The mathematics of quantum-based cryptography, and why existing data is already at risk

Noise and instability made quantum computing seem out of reach for decades

Recent advances in error suppression, mitigation, and correction are allowing quantum computers to perform practical tasks that challenge classical machines. IBM’s 2016 launch of its first cloud-accessible quantum computer attracted over 22,000 users in its first month alone.

How quantum computers can empower Shor's algorithm to break digital encryption

Secure communications largely rely on numeric keys generated by multiplying two enormous prime numbers together, and it is computationally impractical to determine these primes by trying to divide by every possible one. While Shor's algorithm can provide better guesses for this brute-force approach, it relies on a number that is difficult to determine on classical computers but much easier to calculate using the simultaneous computations enabled by quantum superposition.

Quantum computers harness weird physics to explore unsolvable problems

Classical computers manipulate bits as either 0 or 1, but quantum computers use qubits to hold combinations of both, enabling new algorithms. This new approach could one day help with breakthroughs in medicine, chemistry, and AI.

Explore a visual guide to how quantum computers can crack RSA encryption

In 1994, Peter Shor introduced an algorithm that showed a quantum computer could efficiently factor the product of two very large prime numbers, undermining the mathematics that makes RSA so secure. While using larger keys can delay the decryption time of quantum computers, this solution increases the time it takes to encrypt data, which may become impractical.

The Majorana 1 chip may provide quantum computing using geometry-based qubits

Traditional quantum computers are incredibly fragile, with encoded information easily disrupted and requiring significant error correction systems. Microsoft’s approach involves storing data on a surface, which is more stable, but involves an elusive particle first theorized in 1938.

One of five competing qubit technologies may usher in the quantum computing era

No winning qubit technology exists among photonic networks, superconducting circuits, spin qubits, neutral atoms, and trapped ions. Each has significant limitations and unique advantages, such as neutral-atom systems' ability to maintain quantum states for several minutes, far longer than the others.

View how AES—the global standard for symmetric encryption—works

Established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2001, the Advanced Encryption Standard transforms plaintext into ciphertext using multiple rounds of processing, including substitution, transposition, and mixing. Larger keys undergo more rounds to produce 16-byte blocks of scrambled data, with 256-bit AES keys taking 3.31 × 10⁵⁶ years to decrypt via brute force.

As of 2025, there are no federal laws involving privacy and smart city technologies

Advancements in cloud technology and artificial intelligence allow cities to capture, store, and analyze more information than ever before. Experts warn that the unhindered ability to collect and use this data may infringe on residents' rights and endanger them if the data gets into the hands of malicious parties.

Quantum tunneling sets a limit to how small circuit components can become

Once the insulating layer in a transistor is small enough, quantum effects allow electrons to leak through the barrier, resulting in lost power. Tunnel-based transistors can use this phenomenon to enable switches powered by smaller voltages and reduced electricity use.

Storing data in DNA requires converting binary code into DNA's four-base system

Researchers have suggested that DNA's ability to form compact, dense structures justifies investigating its use for long-term, safe data archiving. This system could fit all of the world's data in a single shoebox, though processing each bit into a nucleotide base takes 2 minutes, as of 2024.

As of 2025, the internet is entering its fourth phase, with three more to go

Since the inception of the internet as a tool for connecting teams of researchers, technological and infrastructure advancements have progressively increased connectivity. Connections between computers, mobile devices, all devices, and now AI agents will be succeeded by an internet that integrates perception and the senses toward an eventual quantum internet.

Four video explainers on quantum fundamentals

Ready to level up your working knowledge of quantum mechanics? Check out these four TED-Ed Lessons written by Chad Orzel, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College

Quantum mechanics-based technology may explain the Fermi paradox

It describes the discrepancy between the high likelihood of life beyond Earth given the vastness of the universe and the lack of evidence for such life, since extraterrestrial civilizations have not communicated with us. However, quantum communication—a more information-dense and effective method than classical means—requires massive receivers and very narrow signals, which would easily miss Earth, making a lack of signals expected.

Probability waves govern particles like electrons in the quantum space

Just as waves are extended objects whose heights change across space, quantum waves dictate that the probability of an object existing in different locations across space varies. Like water waves, the probability waves can combine, changing the heights—and therefore probabilities—in different locations.

How end-to-end encryption protects messages, even from service providers

Using symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, data is encrypted on the sender's device before being transmitted across application servers that lack the key needed to decrypt it. The message is not decrypted until it reaches the recipient's device, which uses their private key to recover the plaintext. E2EE's effectiveness has led to its adoption by WhatsApp and Signal.

Visualizing cyberattacks by country

Cyber crime is expected to cost the global economy trillions per year by 2025. This data illustration showcases the countries with the most severe cyber attacks from 2006-2020.

The Year 2038 problem is the next potential computer time rollover bug

Many older systems store time as a signed 32-bit integer counting seconds since Jan. 1, 1970. That counter maxes out on Jan. 19, 2038—overflowing into negative time and sending clocks back to 1901, potentially crashing any older software that depends on accurate dates.

Brain wave-reading earbuds are being used by companies to study workplace performance

Limited safeguards prevent governments from accessing and companies from sharing brain data. Foreign governments may also be developing technology to spy on and potentially disrupt human thoughts.

Malware has transitioned from notoriety-driven to profit- and data-driven

Many of the first researchers and hobbyists who created viruses and worms showed a natural curiosity in experimenting with and designing such software to make a name for themselves and advance the field of computer science. In the future, AI-augmented malware may adapt in real-time or design enhanced cryptojackers, infostealers, and ransomware for cybercriminals.

A US Department of Defense research lab developed the technology for the dark web

Although encryption existed to mask the content of communications across the internet before the 1990s, those managing overseas network infrastructure could determine a spy's affiliation based on where they saw data sent to and received from. To keep this information secret, the US Naval Research Laboratory developed onion routing, which enabled anonymized web browsing. The release of the technology to the public obscured sensitive communications further by growing the volume of anonymous data.

Security technician hacks a voting machine to reveal its vulnerabilities

A technician bought an old, likely-decommissioned voting machine from 2013 and took it apart to see how a would-be hacker might be able to exploit its vulnerabilities. Get a sense of the needs for secure, up-to-date voting machines with this...

Using cryptocurrency to turn traditional financial arrangements on their head

Cryptocurrency is poised to drastically change everything in the financial world, including financial arrangements. Decentralized finance makes it easier for virtually anyone to take advantage of financial markets without the need for a bank. However, there are new risks involved as well. Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics Kevin Werbach, an expert on Bitcoin and blockchains discusses it all in detail in The Conversation.

Why there are microchips in credit cards

Credit cards have evolved significantly since their invention in 1950, but security lagged in the US for years. Despite handling only a quarter of global transactions, the US once accounted for half of all credit card fraud. The 2013 Target data breach helped push the adoption of chip cards, reducing fraud but shifting risks to online scams.

As of 2025, the US and Qatar dominate global helium production

The US's 42.6% share includes helium imported from Canada and refined within the states. Geopolitical conflicts can cause supply disruptions that impact several advanced technologies, including semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace systems, and medical imaging.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Passkeys, a new authentication method, aim to replace traditional passwords

Passkeys use cryptography keys to secure logins without passwords, resisting phishing and risks from data breaches. The FIDO Alliance developed passkeys as a combination of public and private keys for authentication.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

The 2026 Ebola outbreak in the DRC is spurring new Ebola vaccine development for the Bundibugyo species.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.