Science budget cuts

U.S. Plans Groundwork for Quantum Internet With Massive Budget Cuts to Science

Even as the United States battles with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the tech sector remains robust in more ways than one. Stocks in the tech sector continue to hold up and companies such as Shopify make new announcements everyday that help to improve the lives of merchants everywhere.

That is just on example.

We’re seeing growth in tech in other areas as well.

For instance, different companies will make certain advancements in the highly sought after field of quantum science. 

That’s correct. The Trump administration is aiming to up its spending on quantum information science by 20 percent in the 2021 budget. According to reports, the move will also see a big push towards US quantum internet infrastructure

Trump Administration Seeks Budget Increase for Quantum Science Research

As reported by CNBC, the Trump Administration is seeking a budget increase for quantum science to $237 million. With $25 million of this funding, the administration wants to start creating the groundwork required for quantum powered internet. 

The move is reminiscent of similar efforts from the 1960s, when the US government started to fund the groundwork of traditional Internet. Back then, the Internet was a novel technology as far into the future as quantum science is in the current timeline. 

While it took decades for the Internet that we know and love to come to life, the spending into research and infrastructure played a big role in making routers, cables, and other equipment available in most households. 

Actual Use of the US Quantum Internet Remains Decades Away, But Science Funds are Cut Further With This Proposal 

Since quantum mechanics is considered one of the next big breakthroughs for humanity, the groundwork for quantum internet is poised to do something similar to what Internet infrastructure did decades ago. 

While quantum internet may only be available after a few decades, this investment plan is being lauded by researchers who are dedicated to the field of quantum science.

With that being said, the ambition does come with a catch: the Trump administration is also proposing to cut overall scientific research funding by almost 10 percent to achieve this goal. These cuts go into billions of dollars and affect agencies such as the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, and NASA science.

Research and Possibilities

When exploring one area, one could stumble on opportunities and possibilities in other tangential sectors. This might be the case in quantum internet research. Quantum internet is supposed to be stronger and even powerful than the internet we have today. That means that the newer internet would run even more applications allowing us to experiment and create more compelling tools with our technology.

Quantum computing can be useful in practical matters such as cybersecurity and help to thwart attacks from cyber attackers. But we do know what else we could solve by digging into the world of quantum computing and having a quantum internet.

Could a quantum Internet allow us to create our real life version of Upload, a show on Amazon where one can choose to live in an digital afterlife?

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