There have been significant developments recently in Quantum Mechanics. Einstein was talking about this field of science when he said "God doesn't play dice". Quantum Mechanics is seriously weird and counter-intuitive.

Quantum Computing

This recent Wired story reports the demonstration of the D-Wave Systems 16-qubit, specific-purpose quantum computer and includes an interview with the father of quantum computing, Oxford University theoretical physicist David Deutsch, who "...invented the idea of the quantum computer in the 1970s as a way to experimentally test the "Many Universes Theory" of quantum physics -- the idea that when a particle changes, it changes into all possible forms, across multiple universes."

Quantum Cryptography

Quantum Crypto is more developed that Quantum Computing and has been commercially implemented on optical networks by MagiQ Technologies. This technology employs Heisenberg's Uncertaintly Principle to achieve a highly secure crypto solution.

Interestingly, Quantum Computing has the potential to make current mathematical approaches to cryptography redundant, as the massive parallel computing power available will render current algorithms vulnerable to brute force attacks. However, Quantum Crypto is not beleived to be vulnerable to this type of attack.

While these are both transformational technologies, Quantum Computing is possibly a boot-strapping technology. It appears to promise solutions to several currently intractable computational problems and to dramatically increase computer modelling capacity. Applying Quantum Computing to scientifc problems such as global climate modelling, carbon management, nanotechnology and nuclear fusion could lead to the exponential leap of scientific and technical capacity known as the Singularity.

Such a quantum leap in human intelligence augmentation will hopefully develop in time to be applied to the climate emergency. We, and our computers, will need to be as smart as possible to deal with this.