Physics World Newsletter: Delegates gather to mark international quantum year, fusion breakthrough in China, and meet the next CERN boss
This week delegates gathered in Paris to kick-off the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology while China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak has smashed its previous fusion confinement record. Finally, don’t miss the latest Physics World Weekly podcast, where you can hear Mark Thomson outline his priorities for when he takes over as head of the CERN particle-physics lab next year.??
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More than 800 researchers, policymakers and government officials from around the world gathered in Paris this week to attend the official launch of the?International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Held at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the two-day event included contributions from four Nobel prize-winning physicists – Alain Aspect, Serge Haroche, Anne l’Huillier and William Phillips.?
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A fusion tokamak in China has smashed its previous fusion record of maintaining a steady-state plasma. Scientists working on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak announced that they had produced a steady-state high-confinement plasma for 1066 seconds, breaking EAST’s previous 2023 record of 403 seconds.??
The British particle physicist Mark Thomson, 58, was named as the 17th director-general at CERN in November. He will take over in January 2026 from current CERN boss Fabiola Gianotti, where Thomson will see through a huge upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider - the High-Luminosity LHC - and will also have a decisive hand in the question of what, and where, the next particle-physics facility sh ould be. You can listen to Thomson discuss how he is looking forward to taking on the role and the challenges ahead for high-energy physics in an exclusive interview for the Physics World Weekly podcast.?
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Michelle Lollie is an advanced laser scientist at Quantinuum, supporting the design, development and construction of complex optical systems that will serve as the foundations of world-class quantum computers. In this article, Lollie discusses the American Physical Society Bridge Program; as well as her unique journey from finance to quantum optics, including the challenges and triumphs of navigating the field as a Black woman.??
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In case you missed it…?
IOP Publishing, which publishes Physics World, is launching a new peer-reviewed, open-access publication called Journal of Reliability Science and Engineering. The journal will operate in partnership with the Institute of Systems Engineering, part of the China Academy of Engineering Physics. Sponsored by IOP Publishing?
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RaySearch Laboratories is pioneering the development of rapid adaptive planning software to help clinics implement online adaptive radiotherapy. The versatile and holistic RayStation software provides the tools required to support adaptive planning, today and into the future. Sponsored by RaySearch Laboratories?
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The final word…?
"This is history right here"
Cosmologist Emma Chapman from Nottingham University quoted in the Times?
Physicists are campaigning to find a safer home for a blackboard that Einstein signed when visiting the university in 1930, which today still sits in a staff room.??
Matin Durrani?
Editor-in-chief, Physics World?
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