169 00:06:13,150 --> 00:06:14,210  called topology.  170 00:06:14,210 --> 00:06:16,930  It's like, instead of building your house on shifting sand  171 00:06:16,930 --> 00:06:18,330  and then trying to engineer.  172 00:06:18,330 --> 00:06:19,750  near earthquake-proof walls,  173 00:06:19,750 --> 00:06:21,950  Microsoft decided to find bedrock first.  174 00:06:21,950 --> 00:06:22,790  - That makes sense.  175 00:06:22,790 --> 00:06:24,750  So this was a long-term bet for them.  176 00:06:24,750 --> 00:06:25,590  - Oh, absolutely.  177 00:06:25,590 --> 00:06:29,710  They set up Station Q back in, I think it was 2012,  178 00:06:29,710 --> 00:06:32,290  a dedicated research group purely focused  179 00:06:32,290 --> 00:06:36,670  on making these theoretical topological qubits a reality.  180 00:06:36,670 --> 00:06:38,590  It's been a long, hard road.  181 00:06:38,590 --> 00:06:40,270  - So let's get into these topological qubits.  182 00:06:40,270 --> 00:06:41,270  What makes them different?  183 00:06:41,270 --> 00:06:43,390  What is this topological protection?  184 00:06:43,390 --> 00:06:47,110  - Okay, the core idea is to encode the quantum information,  185 00:06:47,110 --> 00:06:50,070  the zeros and ones, and the superposition state,  186 00:06:50,070 --> 00:06:53,050  not in a single, easily disturbed property,  187 00:06:53,050 --> 00:06:56,310  but in the overall structure, the topology of the system.  188 00:06:56,310 --> 00:06:58,190  - The topology, like the shape.  189 00:06:58,190 --> 00:06:59,230  - Kind of, yeah.  190 00:06:59,230 --> 00:07:01,070  Think about a coffee mug versus a donut.  191 00:07:01,070 --> 00:07:02,350  Topologically, they're the same.  192 00:07:02,350 --> 00:07:03,510  They both have one hole.  193 00:07:03,510 --> 00:07:04,750  - Okay, I think I follow.  194 00:07:04,750 --> 00:07:06,950  - Now imagine you slightly squished the donut,  195 00:07:06,950 --> 00:07:08,390  still has one hole, right?  196 00:07:08,390 --> 00:07:10,570  The property of having one hole is robust  197 00:07:10,570 --> 00:07:12,170  against small local changes.  198 00:07:12,170 --> 00:07:14,150  It's protected by the overall shape.  199 00:07:14,150 --> 00:07:15,030  - Ah, I see.  200 00:07:15,030 --> 00:07:17,390  So the information isn't easily erased by just poking  201 00:07:17,390 --> 00:07:18,230  it a little bit.  202 00:07:18,230 --> 00:07:19,170  - That's the concept.  203 00:07:19,170 --> 00:07:21,910  Topological qubits aim to store quantum information  204 00:07:21,910 --> 00:07:23,190  in these protected features,  205 00:07:23,190 --> 00:07:25,670  making them naturally resistant to local noise  206 00:07:25,670 --> 00:07:27,790  and disturbances that would easily kill  207 00:07:27,790 --> 00:07:29,230  a conventional qubit.  208 00:07:29,230 --> 00:07:31,910  - That sounds incredibly clever if it works.  209 00:07:31,910 --> 00:07:33,790  So how do they actually do that?  210 00:07:33,790 --> 00:07:38,550  I keep seeing this term, Majorana Zero Modes, MZMs.  211 00:07:38,550 --> 00:07:39,870  Sounds like something out of science fiction.  212 00:07:39,870 --> 00:07:40,910  - It does, doesn't it?  213 00:07:40,910 --> 00:07:42,670  It's pretty exotic physics.  214 00:07:42,670 --> 00:07:46,590  Majorana fermions are these weird theoretical particles  215 00:07:46,590 --> 00:07:48,610  or rather quasi particles in this context  216 00:07:48,610 --> 00:07:50,350  that are their own anti-particles.  217 00:07:50,350 --> 00:07:51,510  - Your own anti-particle.  218 00:07:51,510 --> 00:07:52,430  Okay, that's weird.  219 00:07:52,430 --> 00:07:53,890  - Yeah, it's mind bending stuff.  220 00:07:53,890 --> 00:07:57,070  But the crucial thing is that under very specific,  221 00:07:57,070 --> 00:07:59,550  very carefully engineered conditions,  222 00:07:59,550 --> 00:08:02,730  pairs of these Majoranas can appear at the ends  223 00:08:02,730 --> 00:08:05,230  of tiny specially made wires.  224 00:08:05,230 --> 00:08:07,870  These are the Majorana Zero Modes, the MZMs.  225 00:08:07,870 --> 00:08:09,390  - And these MZMs are the key.  226 00:08:09,390 --> 00:08:10,870  - They are the building blocks.  227 00:08:10,870 --> 00:08:13,790  Think of a pair of MZMs at opposite ends of a wire  228 00:08:13,790 --> 00:08:17,150  as encoding one bit of quantum information.  229 00:08:17,150 --> 00:08:19,730  But the information isn't located at one end or the other.  230 00:08:19,730 --> 00:08:22,630  It's sort of smeared out, shared non-locally between them.  231 00:08:22,630 --> 00:08:23,670  - Shared between them.  232 00:08:23,670 --> 00:08:26,270  - Exactly, and because it's non-local,  233 00:08:26,270 --> 00:08:29,510  a local disturbance like noise hitting just one end  234 00:08:29,510 --> 00:08:32,870  of the wire can't easily destroy the information.  