Charlie Wood

Staff Writer

Latest Articles

New Codes Could Make Quantum Computing 10 Times More Efficient

August 25, 2023

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.

JWST Spots Giant Black Holes All Over the Early Universe

August 14, 2023

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.

Quantum Complexity Shows How to Escape Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox

August 2, 2023

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 of the new century — the physics of quantum information.

Q&A

The Physicist Who Glues Together Universes

May 25, 2023

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 needed to calculate the far-reaching implications of that assumption.

Physicists Create Elusive Particles That Remember Their Pasts

May 9, 2023

In two landmark experiments, researchers used quantum processors to engineer exotic particles that have captivated physicists for decades. The work is a step toward crash-proof quantum computers.

How to Tame the Endless Infinities Hiding in the Heart of Particle Physics

April 6, 2023

In the math of particle physics, every calculation should result in infinity. The set of techniques known as “resurgence” points toward an escape.

Wormhole Experiment Called Into Question

March 23, 2023

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.

Room-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Meets With Resistance

March 8, 2023

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.

Physicists Use Quantum Mechanics to Pull Energy out of Nothing

February 22, 2023

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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