Scientific efforts today are the quantum computing equivalent of Ben Franklin flying his kite in a lightning storm to test theories of electricity. The next step for the labs is to figure out how to control and bottle this incredible force. But the basics are worth taking a stab at. Quantum computing's starting point came when physicists realized that atoms are naturally tiny little calculators. We just didn't know how to ask the right questions.
Atoms have a natural spin or orientation, in the way a needle on a compass has an orientation.
The spin can either be up or down. That coincides nicely with digital technology, which represents everything by a series of Is and Os. An atom, which is not visible to the naked eye, can be both up and down at the same time until you measure it. The act of measuring it whether using instruments or a powerful microscope - forces it to choose between up or down. Don't ask why it works that way.