QC

"Quantum computing" is China's top priority - and I never heard of it til now.

"Quantum mechanics" has apparently been around for about a century and I never did understand that. Now I feel even further behind - because now there's also something called quantum computing (QC).

According to this IBM introduction, QC is the subject of research at IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Google. They say that QC will solve problems that are too difficult for any of today's computers, problems of communication, analysis, and prediction. An expert at "Cambridge Quantum Computing" says no one really knows what applications it will have.

There's a race to develop this exotic technology. That expert at Cambridge says:

"[T]wo years ago we were all privy to the news that quantum computing, as far as the Chinese were concerned, was the number one priority, not water, not population control, not food. Quantum computing. There is no budget, which means no limit to the budget. They will do whatever it takes to be a leader in this field."