Google Releases qCraft Mod For Minecraft So Kids Can Explore Quantum Computing

Videogames often get a bad rap for rotting our brains, creating violence or simply wasting our time, but as anyone with a sensible mind undoubtedly knows, there's a lot of good to come from them as well. A perfect example comes to us this weekend from Google's quantum AI lab team. It involves Minecraft and a whole lot of advanced physics.

It'll likely come as a surprise to no one reading this that Minecraft has been the tool used to build some incredible things. We're not just talking the Starship Enterprise here, or a mega-sized Mario, but tools that actually work - conveyor belts, calculators, or even a printer (YouTube is chock-full of such creations).

Google recognizes the potential here well, and wanted to add quantum physics into the mix. Thus, the 'qCraft' mod was born, one that adds new blocks that add an entirely new mechanic to the game, such as quantum entanglement, superposition, and observer dependency.

The company admits that this isn't a "perfect scientific simulation", but there's such thing as "good enough" here. The goal is to get kids and others interested in quantum physics, and judging from a quick demo, it looks to have major potential. Not convinced? Just watch:

It's simply amazing what can be done with a game that by all accounts appears simple on the surface. I am sure even Minecraft creator Markus Persson wouldn't have anticipated the true potential of the game while developing it.