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I'm writing a paper about quantum computing and I'm trying to cite a source; however, I feel that the sentence in which I do this is clunky and forced.

According to The Washington Post’s Vivek Wadhwa, these quantum computers are capable of making computations that would take a binary machine years to perform in mere seconds.

I'm trying to divide the "that would take a binary machine years to perform" from the "in mere seconds." Would a hyphenated clause, such as the one below, be a proper solution?

According to The Washington Post’s Vivek Wadhwa, these quantum computers are capable of making computations -- ones that would’ve taken a binary machine years to perform -- in mere seconds.

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  • Comma is your friend. "According to The Washington Post’s Vivek Wadhwa, these quantum computers are capable of performing, in mere seconds, computations that would take a binary machine years to perform."
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 22:43
  • (Which is why I still say that we never should have abandoned decimal computers. And centessimal ones would be even better, no?)
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 22:44
  • 2
    Possible duplicate of Parentheses vs. double commas vs. dashes to provide additional detail
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 23:06
  • @HotLicks We should have stuck to tally marks.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 23:37

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How about:

According to The Washington Post’s Vivek Wadhwa, these quantum computers are capable of making, in mere seconds, computations that would’ve taken a binary machine years to perform.

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