Theoretical Physicists John Preskill and Spiros Michalakis  sat down for a short talk in which they describe how quantum computing differs from the classical view (i.e. digital computers). They first go on about the fundamental, key aspect of the quantum world: the laws that describe and govern things at the tiniest level differ from those at the macroscale. The revealing talk then continues to explain how information is encoded in a quantum computer (qubits instead of 0’s and 1’s), how a quantum computer would factor in information and what the gravest challenges scientists still working today on developing the first working quantum computer face (decoherence, the principle of uncertainty).

It’s really talk, because it explains in a down to earth, layman fashion some of the most important principles of quantum computing in a compressed 6 minute video. What’s really awesome about it is the frame by frame animation that helps the viewer better digest the information by providing visual cues and making it more entertaining. Check out the video embedded video below.

The animation was made by  Jorge Cham and produced by the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter  at Caltech with funding provided by the National Science Foundation.