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By William Van Zyl (April 2021)
Icy vapour coils within the belly of the Golden Dragon. Beneath its gilded ribs, the temperature plunges below –200°C. The air trembles. Its gut is cold—unnaturally cold. The intestines of this metal beast are frozen solid, veins of liquid helium whispering through its heart. Even light slows here, atoms stiffen, reality itself holds its breath.
Yet it is in this frozen stillness that the Dragon awakens. At such merciless cold, obedience is absolute. Commands flow through its golden nerves at the speed of light. It twirls, spins, and dances through equations with supernatural grace—devouring complexity, solving problems so intricate that even Einstein might have bowed in reverence before it.
From afar, the creature hangs like an alien chandelier suspended in time—its body shimmering, its limbs gleaming with liquid gold. Up close, it looks alive: an intricate jungle of tubes, coils, and glass vessels, pulsating faintly as if breathing. It hums in an otherworldly frequency—half machine, half myth.
The core chamber—the power belly—rests in a tomb of absolute calm. No vibration. No heat. Crypto-cool. Inside, light and matter intertwine in silence, whispering in the strange language of probability. It is here, in this still heart, that the Dragon dreams.
This is not fantasy. This is one of Earth’s most advanced quantum computers—a prototype born from the collision of physics and ambition. Across secret laboratories around the world, a handful of these golden beasts are stirring. The race to create the first fully functional quantum mind is underway.
Each Dragon carries within it a constellation of processors—fifty to one hundred twenty quantum bits, or qubits—tiny particles balanced between existence and uncertainty. Unlike classical bits, which live in rigid certainty—ones or zeroes—these qubits inhabit both states at once, a shimmering paradox known as superposition.
Here, computation transcends logic. A million possibilities unfold simultaneously, woven into patterns invisible to ordinary thought. Add one qubit, and the power doubles. Add another, and reality itself begins to warp under the weight of its potential.
The Golden Dragon spins faster, its circuits glowing faintly in the darkness. It hums a low, resonant tone—a vibration of pure intelligence. Somewhere deep within, answers flicker like stars being born.
And for a brief, impossible moment, the Dragon dreams of infinity.
END OF INTRO.
I’m sharing some fascinating facts with you.
YouTube: Quantum Computers.
VIDEO: The future of Quantum Computing.
QUANTUM COMPUTING: The latest breakthroughs – 2021.
Table of Contents
Cryogenics: The Cooling of Quantum Computers
“N. Summers explains…that’s where the pumps would typically come in. The system gradually cools from top to bottom from 4 Kelvin – liquid-helium temperatures – to 800 milliKelvin, 100 milliKelvin, and finally 10 milliKelvin. Inside the canister, that’s 10 thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. The wires, meanwhile, carry RF-frequency signals down to the chip. These are then mapped onto the qubits, executing whatever program the research team wishes to run. The wiring is also designed to ensure that no extraneous noise – including heat – is transmitted to the quantum computer chip at the bottom.
To keep quantum computers stable, they need to be kept cold. That’s why the inside of D-Wave Systems’ quantum computer is -460 degrees Fahrenheit (-273.3 Celsius). According to Professor Catherine McGeoch at Amherst University, a quantum computer is “thousands of times” faster than a conventional computer.”
Credit: N Summers. Link to article: https://www.engadget.com/2018-01-09-this-is-what-a-50-qubit-quantum-computer-looks-like.html
Documentary CGTN (Chinese Quantum Computer development programme)
China Global Television Network, or CGTN, is an international media organisation launched on December 31, 2016. CGTN Documentary is a Chinese pay television channel operated by the Chinese State broadcaster China Central Television as part of the CGTN group of international channels, broadcasting documentaries in English. On April 27 2021, on the CGTN Documentary, New Zealand Sky Television broadcast a programme on China’s exploration of Quantum Computing research and development. I viewed it – this is where the inspiration for this article comes from. It is not only the quantum computers and the vast possibilities for the future that sparked my interest, but also the application of scientific skill and the intelligence humans have been endowed with that inspired this article. Humans are super talented at encoding and decoding.
World War 2: Japanese Cyphers
Here is a fascinating story of how the Americans deciphered the secret codes of the Japanese just after the attack on Pearl Harbour in 194.
PURPLE was an enticing, but quite tactically limited, window into Japanese planning and policy because of the peculiar nature of Japanese policymaking before the War. Early on, a better tactical window was the Japanese Fleet Code (an encoded cypher), called JN-25 by U.S. Navy cryptanalysts. Breaking into the version in use after December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbour) provided enough information to lead to U.S. naval victories in the Coral Sea and Midway battles, stopping the initial Japanese advances to the south and eliminating the bulk of Japanese naval air power. Later, broken JN-25 traffic also provided the schedule and routing of the plane Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto would be flying in during an inspection tour in the southwest Pacific, giving USAAF pilots a chance to ambush the officer who had conceived the Pearl Harbour attack. And still later, access to Japanese Army messages from Army communications traffic decrypts assisted in planning the island-hopping campaign to the Philippines and beyond.
Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_(cryptography)
Fragment of an original Japanese Type 97 “Purple” cypher machine on display at the United States National Security Agency’s National Cryptologic Museum located in Ft Meade, Maryland. The plaque at the base of the machine fragment reads: ” ‘Purple’ This is the largest of three surviving pieces of the famous Japanese diplomatic cypher machine. It was recovered from the wreckage of the Japanese embassy in Berlin, 1945.” Public Domain – U.S.
