How to make 2D metals: Guangyu Zhang on his team’s award-winning research

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Hello, and welcome to the Physics World weekly

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podcast.

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I'm Hamish Johnston.

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I'm very pleased to announce that the 2025

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Physics World breakthrough of the year award

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goes to Gong Yuzhang

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and colleagues

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at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese

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Academy of Sciences.

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And they've won for producing the first

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two d sheets of metal.

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Coming up, I'm in conversation

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with Gong Yu, who explains why his team

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worked

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tirelessly

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to create two d versions of several different

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metals,

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and how these new materials could boost our

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understanding of condensed matter physics

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and lead to the development of new technologies.

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I'm also joined in this episode by my

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colleague, Matin Durrani,

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to talk about what will be hot in

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physics

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in 2026.

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But first, a message

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from reports on progress in physics,

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which

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supports the Physics World

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Breakthrough of the Year Award.

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Celebrating the most significant

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advances

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across the physical sciences,

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this award

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highlights discoveries

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that reshape

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our understanding

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of the universe

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and inspire

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future innovation.

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One of the hottest topics in physics over

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the past two decades

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is the study of two d materials

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such as graphene,

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which itself is a sheet of carbon just

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one atom thick.

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While researchers have discovered

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a plethora

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of fascinating

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and potentially useful

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phenomena

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in two d materials,

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physicists

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had not been able to create and study

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two d versions

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of metals.

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But now,

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Gong Yuzhong

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and colleagues

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have found a way forward.

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He joins me down the line from Beijing

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to talk about his group's research.

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Hi, Gong Yu. Welcome to the podcast.

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Hi, Hamish.

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Nice to meet you.

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And and congratulations

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to you and your team for, winning this

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year's

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Physics World breakthrough of the year.

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Thank you very much.

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So so I'd like to start, with the

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basics, with the motivation

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for your research.

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Why why are you interested in creating

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two d metals? Why why are they, you

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know, such a fascinating system?

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Okay.

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So,

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this question actually can be divided

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into two questions.

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The first one is why we are interested

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in,

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two d materials, and the second is,

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why we are interested in, metals.

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So the first

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question is,

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because,

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right now, everybody knows,

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graphene. Right?

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So graphene is a well known two d

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materials. It's discovered

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in 2004,

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from,

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Manchester,

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University.

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So the two d material has many fascinating

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properties.

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So related to,

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their,

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low demand,

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low dimension

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analogy.

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So when you,

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shrink,

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a bulk material

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to, two dimensions,

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this this this material is is very, very

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faint. It's atomically thin. So such same materials

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have,

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so in most cases, it has very different,

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properties,

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compared to their buck,

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like a like a graphite,

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versus,

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graphene. So graphene is very different,

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to to to graphite. Right? So this is

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a one, one one,

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motivation. So we are,

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are going to pursue,

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like, new two two d materials.

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So

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the second one is why why metals. Right?

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So, metals are are are very common in

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our in our daily life. Right? You can

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see it everywhere, and we use it every

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day. Right? So so metals,

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if you look at the theoretical,

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table,

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you will find, like, over like, around 80%

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of elements are metals. This is and metals

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are are are are, it can behave very

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differently, like, from

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metals can be magnetic.

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Metals can be,

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can be silver conducting,

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and, metals,

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so can be used for for, you know,

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for many, many,

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cases.

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So, like,

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so this huge amount of,

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of of of choices in the

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periodical table. So we we want to do

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it, like,

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in two d forms of metals. But,

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like,

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spuriously,

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these metals, actually,

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they cannot be made into the key two

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d forms. The the the this is our

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motivation.

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And and you mentioned that it it is

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very difficult to make metals

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into,

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into two d materials.

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Can can you explain why? Does it have

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to do with how the

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atoms in a metal bond

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differently

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to, let's say, carbon

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atoms. Is is is that the main problem

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that they just don't want to

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only bond in in two directions? You've you've

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got the third direction as well.

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Exactly.

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So,

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like in graphene, carbon atoms are are bonded

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in,

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in, in a form of covalent bonds. So

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these bonds are very strong.

