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This is a brief account of the influential role physicists played in the early days of computing — a story with unexpected parallels with the current revolution in AI.
One hundred years ago, Louis de Broglie posed a question: could matter particles behave like waves? This duality was already known for light; extending it to electrons and indeed all matter had huge implications, especially for the development of quantum mechanics.
What can three ambitious physics experiments, currently under construction or in the start of their operational phase, show us about big science in China?
Artificial intelligence may uncover new scientific concepts that defy human intuition, but will researchers be able to understand and operate with them? This scenario might seem like science fiction, but physicists have faced it before.
Most physics seminars are seen by dozens at most, but the 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson reached hundreds of thousands of viewers, including non-physicists. Achintya Rao asks what can this event tell us about opening up science to the general public?
In the 20th century, Bell Labs was a renowned industrial research lab in the US, known as the birthplace of the transistor and for the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation. It was also home to a 40-year minority outreach programme that went on to create a generation of Black scientists. What can initiatives today learn from the success of this fellowship?
100 years ago, Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach demonstrated that silver atoms have a quantized magnetic moment, as predicted from the Bohr–Sommerfeld model of the atom. But the correct interpretation of the result proved to be far more subtle — and revolutionary.
Established almost 100 years ago, Bell Labs made a great contribution to advancing both fundamental science and technology. Was that the result of a unique set of circumstances or is there a reproducible recipe for success?
More than 40 years ago the first Bell tests translated a purely philosophical conundrum to a physical experiment. In doing so, they changed our understanding of quantum mechanics and contributed to the development of quantum technologies.
As superconducting quantum computing research progresses in industry and academic laboratories, researchers are increasingly aware of the importance of the big picture — a full quantum stack where each layer presents specific and related technical challenges.
As the third LIGO–Virgo operating run (O3) finishes earlier than planned owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, we look at the ups and down of the past 12 months.
Experiments around the world are looking for signs of the charge conjugation and parity (CP) symmetry violation. Some of these searches might also reveal physics beyond the standard model.
As the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) celebrates its 10th anniversary, scientists look back on a challenging yet successful decade of research made possible by national and international collaboration.
The construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the world’s largest nuclear fusion experiment, is now 60% complete. The challenges ahead are huge and the way to go is still long, but an extensive research effort is supporting the technological developments needed to make ITER a reality.
The percentage of women in post-graduate physics positions has stalled just below 20%. The most precipitous drop in women’s representation occurs between high school and university; however, women at all career stages struggle with ongoing cultural burdens and obstacles.
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility is upgrading to become the first high-energy fourth generation synchrotron. It will be a test bed for new technologies and will provide users with unprecedented measurement capabilities.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest particle accelerator in the world. But, after 10 years of operation, it’s time to think about the next steps. With one approved upgrade — the High-Luminosity LHC — and design studies for possible future colliders on the table, intense efforts are being directed to the development of new technologies.
