International journalists in Qatar get a quantum "peek"

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A group of international science journalists gathered in the Middle East this week got a glimpse of the quantum information revolution.

Raymond Laflamme speaking at a confrence
IQC Executive Director Raymond Laflamme gave an international group of science journalists “a peek into the quantum world” during a conference this week in Doha, Qatar.

“If we manipulate information using a new set of rules — the rules of quantum mechanics — amazing things can happen,” Laflamme said Tuesday during the World Conference of Science Journalists.
Laflamme’s talk, delivered as part of a session called “Let’s Get Physical,” explored the latest developments — and the most promising avenues of future research — in the field of quantum information.
The World Conference of Science Journalists drew 726 delegates from 90 countries to Doha this week, with a focus on the importance of science and journalism in the developing world.
Joining Laflamme for the physics discussion were astrophysicist Sean Carroll of the California Institute of Technology, and Alexandra Witze, a writer for Science News Magazine.
“Quantum information is a new language,” Laflamme told the audience, “and it is the right language to understand the quantum world.”