235 00:08:32,870 --> 00:08:35,030  It's protected by this topological property.  236 00:08:35,030 --> 00:08:38,030  It's like having a secret stored in two different safes.  237 00:08:38,030 --> 00:08:40,850  You need to access both correctly to get the whole secret.  238 00:08:40,850 --> 00:08:41,690  - Okay, wow.  239 00:08:41,690 --> 00:08:43,310  So Microsoft's Majorana One chip  240 00:08:43,310 --> 00:08:45,830  is actually built using these things.  241 00:08:45,830 --> 00:08:47,070  - That's the claim.  242 00:08:47,070 --> 00:08:48,790  They say Majorana One is powered  243 00:08:48,790 --> 00:08:52,390  by a topological core architecture built using these MZMs.  244 00:08:52,390 --> 00:08:53,650  - How did they manage to create them?  245 00:08:53,650 --> 00:08:55,310  It sounds incredibly difficult.  246 00:08:55,310 --> 00:08:58,550  - It is, it involved a massive material science breakthrough.  247 00:08:58,550 --> 00:09:00,750  They had to create a whole new state of matter  248 00:09:00,750 --> 00:09:02,830  called a topological superconductor.  249 00:09:02,830 --> 00:09:06,070  - A new state of matter, like solid, liquid, gas?  250 00:09:06,070 --> 00:09:06,910  - Yeah.  251 00:09:06,910 --> 00:09:07,750  - Topological superconductor?  252 00:09:07,750 --> 00:09:10,230  - Sort of, yeah, it's an exotic quantum state.  253 00:09:10,230 --> 00:09:12,630  They did this by combining specific materials,  254 00:09:12,630 --> 00:09:15,190  typically a semiconductor like indium arsenide  255 00:09:15,190 --> 00:09:17,230  and a superconductor like aluminum,  256 00:09:17,230 --> 00:09:19,670  in very precisely structured nanowires.  257 00:09:19,670 --> 00:09:21,910  - Nanowires, so incredibly tiny wires.  258 00:09:21,910 --> 00:09:23,190  - Extremely tiny.  259 00:09:23,190 --> 00:09:24,570  Then they have to cool this whole thing down  260 00:09:24,570 --> 00:09:27,070  to temperatures just fractions of a degree.  261 00:09:27,070 --> 00:09:28,000  above absolute zero.  262 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,640  - Minus 273 Celsius, that cold.  263 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:31,600  - Pretty much, yeah.  264 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,480  And apply incredibly precise magnetic fields.  265 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:36,880  Only when all these conditions are just right  266 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,840  do these topological superconducting nanowires form  267 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,380  and the MZMs are expected to appear at the ends.  268 00:09:42,380 --> 00:09:44,580  - Man, that sounds like an engineering nightmare.  269 00:09:44,580 --> 00:09:46,920  The precision required must be immense.  270 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:47,980  - Absolutely monumental.  271 00:09:47,980 --> 00:09:50,800  It's taken them years and years of painstaking work  272 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,160  just to get the materials and the device fabrication right.  273 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,480  - Okay, here's a fun fact I read.  274 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,800  A single qubit is encoded in a pair  275 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:00,800  of these Majorana modes, right?  276 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,560  And the information is delocalized.  277 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:04,400  - That's right.  278 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,800  The quantum state, like whether it's a zero or one or both,  279 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:08,480  isn't just sitting in one spot.  280 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,520  It's shared across those two separated Majorana modes  281 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:12,680  at the ends of the wire.  282 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:14,320  It's this delocalization  283 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:16,240  that provides the topological protection.  284 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:17,280  - Truly bizarre.  285 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:19,760  Okay, let's do a quick pop quiz for you listening.  286 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:21,040  Based on what we've just discussed,  287 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:22,880  what are those special quasi-particles,  288 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:24,720  those exotic things at the heart  289 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:26,800  of Microsoft's topological qubits?  