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And, also these bonds are very anisotropic. So,

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this is one reason,

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like, we can,

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use, the exfoliation method to create two d

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materials for many two d materials, like graphene,

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like a black phosphorus, like like,

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like, a monolith sulfide,

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like many many many other materials.

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So, but if you look at the metals,

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so most metals are

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are are isotropic.

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So so

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if

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the atoms are arranged,

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like, if you look at the lattice so

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if if you regard

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one atom as a man, so if you

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look, like, all around a few, so you

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will see up and down, left and right,

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back and forth. Like, you see

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yeah. You are surrounded by by many items,

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but these items are are the same,

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just as the same to you that that,

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so that means this this materials,

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you know, the lattice is is very isotropic.

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So you cannot use,

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like, a mechanical,

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exfoliation

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method

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to to create, like, a two d form

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of metals.

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So this is the one, one one,

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difficulty.

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And, I mean, that's you know, when when

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we were looking over,

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you know, all the sort of work that

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that's been done in physics this year,

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you know, I think, you you know, the

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the the fact that you've managed to overcome

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that was the thing that really stood out.

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And, you know, it's why we we chose,

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your work as our breakthrough of the year.

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You know, we were scratching our heads thinking,

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how on earth,

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you know, have they managed to to get

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a a metal to to to create,

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a a two d structure? So how did

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you do it? How did you overcome

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this

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urge for metals to bond in all three

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dimensions,

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to to create a two d metal?

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Yeah. So, in principle,

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metals cannot have a stable two d structure.

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Like,

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if you use a, like, a freestanding

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a two d form of metals,

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this structure is totally,

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not stable.

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So, it is it it should not be

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existed, in nature.

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This is the the the the also violation

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of a of a common sense. Like, so

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so we we have,

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so we developed we have developed our, a

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a a a process. We called it one

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of our squeezing.

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So

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so the idea is very simple.

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Like, so,

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so if you like,

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you just imagine

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a metal like

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a a a kind of like a model

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or something. Like, it's very soft. So if

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you squeeze it, you squeeze it, you can

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make it thinner and thinner. So the problem

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is if you can squeeze it

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into,

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like, just a,

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one atom sick, like,

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to a physical limit. So that's that that

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is,

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the most important,

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thing.

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So we have,

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this the thing is, like, if you want

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to, like, squeeze it

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squeeze, like, press

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the metal,

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into,

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the, the two d image.

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So we need,

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we need to

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use, like, a the the top and the

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bottom surface must be atomically

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flat. So, otherwise, you cannot create, like, a

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large area of of two b two d

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crystals.

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So the second thing is you have to

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use,

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like, a quite high pressure

291
00:10:44,289 --> 00:10:44,690
and,

292
00:10:45,250 --> 00:10:47,190
and last quite a long time

293
00:10:47,544 --> 00:10:49,945
to make these metals, like, to to, like,

294
00:10:49,945 --> 00:10:50,445
rearrange,

295
00:10:51,065 --> 00:10:51,565
like,

296
00:10:51,945 --> 00:10:56,024
at this confined surf confined space. Like, it's

297
00:10:56,024 --> 00:10:59,085
confined by the two surfaces of these atomic

298
00:10:59,144 --> 00:11:00,125
is most surfaces.

299
00:11:00,610 --> 00:11:00,690
And,

300
00:11:01,410 --> 00:11:01,809
and,

301
00:11:02,290 --> 00:11:02,790
and,

302
00:11:03,410 --> 00:11:05,970
to make it like to to rearrange in

303
00:11:05,970 --> 00:11:06,790
this confined

304
00:11:07,250 --> 00:11:09,649
space to form a two d metal, a

305
00:11:09,649 --> 00:11:10,149
lattice.

306
00:11:12,735 --> 00:11:14,274
And and so you

307
00:11:14,735 --> 00:11:17,294
you were able to to to do this

308
00:11:17,294 --> 00:11:18,115
with several

309
00:11:18,894 --> 00:11:19,394
metals.

310
00:11:19,855 --> 00:11:20,335
Yeah.

