The qubits at the center of quantum computing systems are the equivalent of the binary bits that classical computing processors use – but while classical bits can only be 1 or 0, qubits can be 1, 0, or a blend of both (superposition), a flexibility that promises to transform the power of our computers.

There’s one nagging problem with superposition, which is that as soon as a qubit is accessed and measured, its value then gets fixed to 1 or 0. The instant it’s checked up on, the most useful characteristic of the qubit disappears.

Now researchers from China and Brazil, publishing their work in Physical Review B, think they have a solution to the problem. Essentially, it involves reading the electrical current produced by a qubit, rather than the qubit itself.