Not 25, but about 30 years ago, Peter Shor showed that quantum systems could be arranged and evolved in a manner that we could factorize large numbers exponenti

Not 25, but about 30 years ago, Peter Shor showed that quantum systems could be arranged and evolved in a manner that we could factorize large numbers exponentially faster than using classical means. That was a humongous expansion in what we thought were the possible physical evolutions in our universe. Related ideas have been used since to significantly expand our understanding of blackholes, for example.