The digital computer has only just become the best friend of human beings, and it already has some serious enemies. Some researchers in the field of theoretical physics are out to kill it, replacing it with a quantum computer. Once such a computer has been invented, it could revolutionize scientific research in the 21st century. One of these theoretical physicists is Michael Kastoryano, an Alexander von Humboldt fellow at Freie Universität.

In this era of enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), or bird flu, knowledge about pathogens that can be transmitted from animals to people is becoming increasingly important. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of people become ill each year with infections transmitted by animals. Researchers at Freie Universität are now working on behalf of the United Nations to help limit the risk of these kinds of global infectious diseases.

It wasn’t an especially good report card. A few subjects were marked “Sufficient,” and even worse, there was a “Deficient” in math. That grade might have been a bit hasty in the case of the young Konrad Zuse, as arithmetic would soon come to be one of his best subjects on his way to becoming an engineer and inventor.