Microsoft’s new “topological qubit” is not based on a solid, liquid or gas. It is another phase of matter that many experts did not think was possible.

Microsoft has announced a significant breakthrough in quantum computing: the creation of the first "topological qubits." Unlike conventional quantum bits, these qubits store information using an exotic state of matter.

After 17 years of research, Microsoft has finally developed the Majorana 1 chip, its first quantum computing processor based on a brand-new material and architecture, reports The Verge. At the heart of a quantum computer are quantum bits (qubits),