The Wild Worlds of Quantum Physics: Elvis as President?!
Imagine, if you will, a parallel universe where Elvis Presley isn’t just the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll but also the President of the United States—because, you know, who wouldn’t want to hear “Hound Dog” on repeat from the Oval Office? This mind-bending possibility wasn’t tossed out by some late-night radio host but by a bona fide physicist. Enter Sonia Fernández-Vidal, a doctor in physics who has graced both CERN and Los Alamos with her brilliance and has decided to share some of that genius in her latest book, ‘The Seed of a Revolution’.
“There could be a parallel universe in which Elvis is alive and President.” – Sonia Fernández-Vidal
A Journey from Science to Fantasy
Now, don’t let the whimsical notion of Elvis as Commander-in-Chief fool you. Fernández-Vidal isn’t just daydreaming; she aims to bridge the gap between the complex world of quantum physics and the imaginative realms of childhood fantasy. She sees quantum physics as almost fantastical, with concepts like teleportation and existing in two places at once feeling right at home in a Disney movie. I must say, ditch the idea of a physics textbook and hand them a children’s story instead! One can only wonder how quickly kids would nap if they realized they could be walking through walls—or how their parents would feel if they found out that energy bill may soon involve quantum computing!
Understanding the Subatomic Circus
While working on CERN’s grand particle accelerator—sitting pretty at 27 kilometers long and traversing the Swiss and French border—Fernández-Vidal was not simply playing with science; she was attempting to recreate the universe’s birth moments. Sounds like quite the ambitious DIY project, doesn’t it? But wait, she wasn’t done yet. In her book, she dissects the enigma of quantum superposition—why can that little atom do two things at once, but I can’t multitask my way through the week? It’s all about decoherence, and let’s just say we’re all still trying to figure out how to really juggle our daily responsibilities.
The Quantum Computing Race
If you’re wondering what this means for the future, especially with giants like IBM and Google racing towards quantum computing supremacy, hold onto your hats! Fernández-Vidal explains that while traditional computers trickle through binary data like a toddler learning to crawl, quantum computers are out there doing the quantum cha-cha, simultaneously dancing between 0 and 1. It’s like watching a bunch of electrons throwing a party where only the coolest combinations get to hang out.
“The difference between them is like comparing smoke signals with a mobile phone.” – Sonia Fernández-Vidal
More Than Just Numbers
But it’s not just a flashy light show; quantum computing holds real promise for our future. From medical breakthroughs to faster data processing, we’re talking personalized medicine that could make you *the* star of your health journey. Imagine a world where your doctor pulls out a quantum computer and says, “Voila! You’re getting tailor-made medicine!” It would be the advanced version of “I can fix that with a Band-Aid!”
The Ethical Dilemmas Ahead
Of course, all this brainy wizardry isn’t without its skeptics. As exciting as quantum computing sounds, from banks fretting over their financial security to concerns over energy consumption, the social dust hasn’t settled. After all, we’ve been down this path before—think nuclear energy and its societal repercussions. Fernández-Vidal reminds us that while these advances can solve real-world problems, the ethical implications are as crucial as the tech itself. Just remember: the last thing we need is for those quantum computers to get their hands on Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory!
Final Thoughts: Invest in Our Future
As we stand on the cusp of quantum revolution, let’s not forget a simple truth: investing in science pays dividends—not just financially, but morally and socially. You can’t put a price on innovation that literally changes lives. So let’s channel our inner Elvis and let the enthusiasm soar—because the future is indeed thrilling, and who knows? We might just end up dancing our way into the realm of quantum physics.
“There could be a parallel universe in which Elvis is alive and president.” Not just anyone says it. Someone says it He has worked at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US, where the Manhattan Project was carried out to create the atomic bomb. Sonia Fernández-Vidal, doctor in physics, talks to El Confidencial on the occasion of the publication of her latest book, ‘The seed of a revolution’after having sold more than 450,000 copies with his trilogy ‘The Door of the Three Locks’. In 2017, when she was selected by Forbes as one of the 100 most creative people in the worldhe did not think that his experiences developing the most cutting-edge quantum technology in the world would result in a children’s book that even Nobel Prize winners praise.
“When I was approached about writing a book, the first thing I thought was that there are already too many popular science titles for adults. And there is little more I could contribute in that field. From there arose the idea of using fantasy because, after all, quantum physics, the phenomena of the microscopic world, are more assimilated to those of an imaginary world that to our day to day: walk through wallsbeing in two places at the same time, teleporting, traveling in time… I was interested in reaching, not the public that already consumes scientific literature, but precisely those who are afraid of getting into this mess. At the end of the day, stories are used to put children to sleep and wake up adults,” he explains.
