It
is in the laws of how quantum systems register and process
information that we are to find the measure of the universe.
Men used to measure distance by the length between their
elbow and outstretched fingers — the cubit. Now we
measure distances by the information contained in the light
emitted by two-level atoms— the quantum bit or qubit. — Seth
Lloyd
Edge Qubit
Dinner 2006
New
York City — March 23, 2006
| (standing,
from left:) Laura Chang, Editor, New York Times,
Science Times; Steve
Lohr, Technology Reporter, New YorkTimes; Seth
Lloyd, Physicist, MIT, Programming the Universe;
John Rennie, Editor, Scientific American; Jerry
Adler, Science Reporter, Newsweek; JB,
Tracy Day, Founder, New York Science Festival; John
Horgan, science writer; Chris
Anderson, TED Conferences; (seated, from left:) Brian
Greene, Physicist, Columbia, The Fabric of the
Cosmos; Adam
Bly, Publisher, Seed; Bob Guccione, Jr,.
Publisher, Discover |
Seth
Lloyd flew down from Cambridge as the keynote speaker
at the Edge Qubit dinner. He was supposed to
talk about quantum search engine algorithms. But he
forgot. Steve
Lohr, technology correspondent at The New York
Times was there and noted:
"I've
chatted with Seth before, of course, and even quoted
him, but I've never talked to him at this length.
He's a stitch. My personal favorite was his description
of teaching quantum computing to first graders: 'Arms
up, arms down.'"
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