What will the development of quantum computers (量子计算机) mean for our civilisations? Oh sure, better cryptography (密码方式), "more powerful" processing, but bottom line, we just don't know ... yet.

This phenomenon isn't unique to quantum computing, of course. It's something we see time and gain with all new world-changing technology. In some ways, it's how we can define a technology as world-changing: everyone agrees it's going to be hugely important, but nobody can predict exactly what impact it will have.

The internet remains the classic example. Although invented in the 1960s, even by the late 1990s, the internet was still being dismissed as something that is fashionable but unlikely to last. Most commentators thought it nothing more than a curiosity.

There's a famous 1999 interview between David Bowie and BBC journalist Jeremy Paxman. In it, Bowie predicts that the internet will change the nature of music, and remove the "barriers between creator and audience". The longer he spoke, the more Paxman said in anger that Bowie could possibly believe this about the internet.

To be fair to Paxman, in 1999, internet at home meant accessing it over a modern. Concepts like WeChat and Netflix and more simply could not work over such limited bandwidth. But there were still some people who assumed that bandwidth would increase and that streaming music and video would be possible soon enough. They were laughed at.

Oddly enough, as the dot-com boom intensified, many turned from doubters to hopeless optimists, and lost serious money building websites to deliver content that simply couldn't "fit" down the inter-tubes of the day.

Then in the second decade of the 21^st century: critical mass. Bandwidth increased massively. Forget showing a nice little video in your browser, today Nexflix can serve you a TV show in 4K, as long as you have 25Mbps connection.

Quantum computing isn't a consumer technology, of course. It's a much bigger deal than that. Quantum computing is more like the invention of the transistor (电子晶体). Sure, most people have heard of it, but few understand it. Actually, we don't even really understand it. But we're reasonably comfortable that when a lab has that many scanning electron microscopes, it must be doing something important, right?

Quantum computing is still at the stage of "hit it with a hammer until it works". Sure the hammer is microscopic, and also a laser or magnetic field of some kind, but the point is we're going through the process of turning the idea into reality.

Sooner than you think, though, qubit-based computers are going to get applied to stuff. What stuff? Like always, it will be super secret stuff first. Then it will reach the rest of us.

This is how the world begins. Not with a bang, but with a lot of extremely hard work behind the scenes.

Jennifer Brophy, a professor of Stanford, is working on methods that she hopes will be used to improve commercial plant species so that they can survive harsh conditions. Initially, she studied green architecture in her undergraduate years. Once she started taking architecture classes, she realized it wasn't her passion—but when she encountered an article about a company that creates biofuels (生物燃料) from bacteria, something clicked. "I thought that was just the coolest thing. It got me really interested in pursuing bioengineering," she says.

Today, Brophy is developing new genetic engineering techniques that can help plants grow in various conditions. By changing the genome (基因组) of both commercial crops and soil bacteria, she thinks it's possible to help plants survive droughts.

Brophy is building what she calls "genetic circuits". Besides changing the genes within plant cells, this method also changes how and when those genes are triggered. If the plant senses a specific sugar, it can express one protein; if it senses another signal, it'll express a different protein. If both signals are there, the plant may be able to express something else entirely. "Using circuits to all these different inputs," she says.

"A plant doesn't necessarily know what's coming. It just knows whether it's hot or temperate (温和的) right now," says Brophy. This can lead to problems when weather becomes erratic. A plant that usually flowers in spring may flower in winter if there're a few unseasonably warm days. When temperatures fall again, the flowers die, which ruins a year of crops. "It'd be great to be able to communicate with plants to tell them, 'Hey, you should wait on that flowering, " she adds.

Brophy is still testing the concept in the lab using a small weedy plant called Arabidopsis. She notes engineering crops in the future may also involve genetically modifying soil bacteria. As the bacteria's surroundings change, they could potentially send out chemical signals that tell nearby plants to shift their growth accordingly. Brophy thinks engineering crops could benefit farmers and society at large.

Young soldiers, far away from home and missing their families, discover a bear cub. That's how the story of Wojtek begins, back in 1942. He was alone in the mountains of Iran; nobody knows how he got there. 

When the exhausted Polish soldiers came upon Wojtek, they were immediately struck with emotions. They had been away from their loved ones for a long time. They needed something to pick their spirits up. So, they nursed the baby bear with milk from a bottle and named him Wojtek, which means: a warrior to whom fighting brings joy. 

Wojtek was officially adopted into the army. He traveled with the army to the Middle East, providing comradery and entertainment. He would wrestle with the men, chase after oranges they cast for him and follow them about like a puppy. He became their connection to humanity in a time when the light of peace seemed so far away. And, like a child, he was also playful. In the desert heat, he learned how to break into the showers and turn on the water. He could also be seen pulling trunks of empty gun shells with the men or standing at attention in formation. Wojtek was also the chief frightener of new members: He would literally bear hug them and hold them upside down for a good laugh. 

Getting through the hardship of war takes something extraordinary, something unexpectedly dangerous to preserve your mental state. That's what Wojtek did for the men who had been so long in the fog and uncertainty of World War I. A playful bear became the symbol of strength and adaptability. Thankfully, wars ended but Wojtek was not forgotten. He was shipped with a group of men to a farm in Scotland, which was a fitting place to retire for a bear with so much military experience. Wojtek was a local celebrity. Stories of him kicking a soccer ball, attending local dances and parties, and enjoying jam and honey are still told today. And to everyone who knew him, Wojtek was the one that made a difficult time a little more bearable.