For decades, experts have predicted that quantum computers will someday perform difficult tasks, such as simulating complex chemical systems, that can’t be done by conventional computers. But so far, these machines haven’t lived up to their potential because of error-prone hardware. That’s why scientists are working to improve the qubit—the basic hardware element of quantum computers, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.