Quantum information could be retrieved from a black hole, according to new calculations by a theoretical physicist in the US. Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found that only a tiny amount of information -- just half a quantum bit, or "qubit" -- is lost from the black hole regardless of how many bits are in the hole to begin with. The unexpected discovery means that a black hole could behave as a good quantum computer and be used to perform useful calculations -- if only we knew how to program it (Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 061302).