290 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:28,080  - Give you a second to think.  291 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,080  The answer is Majorana zero modes or MZMs.  292 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,000  - Nice one.  293 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,160  So, okay, they've potentially created these MZMs  294 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:37,480  in the Majorana one chip.  295 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:39,680  What are the key innovations here?  296 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:41,420  What makes this chip special?  297 00:10:41,420 --> 00:10:44,460  - Well, the biggest innovation is arguably demonstrating  298 00:10:44,460 --> 00:10:47,240  this topological core architecture actually working  299 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:48,760  even at a small scale.  300 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,080  Creating that specific topological state of matter  301 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:52,520  on demand in a chip.  302 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:53,600  - The foundation itself.  303 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:54,720  - Exactly.  304 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,420  This state is what allows the MZMs to exist  305 00:10:57,420 --> 00:10:59,960  and crucially shields the quantum information  306 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:01,100  they encode from noise.  307 00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:03,680  It's like building that soundproof room  308 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:04,880  we talked about earlier.  309 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:06,320  And because the information is stored  310 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,480  in this tricky spread out topologically protected way,  311 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,720  it's just inherently harder to mess up accidentally.  312 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:13,960  Like a really well encrypted message.  313 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:15,280  - And I also read the chip itself  314 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,720  is physically quite small, palm size.  315 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,480  - Yeah, the reports suggest it's remarkably compact  316 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,020  compared to the installations for other quantum computers.  317 00:11:24,020 --> 00:11:25,040  You often see pictures  318 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,620  of these huge chandelier like structures hanging  319 00:11:27,620 --> 00:11:30,040  and massive refrigerators that take up a whole room.  320 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:31,640  - Right, those dilution fridges.  321 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,120  - Exactly, if Majorana one is truly palm sized,  322 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,200  even with its necessary cooling,  323 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,540  that's a big step towards practicality.  324 00:11:39,540 --> 00:11:41,280  You could potentially imagine these fitting  325 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,560  into standard data center racks eventually.  326 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:45,720  - That's a huge potential advantage  327 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:47,040  for actually using these things.  328 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,300  - Absolutely, practicality and integration are key.  329 00:11:50,300 --> 00:11:53,980  So if this topological approach really pans out,  330 00:11:53,980 --> 00:11:55,660  what are the main advantages  331 00:11:55,660 --> 00:11:58,420  over say the superconducting qubits  332 00:11:58,420 --> 00:12:00,360  that IBM and Google are working on?  333 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,380  - The biggest promise advantage is stability,  334 00:12:02,380 --> 00:12:04,420  leading to much lower error rates.  335 00:12:04,420 --> 00:12:07,340  Because of that built in topological protection,  336 00:12:07,340 --> 00:12:10,440  these qubits should be far less prone to decoherence.  337 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:11,680  - Less likely to pop.  338 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:14,140  - Right, and if your basic qubits are more reliable,  339 00:12:14,140 --> 00:12:16,340  you need much less overhead for error correction.  