One of the pieces of equipment for the quantum random number generator in the NIST Boulder laboratories. Very little in this life is truly random. A coin flip is influenced by the flipper’s force, its ...

Randomness is incredibly useful. People often draw straws, throw dice or flip coins to make fair choices. Random numbers can enable auditors to make completely unbiased selections. Randomness is also ...

In the strange world of quantum computing, randomness isn’t just noise. It’s a powerful resource. Whether you’re designing secure cryptographic systems, simulating processes that occur in nature, or ...

A quantum random-number generator has been developed that uses classical cryptography to certify that its output was produced by a quantum process. A truly random number is generated by a process ...

Randomness is incredibly useful. People often draw straws, throw dice or flip coins to make fair choices. Random numbers can enable auditors to make completely unbiased selections. Randomness is also ...

Quantum computers can produce randomness much more easily than previously thought, a surprising discovery that shows we still have much to learn about how the strange realm of quantum physics ...

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, ...

Coin tosses aren't truly random. Lava lamps help secure the internet. And quantum physics might break encryption—or save it. This is what randomness really means, and why your digital life depends on ...