The breakthrough was the engineering of this hitherto impossible photonic chip, but this miracle tantalum pentoxide " taking in a single laser color and putting out the full rainbow of visible light colors plus a wide range of infrared wavelengths," under electronic control, seems stranger than fiction. Since it's the result of a material nonlinearity, it can't be very energy efficient, but that probably doesn't matter for the applications they have in mind (could help predict volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, offer an alternative to GPS for positioning and navigation, and help scientists investigate scientific mysteries such as the nature of dark matter. Quantum computers could offer new ways to study the physics and chemistry of drugs and materials.).