311
00:11:21,214 --> 00:11:23,634
I think five of them. Did you,

312
00:11:24,495 --> 00:11:26,414
were they I mean, once you managed to

313
00:11:26,414 --> 00:11:27,075
get them,

314
00:11:27,490 --> 00:11:29,910
you know, sort of into a two d

315
00:11:30,050 --> 00:11:30,550
structure,

316
00:11:31,009 --> 00:11:33,990
did they do they still behave like metals,

317
00:11:34,050 --> 00:11:35,490
you know, in the sense that we would

318
00:11:35,490 --> 00:11:37,029
think of metals as being

319
00:11:37,410 --> 00:11:38,149
good conductors

320
00:11:39,009 --> 00:11:40,629
of electricity, for example,

321
00:11:40,975 --> 00:11:42,835
or did their properties

322
00:11:43,855 --> 00:11:44,514
change dramatically?

323
00:11:44,975 --> 00:11:47,975
Did they become semiconductors or insulators? Or Yeah.

324
00:11:48,095 --> 00:11:50,115
You know, what Yeah. What exactly happened?

325
00:11:50,975 --> 00:11:51,875
Yeah. That's

326
00:11:52,254 --> 00:11:54,894
what we are we are studying right now,

327
00:11:54,894 --> 00:11:56,139
actually. So

328
00:11:56,519 --> 00:11:59,000
we we found that, like, for a very

329
00:11:59,000 --> 00:11:59,500
simple,

330
00:11:59,879 --> 00:12:03,419
metal like bismuth. Like, so so the bismuth,

331
00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,480
if you make it to two d. But,

332
00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:06,200
actually, you have

333
00:12:07,399 --> 00:12:09,879
it will have in principle, it will have

334
00:12:09,879 --> 00:12:10,379
different

335
00:12:11,284 --> 00:12:12,264
atomic structures.

336
00:12:12,804 --> 00:12:14,664
Like, it have different phases.

337
00:12:15,125 --> 00:12:17,865
And these different phases give you totally different

338
00:12:18,084 --> 00:12:18,584
properties.

339
00:12:19,204 --> 00:12:22,504
So some of them are are just, metallic,

340
00:12:22,725 --> 00:12:24,240
very, very, very

341
00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:25,700
electronically,

342
00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:26,820
very conductive.

343
00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,039
And, the others are are even, semiconductor, but

344
00:12:31,039 --> 00:12:32,580
the gap is is quite small.

345
00:12:32,959 --> 00:12:35,039
And, also, the we have we have,

346
00:12:36,455 --> 00:12:38,215
we have developed this pro

347
00:12:39,095 --> 00:12:39,995
approach approach,

348
00:12:40,455 --> 00:12:40,955
for,

349
00:12:41,575 --> 00:12:42,615
right now, we have,

350
00:12:43,254 --> 00:12:43,754
reported

351
00:12:44,134 --> 00:12:44,634
five

352
00:12:45,014 --> 00:12:45,914
single element,

353
00:12:46,455 --> 00:12:47,674
single element metals,

354
00:12:48,054 --> 00:12:50,129
like but, actually, we can do more,

355
00:12:52,049 --> 00:12:54,470
like, because of the the the the like,

356
00:12:55,649 --> 00:12:56,450
88,

357
00:12:56,769 --> 00:12:59,809
kind of metals in the in in the

358
00:12:59,809 --> 00:13:00,950
theoretical table.