340 00:12:16,340 --> 00:12:17,180  - Error correction,  341 00:12:17,180 --> 00:12:18,720  that's where you use lots of physical qubits  342 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,360  just to make one reliable logical qubit, right?  343 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,420  - Exactly, other approaches might need hundreds,  344 00:12:24,420 --> 00:12:27,980  maybe thousands of noisy physical qubits  345 00:12:27,980 --> 00:12:30,460  to create one stable logical qubit  346 00:12:30,460 --> 00:12:32,600  you can actually compute with.  347 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,900  Topological qubits, if they work as hoped, might dry.  348 00:12:35,900 --> 00:12:41,900  drastically reduce that ratio, maybe 10 physical for one logical, or even better eventually.  349 00:12:41,900 --> 00:12:42,900  That's the dream.  350 00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:45,440  Wow, that would make scaling up much more feasible.  351 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,060  That's the second major potential advantage, scalability.  352 00:12:49,060 --> 00:12:54,140  If you need fewer physical qubits per logical qubit, and the chip design itself is potentially  353 00:12:54,140 --> 00:12:59,220  more compact, it offers a clear path towards building machines with millions of logical  354 00:12:59,220 --> 00:13:00,580  qubits someday.  355 00:13:00,580 --> 00:13:03,680  Going from that skateboard to a rocket ship, as the analogy goes.  356 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:04,820  Something like that, yeah.  357 00:13:04,820 --> 00:13:08,160  It tackles the error problem fundamentally, rather than just trying to manage it with  358 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:09,260  brute force.  359 00:13:09,260 --> 00:13:11,380  And the third advantage you mentioned was practicality.  360 00:13:11,380 --> 00:13:12,380  Right.  361 00:13:12,380 --> 00:13:16,380  The smaller size, potentially simpler control mechanisms compared to managing thousands  362 00:13:16,380 --> 00:13:21,140  of error-correcting qubits could make it easier to integrate these processors into existing  363 00:13:21,140 --> 00:13:23,980  infrastructure, like Microsoft's Azure cloud.  364 00:13:23,980 --> 00:13:28,820  So you could actually rent quantum compute time online, making it accessible.  365 00:13:28,820 --> 00:13:35,100  That's the vision, democratizing quantum computing power, making it available to researchers  366 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:39,100  and companies without them needing to build their own quantum data center.  367 00:13:39,100 --> 00:13:41,820  Okay, this is painting a really exciting picture.  368 00:13:41,820 --> 00:13:47,900  If Majorana 1 or its successors live up to this potential, what kind of real-world problems  369 00:13:47,900 --> 00:13:49,720  could they actually solve?  370 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:50,980  What are the implications?  371 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:54,460  The possibilities are pretty staggering across many fields.  372 00:13:54,460 --> 00:13:59,620  We touched on material science, designing new catalysts for greener chemical processes,  373 00:13:59,620 --> 00:14:04,500  better materials for batteries or solar cells, maybe even room-temperature superconductors  374 00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:05,500  eventually.  375 00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:06,500  Room-temperature superconductors.  376 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:07,500  That would change everything.  377 00:14:07,500 --> 00:14:08,920  It would be revolutionary.  378 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,180  Then there's drug discovery.  379 00:14:11,180 --> 00:14:15,580  Simulating how potential drug candidates interact with targets in the body could slash development  380 00:14:15,580 --> 00:14:17,460  times and costs?  381 00:14:17,460 --> 00:14:21,900  Maybe lead to truly personalized medicine based on your specific DNA?  382 00:14:21,900 --> 00:14:24,060  Designing drugs specifically for individuals.  383 00:14:24,060 --> 00:14:25,060  Wow.  384 00:14:25,060 --> 00:14:28,180  It's a long-term goal, but quantum simulation could enable it.  385 00:14:28,180 --> 00:14:31,820  Climate modeling is another huge one, creating much more accurate predictions of climate  386 00:14:31,820 --> 00:14:33,500  change and its impacts.  387 00:14:33,500 --> 00:14:35,860  Better models mean better decisions, hopefully.  388 00:14:35,860 --> 00:14:36,860  Hopefully.  389 00:14:36,860 --> 00:14:42,300  Financial modeling too, optimizing complex investment portfolios, pricing exotic derivatives,  390 00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:44,260  assessing risk much more accurately.  