Back to the quantum computers of the future.
What is LOQC?
Linear Optical Quantum Computing, or Linear Optics Quantum Computation (LOQC), is a quantum computation paradigm that, under certain conditions (described below), allows universal quantum computation. LOQC uses photons as information carriers, mainly employs linear-optical elements or optical instruments (including reciprocal mirrors and waveplates) to process quantum information, and employs photon detectors and quantum memories to detect and store quantum information.
What is a Photon?
In technical terms, the photon (Greek: φῶς, phōs, light) is a type of elementary particle. It is the quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. It is these particles that scientists and computer researchers are exploring in new computational frameworks. It goes beyond binary code—the microprocessors in our smartphones and computers.
Interior of IBM Quantum computing system. (Credit: IBM) From Flickr. IBM Research – April 2021. See more stunning images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_research_zurich/albums/72157663611181258
Difference between classical computing and quantum computing:
“The basic difference between a Quantum Computer and a Classical Computer is that Classical Computers work with bits, and on the other hand, Quantum Computers work with Qubits. So, if we want to store data in a classical computer, it first converts it into specific combinations of 0’s and 1’s and stores that binary data into bits on our hard drive. There is a magnetic domain in the hard drive, and we can magnetise it to point up or down.
On the other hand, in Qubits, it can take any combination of the binary outcomes using superposition, and we can think of it as a spin. Then we can imagine it as a spin up or spin down, but we can also have a superposition of up and down if it is isolated enough.“
Credit: medium.com
https://medium.com/swlh/quantum-machine-learning-the-next-big-thing-95bfc3b4f08f
Google’s Sycamore processor, mounted in a cryostat, was recently used to demonstrate quantum supremacy and the most significant quantum chemistry simulation on a quantum computer. Photo Credit: Rocco Ceselin
Quantum computing – abstract simulation. Credit: Pixabay.
The very basics of Quantum Computing are diagrammatically explained.
However, there is a catch. Quantum computing is an exceptionally delicate endeavour, since maintaining a suspended quantum particle in a superposition can last only about 100 microseconds. As mentioned, it also requires freezing temperatures and superconductors —not exactly something that fits in your iPhone. This kind of hardware makes quantum computers highly specialised equipment that is only really practical for particular tasks right now, such as prediction modelling and optimisation problems on complex systems with many variables.
Is quantum computing done faster than the speed of light?
“The idea is not quite as crazy as it might sound, though you may wish to limber up your mind before delving deeper. It’s based on the same principle as that of quantum entanglement — the notion that two particles on opposite sides of the universe can be linked through their quantum states such that one cannot be adequately described without the other. That is, an action on one particle instantaneously influences its counterpart, even if light-years separate them.“
Credit: https://www.quora.com/Is-quantum-computing-done-faster-than-the-speed-of-light
Light-Based Quantum Computer Exceeds Fastest Classical Supercomputers.
“For the first time, a quantum computer made from photons—particles of light—has outperformed even the fastest classical supercomputers. … More broadly, the ability to control photons as qubits is a prerequisite for a large-scale quantum internet. 3/12/2020″.
Human’s abilities explored – intellectual abilities
Man’s super skills in exploring, researching, investigating, designing, testing, and producing are genuinely exceptional! Here is an excerpt of Deacon Gary Nelson, who encapsulates the implanted abilities given to man:
God has implanted in our souls the gift of “intellect” and the gift of a “free will,” – that is, the gift of intelligence, and the gift of making choices – and God wants us to use these gifts in his service. God desires that our intellects should be truly enlightened and instructed so that it will have a precise knowledge of who God is. God desires that we continually grow in the understanding of his love, power, goodness, justice, and mercy. And when we have attained the knowledge of these things, the Christian will know how to adore God, how to trust God, how to follow God’s instructions, and how to thank God for all things and in all circumstances.
We demonstrate and prove our beliefs by what we choose to do. We proclaim God’s revealed truth to others not only by our words, but also by our actions. Our acts of love toward others imitate God in specific ways because he not only told us that he loved us, but his Son died on the cross to prove it.
Credit: Deacon Gary Nelson (Year of Faith Liturgical Minute No. 34. The Gifts of Intellect and Free Will).
Humans are deciphering and encoding the complicated and stunningly fascinating universe God (Jehovah) has created and given to humans to manage. God gave these as gifts to humans; however, He requires accountability and stewardship.
For Christians, the issue is more profound: We know that God created the world, and it belongs to Him, not us. Because of this, we are only stewards or trustees of God’s creation, and we aren’t to abuse or neglect it.
The Bible says,
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).
Copyright © 2021 by William Van Zyl
In the Ice Cold Belly of the Golden Dragon, it Rumbles, Spins, and Twirls. Light Atoms Spark and Flash – the almost Frozen Creature is at Work.
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Published by Five House Publishing (New Zealand)
First Publishing, 2021
More articles/blog posts and eBooks available at https://fivehousepublishing.com/
Additional blog posts: https://williamvanzylcom.wordpress.com/blog/
About the author: http://williamvanzyl.com/
