Quantum information processing has arrived at the cutting edge. Ian Walmsley, elected fellow of the esteemed Royal Society and provost of Imperial College London, guides us through the narrative of the field — from information processing and computing, to the evolution of science education and industry. Manos Anyfantakis, from the University of Luxembourg’s Experimental Soft Matter Physics group, shares his team’s latest breakthrough: achieving structural colors, with applications in biobased sensing and dyeing.