In 2008, quantum physicist Andrew White found himself building a "ridiculous machine" in his lab at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. White had spent years working on quantum computation, attempting to exploit subatomic physics to create a device with the potential to outperform its best macroscopic counterparts. And he had learned that it was a tough job: the required quantum systems are fragile, and demand immaculate laboratory conditions to survive long enough to be of any use. Now White was setting out to test an unorthodox quantum algorithm that seemed to turn that lesson on its head. In this scheme, messiness and disorder would be virtues, not vices - and perturbations in the quantum system would drive computation, not disrupt it.
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