359
00:13:01,330 --> 00:13:03,585
But right now, it's just five. So we

360
00:13:03,904 --> 00:13:05,605
still over, like, eighties

361
00:13:05,985 --> 00:13:09,105
18 metal, like, a single atom metals to,

362
00:13:09,585 --> 00:13:10,565
to do, like,

363
00:13:12,065 --> 00:13:14,165
later. And, also, if you consider

364
00:13:14,705 --> 00:13:16,004
the metals actually,

365
00:13:16,629 --> 00:13:17,289
it it

366
00:13:18,230 --> 00:13:20,409
it it have other forms, like binary

367
00:13:20,789 --> 00:13:22,730
alloys, like like like

368
00:13:23,189 --> 00:13:24,230
like bismuths and,

369
00:13:25,509 --> 00:13:28,089
and, and, and, something else,

370
00:13:28,629 --> 00:13:31,850
like and, also, you have much more, complex

371
00:13:31,909 --> 00:13:35,085
system, like of like, for example, like, five

372
00:13:35,085 --> 00:13:35,585
different,

373
00:13:36,445 --> 00:13:39,105
metals. You can mix it together and,

374
00:13:39,644 --> 00:13:41,644
and make it in two d form. I

375
00:13:41,644 --> 00:13:43,825
think this kind of works are very interesting

376
00:13:43,884 --> 00:13:46,399
in the future and we are doing that.

377
00:13:47,340 --> 00:13:49,340
And have you I mean, in terms of

378
00:13:49,419 --> 00:13:50,940
yeah. I I know it's sort of early

379
00:13:50,940 --> 00:13:53,100
days in terms of studying the properties of

380
00:13:53,100 --> 00:13:55,840
these two d metals. But are there,

381
00:13:56,460 --> 00:13:58,539
I mean, do you have any experimental evidence,

382
00:13:58,539 --> 00:14:00,559
or maybe there's theoretical predictions

383
00:14:01,304 --> 00:14:04,105
that some two d metals could have very

384
00:14:04,105 --> 00:14:04,605
useful

385
00:14:05,384 --> 00:14:06,524
electronic properties,

386
00:14:07,384 --> 00:14:09,325
you know, for, I don't know, creating

387
00:14:10,585 --> 00:14:13,884
computer chips or sensors or quantum devices?

388
00:14:14,909 --> 00:14:15,409
You

389
00:14:16,110 --> 00:14:19,009
know, is there some technological relevance here?

390
00:14:19,870 --> 00:14:20,929
Sure. Sure.

391
00:14:21,389 --> 00:14:22,850
I think there are

392
00:14:23,230 --> 00:14:24,129
plenty of,

393
00:14:24,990 --> 00:14:25,490
possibilities

394
00:14:25,870 --> 00:14:28,669
in the future to do such studies. Like,

395
00:14:28,669 --> 00:14:29,569
you know, like,

396
00:14:30,105 --> 00:14:32,584
for example, just as you mentioned, like, for

397
00:14:32,584 --> 00:14:36,264
computer chips. So if, like, because right now,

398
00:14:36,264 --> 00:14:38,284
the CPU chips, like,

399
00:14:39,065 --> 00:14:42,125
so the basic elements are, transistors.

400
00:14:42,470 --> 00:14:44,710
So when the when the transistors are getting,

401
00:14:44,710 --> 00:14:46,090
like, smaller and smaller,

402
00:14:47,029 --> 00:14:49,450
like, like, so we, like,

403
00:14:49,830 --> 00:14:50,330
because,

404
00:14:51,990 --> 00:14:54,009
the Moore's law is still going. Right?

405
00:14:54,470 --> 00:14:54,970
So

406
00:14:55,429 --> 00:14:58,024
so we want to make such a fabricate,

407
00:14:58,165 --> 00:15:01,125
such transistor, such devices to be, like, even

408
00:15:01,125 --> 00:15:03,144
smaller. Like, when you, like,

409
00:15:03,524 --> 00:15:04,745
shrink shrink reduce

410
00:15:05,285 --> 00:15:07,924
the dimension of of of the size or

411
00:15:07,924 --> 00:15:10,230
the size of the device to to be

412
00:15:10,230 --> 00:15:12,470
very, very small, like, at at a a

413
00:15:12,470 --> 00:15:12,970
nanos

414
00:15:13,590 --> 00:15:16,710
at nanometer scale. So you you view we

415
00:15:16,710 --> 00:15:17,450
we view

416
00:15:17,830 --> 00:15:18,970
face this

417
00:15:19,830 --> 00:15:20,809
serious problems,

418
00:15:21,429 --> 00:15:24,330
like, about about this dimensional,

419
00:15:25,254 --> 00:15:25,754
reduction.

