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Chicago has quickly emerged as a center of quantum computing, with the state Illinois and technology companies putting millions of dollars in building a campus to build the world’s first commercial quantum computer in the southeast of the city.
But how does a quantum computer look like? And how do they work?
These are the questions that have been tried to answer in a new exhibition at Chicago’s O -Her International Airport. In Terminal 1, close to a large -scale model of a dinosaur skeleton, passengers of all ages block their speed to see the quantum computer inside the computer, which resembles a large golden chandelier with four “degree,” copper wiring and a chip below. On one side of the quantum computer -protecting fiber glass case, the passenger managed to watch a video explaining the science behind it.
The exhibition, which will last for at least a year, to help the public learn about quantum computing through the Chicago’s School of Molcolyer Engineering and IBM Stage Center, at a time when Chicago has arrived as a center of quantum computing research and development.
The purpose of the exhibition is to eliminate quantum computing for those who may not be aware of it, said Nancy Cawlak, director of the Stage Center.
“I do not want people to be afraid of it, don’t understand it,” said Cawlak. It really works, and it has been scientifically proven. “
Cawlak was referring to the fact that recently, quantum computing, a type of physics called Quantum Mechanics, was seen as just a theoretical possibility. However, it is changing as quantum computers, as shown by the IBM and at the airport, they have moved out of the labs and to traditional data centers.
The Everlander, a former Chicago student, who worked in the exhibition, used an example of a coin to explain how quantum computers are different from supercomputers and other traditional computers.
Linder said, “This is as with quantum as you turn a coin and it was a mid, you might not tell me that if it was a head or tail … then it is in two states at the same time.”
He explained that quantum computers are able to achieve this idea of being in two states at a time and can reset information in more and more ways than traditional computers, which only record data as zero or individuals and have a limited amount of information arranging and notifying methods.
In the future, it is expected that to handle the complexity of quantum computers, this ability can be used to detect the disease in a single cell and diagnose proper drugs accordingly, or even stealthily to protect financial information from most hackers.
Linder, who graduated from the United States with a bachelor’s degree in May, now works full time on Stack 12, the startup has laid the foundation that grows diamonds for quantum computing devices.
He is one of the five students associated with the Stage Center who has created the website, which is located on the exhibition as well as the Fly Quantum.Stage. He said he hoped that the exhibition would make quantum computing accessible to everyone, even those who did not take numerous semester courses in math and physics as it did.
“It looks like something where you may not probably understand it unless you go through all these classes,” said Linder.
Handi Pick, director of the Quantum Algorithm Centers at IBM, helped design the quantum computer shown at the airport, which was launched by the IBM in 2017.
It explained that the quantum is a tire, a chandelier -like design inside the computer, because the device is equivalent to a large refrigerator that uses copper wiring to cool each surface and ensures that the chip bottom chip does not affect any “thermal noise” ability to affect its data.
“Our quantum processor … is three times more cold than the outer space to help remove any noise, which can interfere with the calculation,” Pick said.
The exhibition has been hosted by United Airlines in O -Herr Terminal 1. The head of the program’s strategy and operations for the Society, Catherine Walters Kanta, who attended the exhibition after a morning flight from Washington, DC, said he hoped the display would encourage people to study quantum computing.
“I think people listen to quantum in pop culture and science fiction and they are not sure if this is something real,” said Walters’ Kanta. “
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Reference: ‘A real physical thing’: O’Hare tries to solidify quantum computer exposure technology (2025, September 29) 29 September 2025 https://phys.org/news/2025-09-pphysical-quantum-ohare-technology.html.
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