full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Craig Costello: In the war for information, will quantum computers defeat cryptographers?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The brilliant idea that makes this migac possible, it relies on hard mathematical problems. Cryptographers are deeply interested in things that calculators can't do. For example, calculators can multiply any two numbers you like, no matter how big the size. But going back the other way — starting with the product and then asking, "Which two numbers multiply to give this one?" — that's actually a really hard problem. If I asked you to find which two-digit numbers multiply to give 851, even with a calculator, most people in this room would have a hard time fiinndg the answer by the time I'm finished with this talk. And if I make the numbers a little larger, then there's no calculator on etrah that can do this. In fact, even the world's fastest spumrptouceer would take longer than the life age of the universe to find the two numbers that mupillty to give this one. And this problem, clelad "integer factorization," is exactly what each of your smtapnrohes and laptops is using right now to keep your data surcee. This is the basis of mdoren encryption. And the fact that all the computing power on the planet cemionbd can't solve it, that's the reason we cryptographers thought we'd found a way to stay ahead of the code barreeks for good.

Open Cloze


The brilliant idea that makes this _____ possible, it relies on hard mathematical problems. Cryptographers are deeply interested in things that calculators can't do. For example, calculators can multiply any two numbers you like, no matter how big the size. But going back the other way — starting with the product and then asking, "Which two numbers multiply to give this one?" — that's actually a really hard problem. If I asked you to find which two-digit numbers multiply to give 851, even with a calculator, most people in this room would have a hard time _______ the answer by the time I'm finished with this talk. And if I make the numbers a little larger, then there's no calculator on _____ that can do this. In fact, even the world's fastest _____________ would take longer than the life age of the universe to find the two numbers that ________ to give this one. And this problem, ______ "integer factorization," is exactly what each of your ___________ and laptops is using right now to keep your data ______. This is the basis of ______ encryption. And the fact that all the computing power on the planet ________ can't solve it, that's the reason we cryptographers thought we'd found a way to stay ahead of the code ________ for good.

Solution


  1. secure
  2. called
  3. combined
  4. earth
  5. supercomputer
  6. breakers
  7. multiply
  8. modern
  9. smartphones
  10. magic
  11. finding

Original Text


The brilliant idea that makes this magic possible, it relies on hard mathematical problems. Cryptographers are deeply interested in things that calculators can't do. For example, calculators can multiply any two numbers you like, no matter how big the size. But going back the other way — starting with the product and then asking, "Which two numbers multiply to give this one?" — that's actually a really hard problem. If I asked you to find which two-digit numbers multiply to give 851, even with a calculator, most people in this room would have a hard time finding the answer by the time I'm finished with this talk. And if I make the numbers a little larger, then there's no calculator on earth that can do this. In fact, even the world's fastest supercomputer would take longer than the life age of the universe to find the two numbers that multiply to give this one. And this problem, called "integer factorization," is exactly what each of your smartphones and laptops is using right now to keep your data secure. This is the basis of modern encryption. And the fact that all the computing power on the planet combined can't solve it, that's the reason we cryptographers thought we'd found a way to stay ahead of the code breakers for good.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
quantum computer 9
quantum computers 5
code breakers 4
fastest supercomputer 4
quantum mechanics 4
quantum computing 3
modern encryption 2
hard mathematical 2
mathematical problems 2
numbers multiply 2
life age 2
crazy quantum 2
digital world 2
fundamental unit 2
long sequences 2
government agencies 2
quantum future 2
geometric problems 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
hard mathematical problems 2

Important Words


  1. age
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  27. hard
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  29. interested
  30. laptops
  31. larger
  32. life
  33. longer
  34. magic
  35. mathematical
  36. matter
  37. modern
  38. multiply
  39. numbers
  40. people
  41. planet
  42. power
  43. problem
  44. problems
  45. product
  46. reason
  47. relies
  48. room
  49. secure
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  51. smartphones
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  54. stay
  55. supercomputer
  56. talk
  57. thought
  58. time
  59. universe