In Juy, Mikhail Lukin at Harvard University announced they had a 51 quantum bit simulator. Quantum simulators are used to model the minute behavior of molecules, and could help study how drugs act within the human body. They aren't full-blown quantum computers, though, says Simon Devitt at Macquarie University in Sydney.

Lukin and his team use of atom-by-atom assembly to deterministically prepare arrays of individually trapped
cold neutral 87Rb atoms in optical tweezers (lasers hold and manipulate the atoms). Controlled, coherent interactions between these atoms are introduced by coupling them to Rydberg states. Such interactions have already been used for realizing quantum gates, implementing strong photon-photon interactions and studying many-body physics.

The protocol that they implement is depicted.