導讀：除了人工智能、大數據、區塊鏈之外，量子科技也是今年比較熱門的題材，這篇精讀可以幫翻譯碩士們快速掌握相關的基本知識，考研或者就業都用得上——在漢譯英和寫作中值得學的語言點已經標註英英註釋
Fun facts about quantum computing - FT.com
我近來試圖自學量子計算。我讀了很多有關它的潛在威力的資料：速度比現在快數百萬倍的電腦；以前需要花費數年的工作在幾分鐘內就能完成，諸如此類。I have been trying to educate myself about（句型） quantum computing. I read plenty about what it offers（句型，潛在，會了不） — computers millions of times more powerful than those we have now; work that previously took years will be done in minutes, and so on.
但我的知識差不多也就僅限於此：量子計算運用量子力學。如果在某個飯局上被問到，我可能無法解釋這究竟是指什麼。But my knowledge went little beyond（句型，未必用limit） the fact that quantum computing exploits quantum mechanics. And I could not have explained what that really means if I were asked at a dinner party.
V-T If you exploit something, you use it well, and achieve something or gain an advantage from it. 【OR】V-T If you say that someone is exploiting a situation, you disapprove of them because they are using it to gain an advantage for themselves, rather than trying to help other people or do what is right.【AND】V-T If you say that someone is exploiting you, you think that they are treating you unfairly by using your work or ideas and giving you very little in return.
因此為了加深理解，我訪問了荷蘭代爾夫特理工大學(Technical University of Delft)量子技術系的兩位量子計算專家：英特爾(Intel)量子硬件主管吉姆•克拉克(Jim Clarke)以及領先量子納米學家利芬•範德斯潘(Lieven Vandersypen)。英特爾在代爾夫特有一個
設施。So in a quest to improve my understanding I visited two quantum computing experts at the Technical University of Delft’s QuTech department: Jim Clarke, director of quantum hardware at Intel, which has a facility there, and Lieven Vandersypen, a leading quantum nanoscientist.我還到倫敦大學學院(University College London)的納米技術中心(Centre for Nanotechnology)拜訪了納米電子和納米光子權威約翰•莫頓(John Morton)。I also went to University College London’s Centre for Nanotechnology to meet John Morton, an authority on nanoelectronics（詞彙） and nanophotonics（詞彙）.
結果：我對量子計算如何運轉有了更清晰一點的認識，發現了一些在飯局上有用的引人入勝的知識。以下是我學到的一些東西：The result: I am a little clearer about how quantum computing works — and have discovered some fascinating facts for use at dinner parties. Here is some of what I learnt:
ADJ If you describe something as fascinating, you find it very interesting and attractive, and your thoughts tend to concentrate on it.
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* 量子計算可能不精確。在某種方式上，它效仿的是自然，與人類大腦一樣，它可能不合乎邏輯，出錯。但這可能也是一個強項：粗野的邏輯並不總是正確。 Quantum computing can be imprecise. In some ways it imitates nature and, like the human brain, it can be illogical and make mistakes. But this can also be a strength — brute logic is not always right（觀點）.
N-COUNT If you call someone, usually a man, a brute, you mean that they are rough, violent, and insensitive.
* 量子計算對於分析我們現在生成的大數據可能不那麼有用。“經典”計算（利用艾倫•圖靈(Alan Turing)及其後輩發明的機器）仍擅長大數據分析。但量子電腦可能難以處理來自傳統電腦的大數據。幾乎就好像它們屬於不同的物種。Quantum computing may not be great for analysing big data as we now produce it. “Classical” computing — using the machines invented by Alan Turing and their descendants — remains better at that. But quantum computers may struggle with（句型，未必用hard, deal with） big data from conventional computers. It is almost as if they are different species.
* 量子芯片一般只在比絕對零度高出百分之一度的溫度下工作，遠遠低於外太空的溫度。總部位於赫爾辛基的初創企業BlueFors生產打造量子電腦所需的“稀釋冷凍機”。它每週銷售3臺，每臺價格介於20萬至50萬歐元之間，這表明全球在量子計算領域的競賽是多麼激烈。Quantum chips only work at temperatures typically 100th of a degree above absolute zero — far lower than outer space. BlueFors, a Helsinki start-up, makes the “dilution refrigerators（詞彙）” needed to build a quantum computer. It sells three units a week, at a cost of between €200,000 and €500,000 each, an indicator of（句型，未必用動詞） the scale of the global scramble for quantum computing.
* 目前有幾個相互競爭的量子比特在開發中。英特爾的手掌大小的芯片有49個“超導”量子比特，但範德斯潘教授還有一個“旋轉量子比特”硅芯片，它足夠小，可以把數億這樣的量子比特放置在一平方釐米的芯片上。據範德斯潘教授稱，旋轉量子比特有著單獨的個性，這也許讓量子怪現象怪得過分。There are several competitor quantum qubits（詞彙）in development. Intel’s palm-sized chip has 49 “superconducting” qubits, but Professor Vandersypen also has a silicon-based “spin qubit”, which is small enough for hundreds of millions of them to be crowded on to a centimetre-square chip. Oh, and according to the professor, spin qubits have individual personalities, which perhaps takes quantum weirdness almost too far.
