‘Quantum’ Label Wildly Popular in China on Goods Having Nothing to Do With Actual Quantum Tech

(Abacus.news) Chinese ecommerce stores are currently awash with all kinds of goods claiming to bestow the benefits of quantum tech in products that have little to do with tech. You can buy quantum-infused socks, underwear that emits quantum goodness to your nether region or down some quantum alcoholic beverages.
Experts say it’s mostly hogwash. “How can something that hasn’t been achieved in the laboratory become widely popular on the market?” Jin Xianmin, a physics professor at Shanghai’s Jiaotong University, said to Xinhua in a report covering the new marketing phenomenon.
The reason so many companies are now pushing “quantum” everything could be because quantum computing has become an important topic for China’s science community. The country, however, has also seen real progress in quantum science, much of it related to encryption. While sellers on ecommerce sites peddle quantum water bottles that claim to have benefits similar to the US$80 crystal-infused water bottles sold by Goop, China also has real quantum drones.
The country also sent the world’s only quantum satellite into orbit and set up the longest land-based quantum communication network between Beijing and Shanghai.