Scientists at UNSW in Australia have discovered a new approach to quantum computing. They predict it will remove a hurdle that threatened to stall progress on scaling up the number of quantum computer bits-known as qubits- on silicon chips needed to make quantum computing viable. Their approach makes more room on a silicon atom to squeeze in more qubits by pulling electrons away from the nucleus. Unlike the discrete zeros and ones now used in so-called "classical" computing, qubits can be either a one, a zero or both at the same time, opening the way for an exponential increase in computing speeds using these "superpositions". Many problems now limited by computing power, from medicine to climate modelling, would be more easily solved with quantum computing. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/nobody-saw-it-breakthrough-claimed-by-unsws-quantum-computing-team-20170905-gybmph.html