@walkingthedot

Physics staff writer @QuantaMagazine, R(ecovering)PCV, exJET, language enthusiast. SHERP36. formerly @PopSci, @csmonitor He/him

 Brooklyn, NY
Joined February 2013
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65Media
Two researchers first told me they were on the verge of creating a new state of matter almost two years ago. It took them a little longer than they thought, but they've finally done it. quantamagazine.org/physicist…
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"The beat of a hummingbird’s wings becomes an eternity. Even the incessant buzzing of atoms becomes sluggish." Curious about today's physics Nobel Prize announcement? @walkingthedot has you covered. quantamagazine.org/physicist…

Physicists Who Explored Tiny Glimpses of Time Win Nobel Prize | Quanta Magazine

The development of attosecond pulses of light allowed researchers to explore the frame-by-frame movement of electrons.

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Really remarkable story today in @QuantaMagazine (by @walkingthedot) about the entanglement phase transition. I like to think that my role here is to be the everyman narrator, introducing you to this wild field over sticky toffee pudding. quantamagazine.org/physicist…

Physicists Observe ‘Unobservable’ Quantum Phase Transition | Quanta Magazine

Measurement and entanglement both have a “spooky” nonlocal flavor to them. Now physicists are harnessing that nonlocality to probe the spread of quantum information and control it.

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Rapid recent developments in quantum error correction indicate that reliable quantum computation *might* be a *bit* closer at hand quantamagazine.org/new-codes…

New Codes Could Make Quantum Computing 10 Times More Efficient | Quanta Magazine

Quantum computing is still really, really hard. But the rise of a powerful class of error-correcting codes suggests that the task might be slightly more feasible than many feared.

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For more on some stunning mathematical breakthroughs highlighting the potential of LDPC codes to achieve a maximal "goodness," check out @mordecwhy 's wonderful story from 2021 quantamagazine.org/qubits-ca…

Qubits Can Be as Safe as Bits, Researchers Show | Quanta Magazine

A new result shows that quantum information can theoretically be protected from errors just as well as classical information can.

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*story from last year covering work in 2021
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It's been a real black hole summer for me. First, I reported on some theoretical and extremely abstract work applying information theory to potentially answer the age-old question, what happens [to your qubits] when you fall into a black hole? quantamagazine.org/new-calcu…

New Calculations Show How to Escape Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox | Quanta Magazine

Inside of a black hole, the two theoretical pillars of 20th-century physics appear to clash. Now a group of young physicists think they have resolved the conflict by appealing to the central pillar...

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Now astronomers are appreciating a very different side of *real* black holes — the outside. JWST has been spotting tons of actively shining black holes, way more than expected, way back in the first billion years of cosmic history. quantamagazine.org/jwst-spot…

JWST Spots Giant Black Holes All Over the Early Universe | Quanta Magazine

Giant black holes were supposed to be bit players in the early cosmic story. But recent James Webb Space Telescope observations are finding an unexpected abundance of the beasts.

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Charlie Wood retweeted
Thomas Lin@7homaslin17 Jul 2023
Thrilled to share a @QuantaMagazine first: This is the first time we've published a piece written by an intern (@saugat_optimist), illustrated by an intern (Allison Li) and promoted on social media by an intern (@MikaEllison23). Talk about a triple threat! quantamagazine.org/undergrou…

Underground Cells Make ‘Dark Oxygen’ Without Light | Quanta Magazine

In some deep subterranean aquifers, cells have a chemical trick for making oxygen that could sustain whole underground ecosystems.

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the plot thickens
Dan Garisto@dangaristo25 Jul 2023
Ranga Dias will have another paper retracted, this time on the basis of alleged data fabrication and an attempt by his coauthor Ashkan Salamat to obstruct an investigation. My reporting for Nature News: nature.com/articles/d41586-0…
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Masahiro Hotta
@hottaqu9 Jun 2023
著名なWIREDのサイトでも紹介されてますね。 The research leaves little room for doubt that energy teleportation is a genuine quantum phenomenon. この実験は、真の量子現象として量子エネルギーテレポーテーション(QET)が実現したことに疑いの余地をほとんど残さない、画期的な成果でした。
WIRED
@WIRED28 May 2023
Now, in the past year, researchers have teleported energy across microscopic distances in two separate quantum devices. The research leaves little room for doubt that energy teleportation is a genuine quantum phenomenon. Via @QuantaMagazine wired.trib.al/9H597KZ

The Quest to Use Quantum Mechanics to Pull Energy Out of Nothing

The quantum energy teleportation protocol was proposed in 2008 and largely ignored. Now two independent experiments have shown that it works.

