Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

And the latest this morning:

Soon we’ll walk the skies again, only this time we won’t be using only our imagination.

“Now, everyone is here for the press conference.” Lea pointed toward the hallway on the left.

“Thank you, Lea,” Mulder said. “Are you ready?” He gestured to Amie to lead the way.

The loud buzz among the reporters quickly died down as Amie—carrying her shoes— followed by Mulder, entered the room. The thirty- by seventy-foot room displayed vivid color pictures of Logynous products and inventions on its bright, glossy white walls. Pictured from the latest augmented reality glasses on the left to the newest prototype of the Hawkeye-FX1 rocket that Mulder claimed would bring people to Mars within five years. On the rows of folding chairs, a little over one hundred curious reporters gathered and anxiously waited for Mulder’s latest grand claim. There was no podium, no lectern. Mulder liked it best to be able to walk freely everywhere during a presentation. He put his briefcase next to the wall, and briefly peeked through the curtain that covered a window behind him. He turned to Amie at the side of the room, nodded, turned back to the reporters and put on a bright smile.

“Good morning.” He paused for a long moment, took a deep breath and took in the room. This was the moment why he did it all. His moment. He felt ultimately powerful, knowing something everyone wanted to know. People like his 40 million followers on Twitter. “Welcome to today’s presentation, especially at this location that, to most of you, must look like the middle of nowhere. There’s been a lot of speculation about what was happening here these past few months at the Logynous Research Center. What would they come up with next? I read ideas about cold-fusion.” Mulder shook his head profoundly. “A new cryptocurrency.” Again, he shook his head. “Or perhaps wireless electricity? No, no, and nope. Nothing of the sort. I was thinking of telling you, but instead, I decided I should show you.” He reached to the rope hanging next to the curtain. “Shall I?” he asked playfully.

The room quickly filled with noise, and most of the reporters now nodded or shouted agreeably. Mulder now took the rope with both hands, and with one big pull, the curtain fell to the floor. Everyone rose from their chairs to get a good look inside.

Behind the glass, in a stainless-steel chamber, two men in spotless white coveralls were working on what looked like an upside-down copper distilling kettle. A multitude of copper pipes and electrical cables hung from it. The machine looked as high-tech as something from Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop.

Mulder looked into the room and saw some of the reporters returning to their seats, looking disappointed. “If you all will please return to your places, I will explain.” Mulder opened his briefcase and removed a slender object. “I know what you’re thinking.” He waved a piece of circuitry in his hand. “You think you saw this before, three years ago, to be exact.” He paused for a long moment. “Back then, I presented you with the first working quantum computer in the world that proved quantum supremacy. For the first time, we saw a quantum computer performing a task in minutes that a traditional supercomputer would take at least ten thousand years to perform. We called it Quantum Supremacy. Unfortunately, due to the three basic problems with quantum computing, I also had to announce that we didn’t have to expect practical applications in the foreseeable future. This was especially disappointing for me because of the anticipated applications in artificial intelligence. But also in the fields of drug development, or even closer to home, weather forecasting and climate change predictions. Today, I’m here to tell you that after only three years, we will leave the era of Noise Intermediate-Scale Quantum computing behind us.” Again, he waived the circuitry in his hand. “I present to you the first Quantum Error Correction processor. We call it the Occidium One.” Mulder paused for a long moment, waving the device in his hand like it was a world cup.

“This processor has none of the drawbacks we saw in the previous models by any manufacturer. We increased the number of addressable qubits to virtually unending, and the same goes for the number of operations we can compute on them. Inside, the machine is filled with liquid helium at just above absolute zero. At this temperature, atoms stop vibrating. Lasers inside the copper chamber target the individual atoms that float just above the computer chip, creating the possibility of immensely fast and now flawless calculations.

“The Occidium One will not only change our children’s future, but change will start as soon as you leave this room, for we put the power of the Occidium One in this little device that requires no more specialized skills than every modern coder already possesses. What’s even better, as of later today, all the architectural specifications of the Occidium One and how to program for it, will be available for free.”

A buzz now returned to the room.

“Quantum computers will disrupt every industry. Now, what does this mean? It means that beginning tomorrow, drug companies who need to evaluate the interactions between chemicals, molecules and proteins, to tell if medicines can improve certain conditions or cure diseases, can do so without any problems. And the best part is, they can do so up to a factor of ten thousand times faster. Think about what that means for cancer research, the inventions of new materials. Better and faster simulations will save thousands of lives every year in traffic alone. And, of course, there’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence. Soon, we will start seeing machines that can learn for themselves and help us with complex tasks. Robotics with real intelligence maybe even rivaling us humans in tasks. Together, with the fast-growing development in physical robots, I believe that within ten years, robots will be able to think for