Since the middle of the 20th century, computers have been based on binary numbers and binary logic, which uses ones and zeroes. A large part of this is the fact that early electronic devices were only reliable when switching between two states. Developments like lasers and semiconductors now make it possible to design computers with multivalued logic based on more than two states. Such computers could store billions of times more information in the same space and transfer information at incredibly faster rates. Mathematicians are currently developing multivalued logic for future computers.
Quantum computers work with qubits instead of bits. These quantum phenomena devices can remain in an "undecided" state until the final moments of a computation. This will allow new algorithms that will make standard tasks like searching through a database faster. Instead of working on several paths sequentially, operations on qubits work on the "0 path" and the "1 path" at the same time. This makes certain very large problems much simpler. Quantum computers investigate all possible paths at the same time, instead of investigating several paths one at a time,
Information can be carried by light as well as by electricity, and light has some distinct advantages. Light systems generate less heat and are less affected by ambient radiation or magnetism than electrical systems. Light can carry more information on the same wire at the same time as electricity, and light has one advantage over electricity that dramatically speeds up computation. Two beams of light can go through each other without interfering with the information being carried by the light. To understand this advantage, imagine how much faster traffic would move through a city if the cars could go through each other at intersections.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has discovered that space is hostile to electronics. The radiation in space interferes with electrical systems, and even light based systems have some electronics to generate the light. When we reach the vicinity of Jupiter, the magnetosphere will be strong enough to completely disable traditional electronics, including computers. One solution is fluid computers -- computers that use the flow of a gas or a liquid -- instead of electricity or light. Fluid flow is unaffected by radiation or magnetic fields. Small fluid logical controls are already used to control rocket engines and stage separation in the rockets used to lift astronauts into orbit.