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The theoretical physicist Renate Loll simulates fantastical universes to understand the structure of reality. In a conversation with @walkingthedot, Loll discusses where the field of quantum gravity might go next. quantamagazine.org/renate-lo…

Renate Loll Blends Universes to Unlock Quantum Gravity | Quanta Magazine

Renate Loll has helped pioneer a radically new approach to quantum gravity. She assumes that the fabric of space-time is a blend of all possible fabrics, and she has developed the computational tools...

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Thread with some interesting details of the Quantinuum experiment that didn't make it into the article
Nathanan Tantivasadakarn@nat_tanti9 May 2023
I'm very excited to share recent results on preparing topological states by measurement. In our latest collaboration with Quantinuum, we unambiguously provide the first realization of non-Abelian topological order in their latest H2 quantum processor (which launches today!)
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A new milestone in the struggle of scientists to measure the roundness of the electron, and the struggle of science journalists to come up with metaphors that convey the new levels of roundness. Don't miss this banger from @savagitsky quantamagazine.org/the-elect…

The Electron Is So Round That It’s Ruling Out New Particles | Quanta Magazine

If the electron’s charge wasn’t perfectly round, it could reveal the existence of hidden particles. A new measurement approaches perfection.

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Last year, research demonstrating wormhole-like behavior in a quantum experiment made a big splash. Now further analysis from another group suggests that the system in question probably doesn't have a wormhole interpretation. quantamagazine.org/wormhole-…

Wormhole Experiment Called Into Question | Quanta Magazine

Last fall, a team of physicists announced that they had teleported a qubit through a holographic wormhole in a quantum computer. Now another group suggests that’s not quite what happened.

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Want more on the superconductivity drama? See the results of @dangaristo ‘s investigation
Dan Garisto@dangaristo9 Mar 2023
Yesterday, Ranga Dias made new superconductivity claims. I spent the last month investigating allegations of data manipulation in the retracted 2020 CSH paper which claimed to observe the first room-temperature superconductor. physics.aps.org/articles/v16…

Allegations of Scientific Misconduct Mount as Physicist Makes His Biggest Claim Yet

Condensed-matter physicist Ranga Dias and his colleagues reported on Tuesday the discovery of a room-temperature, near-ambient-pressure superconductor; Dias is also being accused of committing...

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Zack Savitsky@savagitsky8 Mar 2023
today physicists claim a long-sought milestone: a material that conducts electricity perfectly in near-ambient conditions. it would revolutionize technology. but the finding has been met with resistance. @walkingthedot and i have you covered: quantamagazine.org/room-temp…

Room-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Meets With Resistance | Quanta Magazine

A paper in Nature reports the discovery of a superconductor that operates at room temperatures and near-room pressures. The claim has divided the research community.

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You can't get something for nothing, but you can use nothing to transport something, it turns out. Quantum weirdness finds yet another intriguing application. quantamagazine.org/physicist…

Physicists Use Quantum Mechanics to Pull Energy out of Nothing | Quanta Magazine

The quantum energy teleportation protocol was proposed in 2008 and largely ignored. Now two independent experiments have shown that it works.

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Can't get enough of this muon scanning stuff. Muon scan everything. sciencenews.org/article/muon…

Muon scanning hints at mysteries within an ancient Chinese wall

Density fluctuations within the ancient rampart encircling the city of Xi’an could be defects or yet-to-be-discovered archaeological finds.

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Could life be thought of as a phase of matter, like a super complicated version of magnetism or superconductivity? Nikta Fakhri of @FakhriLab thinks so, and recently explained what she's been working on to me. quantamagazine.org/starfish-…

Starfish Whisperer Develops a Physical Language of Life | Quanta Magazine

Nikta Fakhri is adapting and extending concepts from physics to describe how tiny biological components give rise to living organisms.

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