The strange science of quantum mechanics promises a revolution in computer power as radical as that following the invention of the transistor in the 1950s. That invention sent computer performance on a rocket-like trajectory upward, its ascent governed by what became popularly known as Moore's Law, after Intel founder Gordon Moore who coined it. It states that computers tend to double their speed every 18 months.
Computers get faster as the transistors on microchips get smaller and closer together.
In about 20 years, transistors will shrink down to the size of atoms. When that happens, the laws of physics will demand another revolution. This is when the laws of quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that describes the interaction of objects smaller than molecules, wreak havoc on the way chips are designed. But as quantum mechanics shuts the door on digital computers, it may also lead us to the next revolution. Devices known as quantum computers show amazing promise.