During his time at CERN, Fernández-Vidal was working on the center’s crown jewel, a large particle accelerator 27 kilometers in circumference that is on the border between Switzerland and France. “The mission was to accelerate protons to speeds close to those of light and make them collide in order to recreate the moments of the origin of the universe. “A way to better understand the complexity of the cosmos.” A few days ago, CERN managed to simulate a crucial nuclear reaction to reveal the chemical evolution of the Milky Way and the solar system. For the first time, they have accurately measured the formation of the isotope that is generated in red giant stars and plays a key role in the creation of elements heavier than iron.
Sonia Fernández-Vidal, doctor in Physics and writer. (on loan)
Fernández-Vidal has studied fundamental particles to try to find out why they behave in this strange way. “In the classical world, that is, the macroscopic one, when we leave home we cannot take the path to the left and the path to the right simultaneously. The question we quantum physicists ask ourselves is why we can’t do it, while some atoms can. The border between these two worlds is not very clear. and it is still not known exactly what the process is by which one goes from one state to another. It’s something called decoherence. And what we are trying to find out.”
It is precisely this superposition that he discusses in his new book and that has led dozens of companies to jump into the quantum computing race to develop the long-awaited ‘super-powerful’ computers. Without going into too many technical details, quantum computing differs from traditional computing. While the second uses bits, the first uses qubits. The bits can only work with binary results, that is, from two possibilities, 0 and 1, however, the electrons of the qubit can calculate all possible combinations at the same time. This allows very complex calculations to be carried out in minutes or hours, which would require months or years with current computers.
At a time when immense amounts of data are generated (and have to be processed quickly), quantum computing opens a key door. “There are things that cannot be simulated with a classical computer, while with a quantum computer, they can. The simple state of a helium atomwhich is one of the simplest things for a quantum computer, is almost impossible on a regular computer. The difference between them would be like compare smoke signals with a mobile phone”, comments the physicist.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED
After listening to this former Google boss, you will no longer want to use ChatGPT
Manuel Ángel Méndez. Paris
What in the past was a mere theoretical possibility is now a reality. At the moment, IBM offers more than ten quantum computers of more than 100 qubits and works against the clock to achieve quantum supremacy with the first 100,000 qubit quantum computer. They have called this new series of computers “the next wave” and it’s going to be a big leap. But IBM is not alone, Google is working on Sycamoreits most powerful quantum computer, which is capable of solving in 200 seconds a task that would take a conventional supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. Works along the same lines Microsoft in collaboration with Quantinuumand it is a strong bet of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, said that, although AI is going to change the world, Currently it is 90% marketing and 10% reality. And it will take another five years until it becomes clear that it is really useful. In quantum computing it is quite the opposite: you could say just the opposite, 90% is revolution and only 10% marketing. However, everyone already knows what a chatbot of AI, but no one has any idea what quantum computing is. Fernández-Vidal emphasizes that, when we think about having quantum computers, the collective imagination leads to the typical domestic laptop: “We are not going to see this image that many people have in their heads, at least in the short term.” He states that the most It is likely that what we can do is “connect our normal computers to a quantum computer, as a server, that can carry out quantum algorithms and return the solution to us.”
Sonia Fernández-Vidal, doctor in Physics and writer. (on loan)
Physics emphasizes that some of the first and most necessary applications will have to do with healthcare, with making models in which molecules are simulated from their most fundamental level. “If we could manipulate them, we could create new personalized medicines for each person. “We would be playing in a completely new setting.” That revolution has already begun. King’s College researchers have managed to simulate hemocyaninwhich is a protein involved in the transport of oxygen and cancer vaccine developmentusing quantum algorithms.
However, as with AI, the early days of the internet, or any technological revolution, there are deniers and critics. Many banks currently live in fear that quantum computing poses a security risk. The director of the Alicante Digital Intelligence Center, Manuel Palomar, recently stated that quantum computing will destroy bank security in seconds if you are not prepared. His comment has to do with the fact that quantum computers can operate much faster than classical computers in tasks such as factoring large numbers. Something key to decrypt all types of banking information. “The law is done, the trap is done. But quantum encryption can also make our transactions or communications more secure. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I would say that in five or ten years, we will already be at that moment,” says Fernández-Vidal.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED
The physicist who has managed to make a ‘bestseller’ with a book full of equations and functions
Antonio Villarreal
When that revolution comes, there will be many more ethical considerations. “We all know that the ability to make atomic bombs arose from this technology. We know what happened in 1945 with the detonations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the end, 250,000 souls were the currency of these great investigations. Therefore, it is also normal for people to distrust their possibilities.”
