21st Century Lunatic

Hello Reader!

Today is a great day! It was beautiful out, the sky shined so bright. It was just an superb day.

Anyways, I have been given a challenge. Not quite me specifically, more of a broad thing. My brother posted on his wall "Write a letter to someone from the 19th century trying to explain an aspect of 21st century daily life. Guaranteed, you can't explain Facebook without making us all sound like lunatics." I am going to accept this challenge. 


Where to begin... I know! The fundamentals of Science. In this era, we had knowledge of (or on the way depending on the year) electricity, the battery, and electrical circuits. By the end of this century, we had a grasp of Alternating Current (Thank You Nikola Tesla). They were on the edge of everything big in the world of electricity and magnetism. Even in the last years of the century, Guglielmo Marconi created the first wireless communication device, the wireless telegraph.


So for those folks still stuck in the year 1897, here's what  Facebook is.


First we must introduce the computer. In a nutshell, a computer is an object that contain many electrical circuits that carry electrons (we know about electrons by now). These electrons carry numerical values of 1's and 0's. The 0's and 1's translate to information that can do math, which can determine output like colour, text, math equations and even sound. This is the basis of the computer. Many computers (or just one) can make something called a server.


In the 1960's the first unofficial model of the internet was used by the United States of America (Yes, the colonies survived and thrived!)  The internet is a network of computers, like that of neurons (you had the knowledge from Franz Nissl). Neuron are connected to send information back and forth from one neuron to the other. The internet uses the same concept. We are able to send information (via wireless electromagnetic waves or from electrons) from one computer to another. In recent years, the internet has been open to the public to use and abuse.


The internet runs on an IP address. An Internet Protocol address give the specific location of the computer/server. Sticking with the Neuron idea, it's like locating a specific neuron in the brain or anywhere in the nervous system. From there we have web pages.


A web page is like a brochure. Most of them are made with information that help you. Some websites are made to entertain. The difference is that a web page can be mutable. I mean it is able to have an interactive component, like playing a game. Word are able to be moved around. This brings us to Facebook.


Facebook is a web page in which people post what they like and what they don't. What is going on in their life and what they wish would. It's like writing a letter (in only a few words) to all your friends and they will understand whether you are happy, sad, angry or just plain crazy. You are able to talk with your friends from long distances (think wireless communication).


This is what Facebook is in a nutshell.

Computers with power of Quantum!

*Aside: I am sorry, Reader, for my tartiness, yet again. All I can say is sorry. I will not make any excuses (Flying to a new Province, Working LONG shifts and trying to make best of being to my "lonesome"). Without further delay...*

Hello Readers, last time we were together I said that electrons are nasty bugger because they do weird stuff that is out of the norm compared to our perception of thing in the world we see with our naked eye. Well here I will discuss a practical use of such phenomenon.

Now, when "Computer" is mentioned, you probably think about the PC (Personal Computer... Mac or Windows). It's kinda hard not to... it's right in front of you. I will define a computer as a machine that can do work. I consider a robot a computer, it seems fitting.

As eveyone is well aware, computers have been getting extremely faster in the last decade or so. And we also all know that devices that control the "thinking" of the computer have gotten smaller. This is in accordance to Moore's Law. The law pretty much states, the number of transisters on a microprocessor (which is inside the key ingredient to what you are seeing) doubles after 18 months. This will keep going until atleast 2020 but up to 2030! I'm telling you now, the microprocessors are pretty small now compared to the processor in the Commador 64.

So if a processor is supposed to get smaller after 18 months, how will it get done?

That's when we Quantify the processor. What I mean is, we need to harness the power of an atom! If we can use the energy generated from an excited electon, or even fission reaction (without giving us cancer in the process), the we would be able to run a computer faster, stronger and more stable (unless you have Windows, then your just SOL! Sorry, I use Windows so I am only attacking myself).

Other than a smaller processor is there really an advantage? Sure there is! In order for you to understand, let go back to last post. I said that small object (atoms, electron ect.) act like a wave... and can interfere. The diagram showed a Double Slit experiment. Well, there are 2 types of interferance. Imagine 2 sinosoidal waves coming at each other.

1. If the the waves are in phase, when a crest meets a crest or trough meets the other trough (or 2 of the same points meet) you have Constructive interferance. The 2 waves make a "super wave" and the waves add onto each other.
2. If the wave is out of phase (all the other times ie. crest meets trough) we have Destructive interferance. the waves cancel each other out.

This is the Law of Superposition. When 2 wave fronts meet, the waves are "additive". They will add on to each other.

This relates to the Quantum Computer because of our own basic unit of data... BITS. Your computer's memory works using a binary system, a series of 1's and 0's. But with a quantum comupter this will change. Think as if a bit was a wave now. When it interacts with another bit (4 bits to a byte, so constant interaction) we will have interferance. Thus, we will have a superposition of a bit. The bit will be call a Quabit (or Qubits)!

This makes for a more efficient machine. It's able to to store more memory (kinda like our brain except not). It will also promote laziness (don't all PC's do that?). Instead of calculating huge factored numbers and what not in our head (pencil and paper), it will be able to process the numbers.

That's pretty much it. Like always, please leave a comment so I know you are still living and also interest. Also, I take topic suggeustion. After the next post on Entanglement, I will something to pop in my head (my mind WILL comeup with something weird) or I'll use your suggeustion. Up to you.

Have a good week!