How Quantum Computers Are Being Built
How Quantum Computers Are Being Built — an illustrated inventions story, set in Global. 10 illustrated pages, free to read on Wonder Inventions.
Page 1
"Yousef, could you please turn on the computer? I need to print something," Yousef's mom called from the kitchen. Yousef, always curious, paused, his brow furrowed. "But wait, Mom, who even invented computers? What did people do before them?" He raced off towards his room, his worn leather notebook bouncing against his leg, determined to find answers in his special invention encyclopedia.
Page 2
Yousef burst into his science-themed bedroom, filled with posters of inventors and models of machines. He practically threw himself at the bookshelf, grabbing the ancient, glowing Invention Encyclopedia. As his fingers brushed the cover, the room began to dissolve into swirling colors of light. He gasped, clutching the book tightly. "Here we go again!"
Page 3
Yousef stumbled, landing hard on cobblestones. He looked around, bewildered. Gone were the glowing crystals; now, he was surrounded by a bustling workshop filled with strange contraptions. A young boy with medium brown skin and medium-length straight blonde hair tucked behind his ears tinkered with an intricate device made of vacuum tubes and wires. "Where am I?" Yousef muttered, scrambling to his feet.
Page 4
"You must be the new apprentice!" the blonde boy exclaimed, wiping grease from his hands with a rag. "I'm Leon. And this is one of the first quantum computers! We're working on improving the speed of calculations. Before computers like this, codebreakers took years to crack messages. Now, we can do it much faster." Yousef stared, wide-eyed. "Quantum computers? But how do they work?"
Page 5
Leon gestured towards a complex diagram on the wall. "Regular computers use bits – zeros and ones. But quantum computers use qubits. Qubits can be zero, one, or both at the same time! It's like, as the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, 'Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.' Quantum computing lets us 'see' solutions that were impossible before," he explained. Yousef scribbled furiously in his notebook.
Page 6
"One of the biggest challenges," Diego boomed, entering the workshop, "is keeping the qubits stable. They're incredibly sensitive to interference. Even the smallest vibration or temperature change can throw off the calculations!" Diego, a man in his early 30s, heavyset and gentle, with light brown skin with warm undertones and short textured dark blond hair with natural waves, adjusted a dial on a large, cylindrical device. "That's why we need extreme cooling," he grunted, "to near absolute zero—colder than outer space!"
Page 7
"So, you're saying that the slightest disturbance can mess everything up?" Yousef asked, his eyes widening. Diego nodded gravely. "Precisely. We're using superconducting materials, cooled with liquid helium. It's a delicate dance. But, consider this: in 2019, Google claimed its quantum computer, Sycamore, could perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would take the world's most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years! That's the power we're unlocking."
Page 8
Suddenly, the ground began to shake! Dust rained down from the ceiling. "Earthquake!" Leon shouted. A nearby cooling unit toppled over, spilling liquid helium everywhere. Alarms blared. "The qubits! They'll lose coherence!" Diego yelled, scrambling to right the unit. Yousef remembered something he'd read in the encyclopedia about resonance frequency: certain crystals could absorb vibrations. Grabbing his notebook, he frantically flipped through the pages.
Page 9
"Here!" Yousef cried, pointing to a diagram. "Certain quartz crystals resonate at frequencies that cancel out vibrations! If we can place them near the qubits..." Diego, his face streaked with grime, looked at Yousef with a glimmer of hope. Leon quickly gathered a handful of quartz crystals from a nearby shelf and carefully positioned them around the delicate qubits. The vibrations lessened. The computer stabilized. "You did it!" Diego exclaimed.
Page 10
Suddenly, the workshop shimmered, and Yousef found himself back in his room, the Invention Encyclopedia closed in his lap. He raced to the kitchen. "Mom! I know how quantum computers are being built! They use qubits that can be zero and one at the same time! And they have to be kept colder than space! Did you know that by 2024, the quantum computing market could reach 86 billion?" His mom smiled, shaking her head. "That's amazing, Yousef! Now, about that printing... To be continued!"
About this story
- Location: Global
- Audience: kids (ages 6–12)