
In the chaotic and somewhat absurd theater of technological progress, IonQ has garnered some attention. Yesterday, with the assistance of the Air Force Research Lab (no less), the company announced a breakthrough that would make even the most stoic of scientists pause. A conversion of photons from visible wavelengths, used for the entrapment of barium ions, into telecom wavelengths has been demonstrated in a prototype system. What this means, if we are to extract a morsel of sense from this technobabble, is that IonQ has found a way to transmit quantum information over long distances-through optical fibers that most of us would deem “ordinary.” But then again, “ordinary” is not the term one would apply to a company that seeks to deliver quantum computing across a vast and incomprehensible network of secure quantum channels.