The Science Behind the Story

J.A.J. van Leunen

Michael Shermer

David Darling

An authoritative, entertaining examination of the ultimate thrill ride Until recently the stuff of sci-fi fiction and Star Trek reruns, teleportation has become a reality-for subatomic particles at least. In this eye-opening book, science author David Darling follows the remarkable evolution of teleportation, visiting the key labs that have cradled this cutting-edge science and relating the all-too-human stories behind its birth. He ties in the fast emerging fields of cryptography and quantum computing, tackles some thorny philosophical questions (for instance, can a soul be teleported?)

C X Zhang

Quantum entanglement is a key driving force behind modern quantum technology. The first scientist to experimentally verify this concept was Chien-Shiung Wu in 1949, at which time she was still a Chinese citizen. On December 1, 2024, Chien-Shiung Wu was featured on the year-end cover of Physics Today, in recognition of her groundbreaking experiment of fundamental importance on quantum entanglement. While this was clearly a decisive moment in the history of science, for more than 70 years, few people, even scientists, in the world knew about its existence. Taking this opportunity, I would like to revisit the story behind this cover article to provide readers with the genesis of how all this unfolded.

R. Casalbuoni, G. Domokos, Susan Kovesi-Domokos +1 more

Josephine C. Meyer, Steven J. Pollock, Bethany R. Wilcox +1 more

A major challenge for quantum workforce development is the need to both understand and reliably assess student learning of quantum information science (QIS) fundamentals. Yet student thinking is notoriously difficult to probe, even for seasoned education researchers. This article presents the story of Item 15 on the Quantum Computing Conceptual Survey (QCCS). This assessment item underwent more revision and discussion within the team than the remaining 19 assessment questions combined. This paper provides a behind-the-scenes look at the development of this assessment question: a story that both reveals interesting findings about student reasoning in quantum computing and illustrates why quantum education researchers insist on triangulating diverse quantitative and qualitative data sources when developing and refining assessment items, with implications for any researcher looking to understand and measure student conceptual reasoning in quantum computing, as well as for QIS curriculum and workforce development more broadly.