New technique lets scientists create resistance-free electron channels

There's money in quantum computing, and everyone wants a part. I'll stick my neck out and state that there willl never be a general-purpose quantum computer.

I'll concede that it *is* possible to use quantum effects to model or simulate certain processes: An analog computer, in essence.

There. Prove me wrong.

Jeroen Belleman

I'm inclined to agree. I think there might be the odd specialist one that is purpose built to solve particular NP hard problems though. Most obvious application is factoring huge primes that modern cryptography relies upon. If such a device was ever built it would likely never appear in the open literature much like Turing's Bombe and Collossus. (at least not until half a century later maybe not even then)

It is a fair bit more than an analogue computer though.

There may also be ways to utilise chemistry to produce specific programs to test certain types of combinatorial hypothesis with RNA/DNA and/or amino acids which also relies to some extent on quantum comparisons.

I don't think it is a coincidence that RNA has four bases corresponding to the 4-way branch of a quantum if statement (and amino acids ~20 corresponding to the maximum branch factor of 3 quantum comparisons).