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Charlie Wood

Staff Writer

An illustration of a spherical universe sitting inside a machine hooked up to wires.
neural networks

How to Make the Universe Think for Us

By Charlie Wood
May 31, 2022
Read Later

Physicists are building neural networks out of vibrations, voltages and lasers, arguing that the future of computing lies in exploiting the universe’s complex physical behaviors.

Illustration of pieces of paper with scientific images on them feeding into a machine. A human hand turns a crank, and equations come out of the machine.
algorithms

Powerful ‘Machine Scientists’ Distill the Laws of Physics From Raw Data

By Charlie Wood
May 10, 2022
Read Later

Researchers say we’re on the cusp of “GoPro physics,” where a camera can point at an event and an algorithm can identify the underlying physics equation.

A man sits at a table in the middle of a wood-paneled library, perusing a large book.
Q&A

Pondering the Bits That Build Space-Time and Brains

By Charlie Wood
April 20, 2022
Read Later

Vijay Balasubramanian investigates whether the fabric of the universe might be built from information, and what it means that physicists can even ask such a question.

Illustration in which the particles of the Standard Model are arranged as sections of a circle, but the W boson is too big and doesn’t fit.]
particle physics

Newly Measured Particle Seems Heavy Enough to Break Known Physics

By Charlie Wood
April 7, 2022
Read Later

A new analysis of W bosons suggests these particles are significantly heavier than predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics.

A white wave on a black background.
quantum physics

Massive Black Holes Shown to Act Like Quantum Particles

By Charlie Wood
March 29, 2022
Read Later

Physicists are using quantum math to understand what happens when black holes collide. In a surprise, they’ve shown that a single particle can describe a collision’s entire gravitational wave.

Four spheres representing a nucleus surrounded by two additional spheres.
atomic physics

An Antimatter Experiment Shows Surprises Near Absolute Zero

By Charlie Wood
March 16, 2022
Read Later

An experiment conducted on hybrid matter-antimatter atoms has defied researchers’ expectations.

A grid of 66 galaxies.
astrophysics

Tiny Galaxies Reveal Secrets of Supermassive Black Holes

By Charlie Wood
March 14, 2022
Read Later

Dwarf galaxies weren’t supposed to have big black holes. Their surprise discovery has revealed clues about how the universe’s biggest black holes could have formed.

particle physics

The Mysterious Forces Inside the Nucleus Grow a Little Less Strange

By Charlie Wood
February 14, 2022
Read Later

The strong force holds protons and neutrons together, but the theory behind it is largely inscrutable. Two new approaches show how it works.

quantum physics

Quantum Complexity Tamed by Machine Learning

By Charlie Wood
February 7, 2022
Read Later

If only scientists understood exactly how electrons act in molecules, they’d be able to predict the behavior of everything from experimental drugs to high-temperature superconductors. Following decades of physics-based insights, artificial intelligence systems are taking the next leap.


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About the author

Charlie Wood is a staff writer covering physics at Quanta Magazine. His articles about advances in the physical sciences both on and off the planet have appeared in Popular Science, Scientific American, The Christian Science Monitor and other publications. Previously, he taught high school physics and English in Mozambique and Japan. He has a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Brown University.

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