Clear as Quantum
13 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago -Clear as Quantum is an EQUS podcast about quantum science and the exciting technologies that are getting ready to unleash a quantum revolution. In this “spooky podcast at a distance” we’ll try to dust the cobwebs out of the quantum physics realm that's entangling our lives. Over the course of 10 episodes you’ll hear from some of Australia’s leading quantum scientists, and learn things worth knowing about.
Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Live - Disentangling quantumified shoelaces
December 13, 2023 03:23 - 37 minutes - 84.9 MBIn this live podcast event, we switch up our theme for Season 2 (coming soon) to talk about things that loudly claim to be quantum—but are they? Marketing gurus are alert to the appeal of "quantum", and many products use this buzzword to catch attention. Armed with a brief revision of what makes things really quantum, we have a go at working out how various items live up to this label. Have you heard of quantum batteries, dish-washing soap, TVs, shoes, fridges, and even motivatio...
Rephasing
November 17, 2023 06:51 - 33 minutes - 43.8 MBIt's been a long time without episodes, but we've "rephased" our podcast to restore coherence! Season 2 is coming soon, but this is a bonus episode to catch up on some highlights from the world of Quantum Science. Instead of interview guests we have two new co-hosts to introduce: Tim talks about nano-scale trampoline computers and an air-raid siren in his lab, and Jacinta shares her passion for quantum devices and emergent wormholes. The 2022 Physics Nobel Prize for quantum entang...
Light
December 07, 2021 12:32 - 31 minutes - 72.9 MBHalina Rubinsztein-Dunlop explains how quantum light can make tiny tractor-beams to move and wiggle things. Halina is widely recognised for her substantial achievements in moving things with light. "Optical tweezers" are tiny tractor beams that can move and wiggle small particles (larger objects are "safe" because they'd probably burn up before being lifted off a planet into alien spaceships for example). This technique has an enormous number of applications such as wiggling the ba...
Noise
November 30, 2021 04:50 - 30 minutes - 69.3 MBKirk McKenzie talks about quantum "noise" and some of the most impressively precise measurements ever made. Kirk brings quantum precision to some of the biggest questions about our planet and universe. He works on laser instruments that have to face up to (and "squeeze") the fluctuations of quantum noise in order to detect gravitational waves - tiny movements of a mirror by a billionth of a millionth of a millimetre! Similar instruments are now in space to measure droughts, floods,...
Ignorance
November 23, 2021 01:30 - 29 minutes - 67.5 MBJacq Romero reveals that "ignorance" can be a quantum superpower. Jacq has won numerous awards for her research into the shape of photons, and has brought this work into mainstream quantum information. Information is usually encoded in 0s and 1s, but qudits (beyond qubits) could open a more interesting way to encode quantum information across more levels. It's like Schrödinger's cat that's both dead and alive - but you have the whole zoo! No matter how many levels are used, often t...
Spin
November 16, 2021 05:03 - 32 minutes - 74.9 MBGlen Harris discusses whirlpools and the famously quantum property of "spin". Glen's love of hard challenges has led him to study quantum optomechanics, the art of using light to measure (or cause) extremely tiny mechanical movements. His current projects include measuring the position of a mirror to less than the diameter of an atom, developing inertial sensors for defence applications, and stirring up the worlds smallest whirlpools. It turns out that quantum spin is not the same ...
Duality
November 09, 2021 01:46 - 28 minutes - 65.3 MBMike Tobar explains how quantum "duality" limits ultra-precise measurements. Mike breaks this standard quantum limit of measurement precision in order to explore things as diverse as dark matter, gravity waves, and radar. Duality is the fact that everything (photons, particles, ..., people, planets) are best described as both particles and waves at the same time - but that's not the only mind-bending idea in this episode. The search for dark matter means looking for a subatomic par...
Coherence
November 02, 2021 01:11 - 30 minutes - 68.9 MBJohn Bartholomew talks about quantum memories and the challenges of keeping quantum information "coherent". John explores the limit of how long quantum information can be stored - a "quantum memory" is an important part of quantum information technologies. He was part of a team that set the record for this "coherence time" of about 6 hours (using super-cold glowing crystals). This might seem short compared to classical hard drives, but its excitingly long enough to imagine buildin...
Systems
October 26, 2021 01:30 - 27 minutes - 62.2 MBQuantum doesn't have to be tiny! Magdalena Zych talks about quantum "systems" on a cosmic scale. Magdalena is a theoretician who ponders questions that straddle quantum physics and relativity - which is a big deal because these two famous theories aren't quite compatible. Quantum systems make superbly precise clocks, and measuring time is a way to play with the bent space-time of relativity. This is a great game to stretch your brain! We are amazed by the ability of equations to de...
Engineered
October 19, 2021 02:22 - 27 minutes - 63.8 MBThomas Volz discusses what the word "engineered" has to do with quantum science, and gives an exciting overview of the emerging quantum industry. Thomas builds - or engineers - exotic quantum particles that don't occur in nature! These new kinds of material are part matter and part light, and are made using laser light bouncing between two mirrors (a bit like in a hotel elevator) that interacts with atoms in the gap between the mirrors. The idea of "quantum engineering" extends int...
Quantum
October 12, 2021 01:33 - 33 minutes - 77.4 MBSally Shrapnel shares a somewhat meandering journey into quantum science, and gives a fascinating perspective on our keyword "quantum". Sally is one of the Deputy Directors of EQUS and does theoretical research into pretty deep ideas like "causation" and "the arrow of time", but this doesn't mean she's detached from reality. She worked as a medical doctor and rural GP before becoming a quantum scientist, and has some great stories (and advice) from her less direct career journey. H...
Pilot
October 05, 2021 01:53 - 32 minutes - 75.4 MBLachlan, Liz, and Yasmine introduce themselves as hosts of Clear as Quantum, and share anecdotes about their own quantum science research. This first season of Clear as Quantum will interview a range of quantum science experts around Australia, but it's nice to hear a bit about the hosts first. Liz talks about building quantum sensors that might enable magnetic communication inside mines. Lachlan explains a bit about glowing diamonds, and Yasmine shares her work building Schrödinge...
Introducing Clear as Quantum
August 12, 2021 14:19 - 2 minutes - 3.19 MBComing soon, a podcast about quantum science and technology and how it is set to change the world. Quantum science is getting ready to unleash a revolution. Quantum computers are in the news, and quantum technologies of many kinds are getting ready to make an impact. Students in school today will be among the world’s first ever generation of quantum engineers. Don’t you wish you knew more about quantum technology? Subscribe now to Clear as Quantum in your favourite podcast app, or ...