WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Microsoft’s new coding language is made for quantum computers.

SOMEWHAT RELATED: A Rare Joint Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Bill Gates.

That other former CEO, Steve Ballmer, was conspicuously absent, but Gates and Nadella were refreshingly honest about quantum computing:

SS: Can you explain in one sentence to my 72-year-old mother: What is quantum computing?

SN: I don’t think so. I wish I could. But in simple terms, I think we’re reaching some limits on the foundations that have helped us get all this computing power. And the question is, What’s the next breakthrough that will allow us to keep up this exponential growth in computing power and to solve problems—whether it’s about climate or food production or drug discovery? I think that’s where quantum plays a role. It’s a natural thing for us to be investing in because we are one of the biggest spenders on cloud computing, and we think of this as our next-generation cloud.

BG: I smiled when you suggested we should try to explain quantum. That’s the one part of Microsoft where they put up slides that I truly do not understand. I know a lot of physics and a lot of math. But the one place where they put up slides and it is hieroglyphics, it’s quantum.

When my 11-year-old asked me about quantum mechanics (after I’d made the mistake of mentioning it), the best I could come up with was, “Quantum is where things get deeply weird.”