* 據報道，微軟(Microsoft)正在開發的量子比特基於一種有人認為不存在的難以捕捉的粒子，這也相當怪異。Microsoft’s qubit-in-development is reportedly based on a particle so elusive that some believe it does not exist, which is also quite weird.
ADJ Something or someone that is elusive is difficult to find, describe, remember, or achieve.
* 代爾夫特理工大學計劃在2020年展示量子互聯網的運轉——在荷蘭利用光纖中的光子發送無法解密的加密信息——它將利用量子糾纏 ，即阿爾伯特•愛因斯坦(Albert Einstein)所稱的“幽靈般的遠距效應”。In 2020 TU Delft plans to show a working demonstration of quantum internet — distributing around the Netherlands uncrackably encrypted information using photons in fibre optics, which will utilise quantum entanglement（詞彙） — Albert Einstein’s “spooky action at a distance”.
ADJ A place that is spooky has a frightening atmosphere, and makes you feel that there are ghosts around.
* 首批量子應用之一將是材料建模，這不像聽上去那麼枯燥。你的iPhone 27可能不是一部量子電腦，但它的電池可能是用量子電腦設計的。One of the first applications of quantum will be in materials modelling — not as dry as it sounds. Your iPhone 27 may not be a quantum computer, but its battery may be designed by one.
* 一些人辯稱，量子計算將通過解密一切的能力破壞區塊鏈。但莫頓教授表示，這將需要擁有數億個量子比特的量子電腦。再說足以抵抗量子的加密技術也是當今的一大研究重點……Some argue that quantum computing will ruin blockchain by being able to decrypt everything. But Professor Morton says this would require quantum computers with hundreds of millions of qubits. And quantum resistant encryption is also a major research focus today.
我可以繼續羅列下去。I could go on.
我還學到，量子計算並非沒有問題。我們至少在10年內不會看到它的應用。現在閱讀這篇文章的人幾乎無一會在有生之年看到家中配置量子電腦，或在口袋裡攜帶一部。甚至在量子計算領域工作的人也承認，
可能不會有這麼一天。還有其他先進理念正在開發中，它們可能會讓量子成為計算領域的Betamax（一種錄像帶格式，在市場競爭中不敵VHS——譯者注）。I also learnt that quantum computing is not without problems（句型）. We are not going to see it in use for at least a decade. Almost nobody reading this will live to have one in their home, or carry one in their pocket. And even people working in quantum computing admit it may not work out. Other advanced concepts are being developed that could consign quantum to being the Betamax of computing.Betamax是一種年份較早的0.5英寸（1.27CM）磁帶的格式，它由 19.1毫米（0.75英寸） U-matic錄像帶演進而來。它於1975年4月16日發表，同年5月10日上市。如同1976年JVC公司發表的VHS制式，它沒有guard band，使用水平錄製以減少漏話。Betamax名字的由來有兩種說法。一種是當磁帶在機器中運轉時，它環繞機件的樣子像希臘字母"Beta"。另一種說法是"Beta"在日文中是"品質"的意思，而"max"則用來形容"beta"。Betamax在與更便宜的JVC VHS設備競爭中失利，最終被淘汰出市場。——喵大歪樓
BETAMAX
VHS意為家用錄像系統（日語名稱：家庭用ビデオシステム，英文名稱：video home system）是由日本勝利公司在1976年開發的一種家用錄像機錄製和播放標準。雖然VHS的官方代表就是家用錄像系統，但是最初VHS代表Vertical Helical Scan(垂直螺旋掃描)的意思，因為它採用了磁頭/磁帶垂直掃描的技術。——喵大歪樓
VHS
更令人擔心的是，瞭解量子計算的人很少，這可能會讓那些懂的人獲得巨大權力。多數人甚至從未聽說過它。加拿大總理賈斯丁•特魯多(Justin Trudeau)曾在安大略的一次科學活動上給出了可信的即興解釋，這讓他在政治人士中顯得獨樹一幟。More worrying is that very few people understand quantum computing and that could give great power to those who do. Most have never even heard of it. Justin Trudeau’s ability to give a credible, off-the-cuff explanation at a science event in Ontario probably makes him unique among politicians.
PHRASE An off-the-cuff remark is made without being prepared or thought about in advance. 【AND】N-COUNT The cuffs of a shirt or dress are the parts at the ends of the sleeves, which are thicker than the rest of the sleeve.
科學正變得更為複雜，真正瞭解未來事物越來越限於精英。“極客”可能真的會繼承地球。Science is getting more complicated and real understanding of things to come is increasingly limited to elites. The geek may truly inherit the earth.（觀點）
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