He said the next stage was to confirm its exact identity using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses to produce it chemically on a larger scale.

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The qubits were "programmed" using radio pulses, and the results of the calculations read using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging equipment, the same kind of machine a medical doctor might use to look inside at an injured head.

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MRI, first developed 30 years ago, is based on a well established scientific technique, nuclear magnetic resonance, which uses the interaction of magnetic fields with the spin of the nuclei of atoms to provide detailed information on the constituents of chemicals and biological materials.

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That meant recruiting two clever instruments with long-winded names a differential scanning calorimeter, which measures the thermal properties of the mixture as it is sorted, and a nuclear-magnetic resonance spectrometer, which measures its chemical properties.

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