RE: RE: RE: Quantum Computer Speeds Hi crescentdawn,
This is really neat, but it's in a totally different realm than what POET will address as you have said.
First of all, here's a video of how it works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PqSgmCg1kew
There is a problem, though. Here's what I got from their website:
During processor operation...
In the D-Wave processor, the qubits can slowly be tuned (annealed) from their superposition state (where they are 0 and 1 at the same time) into to a classical state (where they are either 0 or 1). When this is done in the presence of the programmed memory elements on the processor, the 0 and 1 states that the qubits end up settling into gives the answer to a user-defined problem. All circuitry on the D-Wave processors is made from a material known as a superconductor, which is cooled to 20mK, (near absolute zero) in order for the quantum effects to manifest in the material.
It's a superconductor and it only works if it's as near as possible to absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius). This seems like it will be used for very specialized problems that require massive parallel processing - like the protein folding you talked about.
On a side note, one creative solution being used right now for the protein folding is a video game called "foldit"
https://fold.it/portal/
It's a game, but the solutions can lead to discoveries in science. They have harnessed the computing power of humans on the Internet to work in parallel.