Usually quantum computers are devices that can fill entire laboratories. Now a compact prototype quantum computer can fit in two 19-inch server racks like those found in data centers throughout the world, which could help improve battery designs or crack codes, a new study finds.

A quantum computer with enough components known as quantum bits or «qubits» could in theory achieve a «quantum advantage» enabling it to find the answers to problems no classical computer could ever solve.

However, given how the most advanced current quantum computers typically only have a few dozen qubits at most yet fill up whole rooms. As such, scaling up to hundreds of qubits for practical applications is often thought to prove a challenging task.