391 00:14:44,260 --> 00:14:45,740  Okay, finance too.  392 00:14:45,740 --> 00:14:46,740  What about AI?  393 00:14:46,740 --> 00:14:48,340  AI is a big one.  394 00:14:48,340 --> 00:14:52,260  Quantum machine learning algorithms could potentially process data in fundamentally  395 00:14:52,260 --> 00:14:57,100  new ways, maybe leading to breakthroughs in pattern recognition or optimization tasks  396 00:14:57,100 --> 00:14:59,120  that are beyond current AI.  397 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:04,540  It really does sound like going from, I don't know, a bicycle to a supersonic jet for certain  398 00:15:04,540 --> 00:15:05,540  really hard problems.  399 00:15:05,540 --> 00:15:07,160  That's a pretty good analogy, yeah.  400 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,780  For the right kind of problem, the jump in capability could be that dramatic.  401 00:15:10,780 --> 00:15:13,260  So how does this compare directly to what others are doing?  402 00:15:13,260 --> 00:15:19,580  You mentioned IBM's Condor chip with over a thousand qubits, Google's Sycamore or Willow.  403 00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:20,940  They have more qubits now, don't they?  404 00:15:20,940 --> 00:15:24,380  They do have significantly more physical qubits right now, yes.  405 00:15:24,380 --> 00:15:29,020  IBM's Osprey had 433, Condor hit 1,121.  406 00:15:29,020 --> 00:15:33,840  Google has demonstrated quantum supremacy with fewer qubits but complex circuits.  407 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,880  These are incredible engineering achievements.  408 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:37,520  But they're using the more fragile type.  409 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:42,780  They're primarily using superconducting transmon qubits, which yes, are inherently quite sensitive  410 00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:44,580  to noise and require substantial.  411 00:15:44,580 --> 00:15:49,530  error correction. It's a numbers game combined with sophisticated error management.  412 00:15:49,530 --> 00:15:52,570  So Microsoft's approach is fundamentally different in philosophy.  413 00:15:52,570 --> 00:15:57,850  Exactly. It's quality over quantity, initially at least. Microsoft is betting that achieving  414 00:15:57,850 --> 00:16:03,530  inherent qubit stability, even with fewer qubits to start, is the better long-term  415 00:16:03,530 --> 00:16:08,730  path to building a truly scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer.  416 00:16:08,730 --> 00:16:11,050  Like building with bricks versus building with, I don't know,  417 00:16:11,050 --> 00:16:12,810  soap bubbles that you constantly have to patch up.  418 00:16:12,810 --> 00:16:18,170  Ah, maybe. Or maybe like comparing those delicate glass figurines to more robust rubber balls.  419 00:16:18,170 --> 00:16:23,050  The goal with topological qubits is to make the fundamental component much tougher.  420 00:16:23,050 --> 00:16:25,850  Focus on the foundation so you can build the skyscraper later.  421 00:16:25,850 --> 00:16:30,810  And just demonstrating this, even with a few qubits, is a big scientific deal itself.  422 00:16:30,810 --> 00:16:35,930  Oh, absolutely. Forget the computing aspect for a moment. If they have truly created and controlled  423 00:16:35,930 --> 00:16:39,610  Majorana zero modes and demonstrated topological protection,  424 00:16:39,610 --> 00:16:43,050  that's a Nobel Prize-worthy discovery in fundamental physics.  425 00:16:43,050 --> 00:16:48,250  It would be the first experimental confirmation of a new phase of matter and a way to encode  426 00:16:48,250 --> 00:16:53,850  information predicted by theorists decades ago using these exotic things called non-abelian  427 00:16:53,850 --> 00:16:59,130  Enions, which Majoranas are an example of. It validates a whole field of theoretical physics.  428 00:16:59,130 --> 00:17:03,050  Now we should probably address the history here. I remember some controversy. Wasn't  429 00:17:03,050 --> 00:17:07,050  there a paper claiming Majoranas that got retracted a few years ago?  430 00:17:07,050 --> 00:17:12,730  Yes, that's crucial context. You're right. Back in 2018, a team from Delft University,  431 00:17:12,730 --> 00:17:17,210  collaborating with Microsoft, published a high-profile paper in Nature claiming  432 00:17:17,210 --> 00:17:20,090  strong evidence for MZMs. Big news at the time.  433 00:17:20,090 --> 00:17:25,130  Huge news. But later, other scientists raised serious questions about the data analysis.  434 00:17:25,130 --> 00:17:32,250  Eventually, after intense scrutiny and reanalysis, the authors themselves retracted the paper in 2021.  