Quantum Computer (CivBE)

Wonders

Quantum Computer
Wonder in Beyond Earth
Cost	1050
Maintenance	None
Requires	2 Geothermal Field Theory
Specialist slots	None
Effect	+5 Diplomatic Capital
Notes	Free Maintenance and +50% duration for Orbital Units.

The Quantum Computer will permanently tie up 2 Geothermal resources.

Quote

"What I like best about quantum computing is that we get something for nothing from someone else's somewhere." - Suzanne Marjorie Fielding, Transplanetary Management, Methods, and Resources

History

Theoretical models of quantum computers were created by pre-Mistake civilizations by extending work on physical models of the universe. However, construction of a quantum computer seems to have eluded these cultures (although intriguing hints in the historical record have led others to conclude at least a few were built in secret.) These theoretical plans were passed along to the early colonists in the hope that someday, somewhere, resources would permit development of a true quantum computer.

But even as human working knowledge of physics and subatomic construction expanded, the true quantum computer remained elusive. Controlled entanglement and disentangling remained exasperatingly out of reach, until finally, a research group managed to achieve the first stable linear quantum Turing machines, and then not long afterwards, a stable quantum computational field (although one of laughable simplicity by today's standards.) These first true quantum computers were inefficient, inelegant, and prone to spasmodic failure at inopportune times - but they were orders of magnitude more powerful than even the best transistor-systems of their day. Consequently, the political powers were willing to put up with the power bills needed to maintain seas of Bose-Einstein condensates and fractious Strange accelerators because these computers could finally give scientists the power needed to build truly impressive models of planetary geophysics, predictive astrodynamics, orbital navigation, and weather forecasting.

Curiously, though the quantum computer was created as an application of quantum theory, it turns out that the computers lent impressive insight into the deep fabric of the cosmos. Analyzing the noise results of millions of operations gave researchers a wealth of material to study statistically. Furthermore, this noise seemed to validate (at least at some level) the Many Worlds theories posited centuries before the Great Mistake. This discovery in turn had profound cultural implications. As the reader is no doubt aware, the most famous of these is the ongoing Miskatonic Reading Group, a department of researchers whose publications on what these alternate worlds may hold is simultaneously deeply interesting and incredibly disturbing.

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