There are also those who are up in arms against this nascent industry. for using huge amounts of energy. However, physics is positive in this regard: “They could also help us develop much more sustainable energy sources. The costs of research have always been there, it is an eternal discussion. But We should be the citizens who decide where to invest our budgets. For this to happen, there must be a good scientific culture, for society to be well informed, something that does not happen in Spain. Why do I say it? Because normally investments in science return to society. It is customary to say that the richest countries are the ones that invest the most in science, but in reality Countries are richer because they invest in science. I remember when they said that going to the Moon had been very nice, but that the Apollo program had been a waste. Then it was seen that For every dollar invested in the project, 14 dollars returned to the North American economy. The innovation not only paid for itself, it more than paid for itself. “That’s what we could be doing now with quantum research and it’s not happening.”
“There could be a parallel universe in which Elvis is alive and president.” Not just anyone says it. Someone says it He has worked at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US, where the Manhattan Project was carried out to create the atomic bomb. Sonia Fernández-Vidal, doctor in physics, talks to El Confidencial on the occasion of the publication of her latest book, ‘The seed of a revolution’after having sold more than 450,000 copies with his trilogy ‘The Door of the Three Locks’. In 2017, when she was selected by Forbes as one of the 100 most creative people in the worldhe did not think that his experiences developing the most cutting-edge quantum technology in the world would result in a children’s book that even Nobel Prize winners praise.
The long run, it’s those investments that lead to advancements benefiting all of humanity. It’s crucial to ensure that society is well-informed about scientific developments and ethical considerations that come with them. As Fernández-Vidal emphasizes, cultivating an appreciation for science isn’t just a luxury; it’s a necessity that empowers communities to guide their own future based on informed decisions.
Her journey from the rigorous world of particle physics to the enchanting realm of children’s literature showcases the importance of making complex scientific concepts accessible and relatable. By doing so, Fernández-Vidal hopes to inspire a new generation of thinkers and innovators who aren’t intimidated by science but are eager to explore its possibilities.
In the unpredictable landscape of quantum computing and beyond, maintaining a balance between innovation and ethical responsibility will be paramount. As we edge closer to understanding and utilizing quantum mechanics in everyday life, dialogue and education will be essential to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. So, whether you’re curious about the subatomic circus or imagining a parallel universe with Elvis, remember: engaging with science can be an adventure open to anyone willing to explore its depths.
En’s book that even Nobel Prize winners praise.
The insights from Sonia Fernández-Vidal provide a compelling picture of the rapidly evolving landscape of quantum computing. As companies like IBM, Google, and Microsoft invest heavily in quantum technologies, the implications span across various sectors—from personalized medicine to financial security, as well as ethical considerations that arise from such powerful capabilities.
Quantum Computing vs. Classical Computing
At its core, the distinction between quantum and classical computing lies in how they process information. Traditional computers use bits, operating solely with binary values (0 or 1), while quantum computers utilize qubits, which can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously due to the principle of superposition. This allows quantum machines to handle computational tasks at a scale and speed unimaginable with current technology.
Revolutionary Applications
The potential applications are staggering. In healthcare, for instance, quantum computing holds the promise of simulating complex molecular structures, enabling the design of tailor-made medicines. This could revolutionize how we approach treatments, making medicine not just effective but personalized to individual genetic profiles. As shared by Fernández-Vidal, the ability to manipulate molecules on such a fundamental level is akin to unlocking a new realm of possibilities.
Ethical and Social Implications
However, with great power comes great responsibility. As Fernández-Vidal emphasizes, the ethical dilemmas posed by advancements in quantum computing cannot be ignored. The possibility of quantum computing undermining current encryption methods raises significant concerns regarding data security, particularly in sensitive industries such as finance. Quantum threats necessitate new standards in cybersecurity, as traditional methods may become obsolete.
Moreover, the environmental impact of quantum computing technologies, including their energy consumption, has come under scrutiny. Balancing innovation with sustainability is critical, and Fernández-Vidal suggests that quantum technologies could also aid in developing cleaner energy sources, creating a dual benefit if approached with care.
The Future of Quantum Computing
As we stand at this pivotal juncture, the conversation around quantum computing continues to grow. With leading companies racing to achieve quantum supremacy, we are reminded of the importance of fostering a well-informed public dialogue. Investing in scientific research not only drives innovation but also cultivates informed citizenry that can shape future investments based on collective well-being.
Ultimately, the future of quantum computing is not just about technological prowess; it’s about harnessing this power ethically and responsibly for the greater good. The invitation is open for everyone to engage in this exciting frontier, ensuring that as we “dance our way into the realm of quantum physics,” we do so with wisdom and foresight.