435 00:17:32,250 --> 00:17:34,330  Ouch. That must have been a blow.  436 00:17:34,330 --> 00:17:37,850  It was a significant setback and made the whole community, understandably,  437 00:17:37,850 --> 00:17:42,410  much more cautious and skeptical about any subsequent claims. It highlighted just how  438 00:17:42,410 --> 00:17:47,450  difficult these experiments are and how easy it is to see signals that look like Majoranas but aren't.  439 00:17:47,450 --> 00:17:51,530  So Microsoft's StationQ team really had to go back to the drawing board after that.  440 00:17:51,530 --> 00:17:56,330  They definitely spent the intervening years rigorously refining everything their materials  441 00:17:56,330 --> 00:18:00,890  growth, the device design, their measurement techniques, and especially their data analysis  442 00:18:00,890 --> 00:18:03,290  protocols to be absolutely sure this time.  443 00:18:03,290 --> 00:18:09,690  So this new 2025 paper underlined the Majorana 1 announcement. It faced extra scrutiny.  444 00:18:09,690 --> 00:18:14,570  You can bet on it. Reports suggest the peer review process for the new Nutra Physics paper  445 00:18:14,570 --> 00:18:20,170  was exceptionally thorough. And interestingly, the paper itself is apparently quite cautious  446 00:18:20,170 --> 00:18:21,050  in its language.  447 00:18:21,050 --> 00:18:21,770  How so?  448 00:18:21,770 --> 00:18:25,690  It focuses on demonstrating the successful fabrication of the device,  449 00:18:25,690 --> 00:18:30,090  showing it can be tuned into the specific regime where topological superconductivity  450 00:18:30,090 --> 00:18:34,810  and MZMs are expected to occur, and presenting measurements consistent with theoretical  451 00:18:34,810 --> 00:18:40,570  predictions. But it stops short of definitively claiming we have created a topological quibbit.  452 00:18:40,570 --> 00:18:45,690  Hmm, okay. But then Microsoft's public announcement did claim the world's first  453 00:18:45,690 --> 00:18:50,330  quantum processor powered by topological quibbits. That sounds like a stronger claim.  454 00:18:50,330 --> 00:18:53,210  Exactly. There's a noticeable gap between the...  455 00:18:53,490 --> 00:18:58,410  careful, nuanced language typically found in a peer-reviewed scientific paper and the  456 00:18:58,410 --> 00:19:01,890  more assertive claims in the press release and marketing materials.  457 00:19:01,890 --> 00:19:03,010  Why the difference?  458 00:19:03,010 --> 00:19:06,490  This has definitely been a point of discussion in the scientific community.  459 00:19:06,490 --> 00:19:11,650  The ideal is that public claims are fully backed by the peer-reviewed evidence.  460 00:19:11,650 --> 00:19:15,930  Microsoft's explanation, primarily through talks by Chet and Nayak, who heads their hardware  461 00:19:15,930 --> 00:19:20,550  effort, is that they gathered further decisive experimental evidence after the paper was  462 00:19:20,550 --> 00:19:22,930  submitted but before it was published.  463 00:19:22,930 --> 00:19:25,770  Ah, so newer data wasn't in the published paper.  464 00:19:25,770 --> 00:19:26,770  Apparently so.  465 00:19:26,770 --> 00:19:30,810  Nayak has been presenting this newer data at conferences, showing results from tuning  466 00:19:30,810 --> 00:19:35,690  the devices, performing measurements they say confirm the topological phase, and even  467 00:19:35,690 --> 00:19:40,250  initial steps towards braiding operations, which would be key for computation.  468 00:19:40,250 --> 00:19:44,550  Their stance is, the internal evidence is stronger than what made it into that first  469 00:19:44,550 --> 00:19:45,550  publication.  470 00:19:45,550 --> 00:19:51,070  Okay, so it's a bit of a "watch this space" situation, waiting for more published details  471 00:19:51,070 --> 00:19:52,730  on that newer evidence.  472 00:19:52,730 --> 00:19:53,730  Pretty much.  473 00:19:53,730 --> 00:19:58,510  The initial paper is a significant step, demonstrating the hardware platform, but the definitive  474 00:19:58,510 --> 00:20:04,390  proof of robust, controllable typological qubits is likely still unfolding in ongoing  475 00:20:04,390 --> 00:20:06,450  experiments and future publications.  476 00:20:06,450 --> 00:20:09,490  Right, so where does Major Honor 1 actually stand now?  477 00:20:09,490 --> 00:20:11,830  How many qubits does it have, and what's the outlook?  478 00:20:11,830 --> 00:20:15,970  The initial reports stated Major Honor 1 has 8 qubits.  479 00:20:15,970 --> 00:20:21,370  Now 8 qubits, even if they are perfectly stable topological qubits, isn't enough to solve  480 00:20:21,370 --> 00:20:23,910  those world-changing problems we talked about.  481 00:20:23,910 --> 00:20:24,910  Not even close.  482 00:20:24,910 --> 00:20:27,350  Okay, so still very early days in terms of scale.  483 00:20:27,350 --> 00:20:28,750  Very early.  