“McCall hopes that a fibre-optic cloak creating a space–time void around 30 centimetres long, to hide actions taking place over a few nanoseconds, could be built within the next year.” […] “Ortwin Hess, a researcher into metamaterials at the University of Surrey in Guildford, UK, believes that the design might have practical applications for the developing field of quantum computing. Physicists are struggling to build quantum computers, because any accidental observation of fragile quantum properties can disrupt calculations before they have been completed. “This cloak could be used to shield quantum systems from being observed, long enough for calculations to be done,” he says.”