The Nobel Prize was awarded Tuesday to two scientists, one American and one French, for their work in quantum physics. The scientists, David Wineland and Serge Haroche, have been experimenting with new ways to measure quantum particles without destroying them—which could pave the way to build a powerful new computer model. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel, suggested the “quantum computer” could “change our everyday lives in the same radical way as the classical computer did in the last century.” When informed of the news, Haroche said he would celebrate with “champagne, of course.”