484 00:20:28,750 --> 00:20:33,410  Demonstrating the principle is huge, but scaling this architecture up to hundreds, thousands,  485 00:20:33,410 --> 00:20:37,890  or the envisioned millions of qubits presents enormous engineering challenges.  486 00:20:37,890 --> 00:20:42,330  They need to figure out how to manufacture these complex devices reliably, how to connect  487 00:20:42,330 --> 00:20:46,850  and control large numbers of them, how to perform quantum operations like braiding.  488 00:20:46,850 --> 00:20:47,890  It's a long road ahead.  489 00:20:47,890 --> 00:20:49,610  Does Microsoft have a roadmap for this?  490 00:20:49,610 --> 00:20:50,610  They do.  491 00:20:50,610 --> 00:20:55,370  Think about aiming for real-world utility and integration with Azure Quantum, their  492 00:20:55,370 --> 00:20:58,650  cloud platform, maybe in the late 2020s.  493 00:20:58,650 --> 00:21:03,370  The ultimate vision of a million-qubit machine tackling major industrial problems is likely  494 00:21:03,370 --> 00:21:06,110  something for the 2030s or potentially even beyond.  495 00:21:06,110 --> 00:21:08,290  It's a marathon, not a sprint.  496 00:21:08,290 --> 00:21:09,290  Got it.  497 00:21:09,290 --> 00:21:11,770  Okay, one last pop quiz before we wrap up.  498 00:21:11,770 --> 00:21:13,850  We've used this word a lot.  499 00:21:13,850 --> 00:21:17,850  Why is Microsoft's approach called topological quantum computing?  500 00:21:17,850 --> 00:21:20,770  All right, think back to that donut analogy.  501 00:21:20,770 --> 00:21:24,930  It's called topological because the quantum information is encoded and protected by the  502 00:21:24,930 --> 00:21:29,690  fundamental topology of the system, making it inherently resistant to local errors and  503 00:21:29,690 --> 00:21:30,690  noise.  504 00:21:30,690 --> 00:21:31,690  Perfect.  505 00:21:31,690 --> 00:21:35,030  So stepping back and looking at the big picture here, what's the overall significance of this  506 00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:39,250  Majorana 1 announcement, even with all the caveats and a long road ahead?  507 00:21:39,250 --> 00:21:44,890  I think it represents a really bold, ambitious attempt to solve the fundamental problem plaguing  508 00:21:44,890 --> 00:21:46,510  quantum computing.  509 00:21:46,510 --> 00:21:50,210  The trade-off between qubit quantity and qubit quality or stability.  510 00:21:50,210 --> 00:21:52,030  Trying to get both at the same time eventually.  511 00:21:52,030 --> 00:21:57,030  Right, by focusing on building inherently stable qubits from the ground up.  512 00:21:57,030 --> 00:22:01,890  Whether they ultimately succeed in scaling this specific Majorana-based approach or not,  513 00:22:01,890 --> 00:22:02,390  the research it's...  514 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,400  is pushing the boundaries of physics, materials, science, and engineering.  515 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,400  Learning things, even if the final goal changes.  516 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,400  Exactly. It's driving our understanding of these exotic quantum phenomena  517 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,400  and forcing innovation in measurement and fabrication.  518 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:22,400  It really is this amazing convergence of so many different scientific and engineering disciplines.  519 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:28,400  So this tiny chip, Majorana 1, it holds a lot of potential, a lot of hope, even if it's just the beginning.  520 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:33,400  Immense potential, yes. It's a crucial first step, perhaps, on a path towards quantum computers  521 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,400  that could genuinely move out of the labs and into the world  522 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,400  to tackle challenges we can barely even imagine solving today.  523 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:45,400  Eight qubits won't change the world tomorrow, but it might just be the cornerstone of a technology that could.  524 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,400  Okay, so what does all this mean for you, the listener, trying to make sense of it all?  525 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:53,400  Well, Microsoft's Majorana 1 chip is definitely a fascinating development.  526 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:58,400  A real glimpse into a possible future of quantum computing that's powerful and stable.  527 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,400  Yeah, it's one possible future, and a very interesting one.  528 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,400  It also really highlights how science progresses, right?  