Hull, Iowa — Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra from Hull is pushing to expand a 2018 law about a new technology that processes data dramatically faster than traditional computers do.
It’s called quantum computing and it has the potential to improve existing industries — and create new ones.
Here’s how the concept works: computers use quantum mechanics to store data on what are called subatomic particles — basically the fragments of atoms. Quantum computing has the potential to process data in seconds that would take a traditional computer days or even months to sort. Congress is expected to reauthorize the government’s National Quantum Initiative in 2023. Feenstra says agricultural applications need to be specified.
Federal spending on quantum information science has doubled in the past two years. Feenstra says it has the potential to expand battery storage and create more effective medications as well as create the next generation of farm fertilizers.
