Margaret Harris

Bristol

Science journalist at Physics World magazine. Also available as @[email protected] & @drmlharris.bsky.social. All views my own.

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Articles

The quantum Zeno effect: how the ‘measurement problem’ went from philosophers’ paradox to physicists’ toolbox – Physics World

1 week ago | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

Part of our International Year of Quantum Science and Technology coverageFor the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, Physics World is shining a spotlight on quantum effects so “weird” they make superposition and entanglement seem almost ordinary.
A theoretical physicist’s bucket list, 10 years later: Jim Gates on the graviton, quantum information and the scientific climate in the US – Physics World

2 weeks ago | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

Jim Gates talks to Margaret Harris about the discoveries he can tick off his “theorist’s bucket list”, adds some new ones, and delves into the state of science and society in the US today In 2014 the American mathematical physicist S James Gates Jr shared his “theorist’s bucket list” of physics discoveries he would like to see happen before, as he puts it, he “shuffles off this mortal coil”. A decade later, Physics World’s Margaret Harris caught up once more with Gates, who is now at the...
Picking winners: the 10 most popular physics stories of 2024 – Physics World

Dec 29, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

What makes a physics story popular? The answer is partly hidden in the depths of Internet search algorithms, but it’s possible to discern a few trends in this list of the 10 most read stories published on the Physics World website in 2024. Well, one trend, at least: it seems that many of you really, really like stories about quantum physics. Happily, we’ll be publishing lots more of them in 2025, the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
Quantum science and technology: highlights of 2024 – Physics World

Dec 27, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

With so much fascinating research going on in quantum science and technology, it’s hard to pick just a handful of highlights. Fun, but hard. Research on entanglement-based imaging and quantum error correction both appear in Physics World’s list of 2024’s top 10 breakthroughs, but beyond that, here are a few other achievements worth remembering as we head into 2025 – the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
Space agency leaders express fears and hopes for the future – Physics World

Dec 16, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

“The world is more volatile, the world is more unpredictable, and in many respects the world is a more dangerous place than it has been for a long time.”In his opening speech at the 20th Appleton Space Conference on 5 December, UK Space Agency (UKSA) deputy chief executive Chris White-Horne seemed determined to out-gloom the leaden skies above the ESA conference centre in Harwell, Oxfordshire.
Venkat Srinivasan: 'Batteries are largely bipartisan' – Physics World

Nov 13, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

Venkat Srinivasan is the director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) at Argonne National Laboratory in DuPage County, Illinois, US.
How to rotate your mattress like a physics Nobel prizewinner – Physics World

Oct 7, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

Ahead of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics, Physics World editors recall amusing brushes with Nobel laureates past and present.
A breezy tour of what gaseous materials do for us – Physics World

Aug 27, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

Margaret Harris reviews It’s a Gas: the Magnificent and Elusive Elements that Expand Our World by Mark Miodownik The first person to use gas for illumination was a French engineer by the name of Philippe Lebon. In 1801 his revolutionary system of methane pipes and jets lit up the Hôtel de Seignelay so brilliantly that ordinary Parisians paid three francs apiece just to marvel at it. Overnight guests may have been less enthusiastic.
Physicists reveal the role of ‘magic’ in quantum computational power – Physics World

Aug 18, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

Entanglement is a fundamental concept in quantum information theory and is often regarded as a key indicator of a system’s “quantumness”. However, the relationship between entanglement and quantum computational power is not straightforward. In a study posted on the arXiv preprint server, and submitted to the journal Physical Review X, physicists in Germany, Italy and the US shed light on this complex relationship by exploring the role of a property known as “magic” in entanglement theory.
Twisted carbon nanotubes store more energy than lithium-ion batteries – Physics World

Aug 2, 2024 | physicsworld.com | Margaret Harris

Mechanical watches and clockwork toys might seem like relics of a bygone age, but scientists in the US and Japan are bringing this old-fashioned form of energy storage into the modern era. By making single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) into ropes and twisting them like the string on an overworked yo-yo, Katsumi Kaneko, Sanjeev Kumar Ujjain and colleagues showed that they can store twice as much energy per unit mass as the best commercial lithium-ion batteries.