529 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:13,400  There are these bold claims, huge excitement, but also rigorous scrutiny, careful checking,  530 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,400  and sometimes, yeah, setbacks and debates along the way.  531 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,400  That's the scientific process in action. Healthy skepticism is key.  532 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:25,400  Hopefully, this deep dive is giving you a clearer picture of what topological qubits are all about,  533 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,400  the science or the claimed science behind Majorana 1,  534 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,400  and why it's got people in the quantum field talking so much.  535 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,400  There's definitely a lot to talk about.  536 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:39,400  Now, if your curiosity has peaked and you want to go deeper, we've really just scratched the surface here.  537 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,400  Quantum computing is a huge field.  538 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:42,400  Oh yeah, rabbit holes galore.  539 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:48,400  You could read up more on superposition, entanglement, another key quantum concept we didn't even get into much,  540 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,400  or these topological phases of matter, the whole history of quantum computing.  541 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:53,400  It's fascinating stuff.  542 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,400  Definitely worth exploring if you're interested.  543 00:23:55,400 --> 00:24:03,400  And if you enjoyed this breakdown, if you like these deep dives into complex, sometimes confusing, but important topics,  544 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,400  there are a few simple, free ways you can support the show.  545 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,400  Yep, always appreciate the support.  546 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,400  You can rate and like us on whatever platform you're listening on right now.  547 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,400  That really helps other people discover the show.  548 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,400  Hit subscribe so you don't miss our next deep dive.  549 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,400  Takes just a second.  550 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:25,400  We also have a growing community over on Discord where you can chat with other listeners, ask questions, continue the conversation.  551 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,400  The link for that is in the show notes.  552 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:28,400  Yeah, come join the discussion.  553 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:34,400  And finally, if you want to directly support the creation of more content like this, you can become a patron.  554 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,400  All the details for that are also in the show notes.  555 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,400  We appreciate any support you can offer.  556 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,400  Big thanks to everyone who does.  557 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,400  Okay, so here's a final thought to allow you with.  558 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:50,400  If Microsoft's big bet, their moonshot with topological qubits, actually pays off down the line,  559 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,400  how radically do you think that could reshape things?  560 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,400  Industries, science, maybe even daily life?  561 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,400  What currently impossible problems might suddenly become solvable?  562 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:01,400  Something to ponder.  563 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,400  It's a fascinating question to think about.  564 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,400  The potential is mind-boggling.  565 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,400  It really is.  566 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,400  Thanks for taking this deep dive with us today.  567 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,400  Until next time, keep exploring.