Quantum sensing steps into the spotlight as innovation and insecurity reshape the world

In the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Cinderella cooks, cleans and sleeps in a corner of the kitchen until the day she emerges into the spotlight and her fortunes change.

Quantum sensing – an advanced measurement technology that achieves a level of precision that classical sensors cannot – shares a similar story. While quantum computers attract public and government attention despite not being capable of carrying out a useful operation at scale, quantum sensors, labouring away in relative obscurity, are seeing their technological development gather pace.