Have you ever thought what you could do with your own Quantum Computer? Today, an international team, led by Professor Winfried Hensinger from the University of Sussex, unveiled the first practical blueprint for how to build a quantum computer, the most powerful computer on Earth. While it's not likely you can easily build one of these in your garage, it will likely dramatically accelerate adoption of the technology:

This huge leap forward towards creating a universal quantum computer is published today (1 February 2017) in the influential journal Science Advances (1). It has long been known that such a computer would revolutionize industry, science and commerce on a similar scale as the invention of ordinary computers. But this new work features the actual industrial blueprint to construct such a large-scale machine, more powerful in solving certain problems than any computer ever constructed before.

Even more fascinating is that a new "invention" is presented that enabled the quantum bits to be transmitted between individual scalable "quantum computing modules" to create fully modular large-scale machines capable of reaching nearly unlimited computing potential.

Previously, scientists had proposed using fiber optic connections to connect individual computer modules. The new invention introduces connections created by electric fields that allow charged atoms (ions) to be transported from one module to another. This new approach allows 100,000 times faster connection speeds between individual quantum computing modules compared to current state-of-the-art fibre link technology.

The next step is for them to construct a prototype of the machine, which is expected to fill a large building, and consists of sophisticated vacuum apparatus combined with quantum computing silicon microchips holding individual charged atoms (ions) in place using electric fields.

Full Story: First ever blueprint unveiled to construct a large scale quantum computer

For anyone interested in a closer look at the full research article and blueprints, they can be found here: Science Advances 01 Feb 2017, Vol. 3, no. 2, "Blueprint for a microwave trapped ion quantum computer" (or download as PDF)

Also, this is an interesting lecture from the U.S. Department of Energy "Distinguished Speaker Series" explaining the design of a scalable trapped ion quantum computer:

There have already been doubts about how long current encryption standards will last as we dive headfirst into the age of quantum computing. And the potential ramifications for bitcoin and other crypto-currencies requires little explanation. Inevitably, this new research will likely revive the debate over how much time we have before facing the upcoming quantum "crypto-pocolypse", as ultra-fast ultra-scalable quantum computers may further accelerate the current "timeline". The NSA's been worried about this since at least 2015 already:

The National Security Agency is advising US agencies and businesses to prepare for a time in the not-too-distant future when the cryptography protecting virtually all e-mail, medical and financial records, and online transactions is rendered obsolete by quantum computing.

In a nutshell, the guidance advises using the same regimen of algorithms and key sizes that have been recommended for years. Those include 256-bit keys with the Advanced Encryption Standard, Curve P-384 with Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman key exchange and Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, and 3072-bit keys with RSA encryption. But for those who have not yet incorporated one of the NSA's publicly recommended cryptographic algorithms—known as Suite B in NSA parlance—last week's advisory recommends holding off while officials plot a new move to crypto algorithms that will survive a post-quantum world.

Full Story: NSA preps quantum-resistant algorithms to head off crypto-apocalypse