BEN TURNER, LIVE SCIENCE 4 MAY 2021 Scientists have gotten one step closer to a quantum internet by creating the world's first multinode quantum network. Researchers at the QuTech research center in the Netherlands created the system, which is made up of three quantum nodes entangled by the spooky laws of quantum mechanics that govern subatomic particles. It is the first time that more than two quantum bits, or "qubits" that do the calculations in quantum computing have been linked together as "nodes" or network endpoints.
Researchers expect the first quantum networks to unlock a wealth of computing applications that can't be performed by existing classical devices - such as faster computation and improved cryptography.