The allure of quantum computers is, at its heart, quite simple: by leveraging counterintuitive quantum effects, they could perform computational feats utterly impossible for any classical computer.

When a computer generates a “random” number, it goes through certain algorithms that will allow it to come up with that number, which means it wasn’t really random after all. Random numbers are ...

A team of international scientists has developed a laser that can generate 254 trillion random digits per second, more than a hundred times faster than computer-based random number generators (RNG).

Using a 56-qubit quantum computer, researchers have for the first time experimentally demonstrated a way of generating random numbers from a quantum computer and then using a classical supercomputer ...

A new network paradigm can generate meaningfully random numbers—and fast. In network encryption, randomness has huge value because it’s not “solvable” by hackers. Classical computers can’t be ...

A team that included researchers at a US bank says it has created a protocol that can generate certified truly random numbers, opening the possibility that current generation quantum computers can be ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

A new approach to generating truly random numbers could lead to improved Internet security and better weather forecasts, according to researchers. A new approach to generating truly random numbers ...