420
00:15:27,334 --> 00:15:30,794
For example, so every transistor use metal contacts.

421
00:15:31,095 --> 00:15:32,714
So when the metal wears

422
00:15:33,254 --> 00:15:35,754
are reducing, like, around, like, 10 nanometer

423
00:15:36,294 --> 00:15:38,334
or or something around, like,

424
00:15:38,774 --> 00:15:39,674
it will be

425
00:15:40,250 --> 00:15:43,690
less connective, and it will be face, like,

426
00:15:43,690 --> 00:15:44,909
variation problem.

427
00:15:45,450 --> 00:15:48,570
So if we we can replace such a

428
00:15:48,570 --> 00:15:49,549
connecting wires

429
00:15:49,929 --> 00:15:50,429
to,

430
00:15:51,049 --> 00:15:52,269
like, a two d metals,

431
00:15:53,075 --> 00:15:54,855
it will be much better.

432
00:15:55,394 --> 00:15:58,195
I see. Yeah. Another thing is, yeah, another

433
00:15:58,195 --> 00:15:59,254
thing is, like,

434
00:15:59,955 --> 00:16:02,835
I I I give you another example. Like,

435
00:16:03,075 --> 00:16:03,394
like,

436
00:16:04,035 --> 00:16:05,575
we know, like, like,

437
00:16:06,445 --> 00:16:09,529
like, Aaron Nickel or something like that.

438
00:16:09,909 --> 00:16:10,490
It's magnetic.

439
00:16:11,190 --> 00:16:13,509
So but, but the thing is, if you

440
00:16:13,509 --> 00:16:16,730
can make it, like, a a a single

441
00:16:17,110 --> 00:16:20,230
atomic layer of of of Aaron or or

442
00:16:20,230 --> 00:16:21,289
nickel or cobalt,

443
00:16:21,815 --> 00:16:24,075
Like, this kind of thing can give you,

444
00:16:24,615 --> 00:16:25,115
quite,

445
00:16:25,735 --> 00:16:26,955
quite, promising,

446
00:16:27,735 --> 00:16:28,235
properties,

447
00:16:28,615 --> 00:16:29,115
because,

448
00:16:30,134 --> 00:16:32,634
in theory, we have some calculations,

449
00:16:33,095 --> 00:16:33,595
previously.

450
00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,420
Like, if you make such kind of thing,

451
00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,940
you can use it for some, like, like,

452
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:42,580
like, quantum hall effect.

453
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:44,899
You can make some useful devices,

454
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:46,420
like, in the future.

455
00:16:47,964 --> 00:16:51,004
And you mentioned that, you're interested in your

456
00:16:51,004 --> 00:16:52,384
lab at at exploring

457
00:16:53,404 --> 00:16:55,725
other metals, you know, whether you can make

458
00:16:55,725 --> 00:16:58,464
two d versions of other metals. Are some

459
00:16:58,684 --> 00:16:59,904
metals easier

460
00:17:00,339 --> 00:17:02,759
to make in two d than others?

461
00:17:03,379 --> 00:17:04,980
Is that what you've found, or is that

462
00:17:04,980 --> 00:17:05,880
what you expect?

463
00:17:06,819 --> 00:17:07,319
Sure.

464
00:17:07,619 --> 00:17:08,599
This is absolutely

465
00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:09,940
true. Like,

466
00:17:10,420 --> 00:17:13,460
because we we we have, we have report

467
00:17:13,460 --> 00:17:16,154
five. Right? Five type of metals. That kind

468
00:17:16,154 --> 00:17:18,795
of metals are actually are easier are easier

469
00:17:18,795 --> 00:17:21,054
to make, like, in two d forms.

470
00:17:21,674 --> 00:17:23,454
But, for some,

471
00:17:23,914 --> 00:17:27,515
some other metals, like, especially the the high

472
00:17:27,515 --> 00:17:28,815
melting point metals,

473
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,000
is is where it's it's quite difficult. It's

474
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,180
more difficult to, to make,

475
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,140
because this is limited by,

476
00:17:37,759 --> 00:17:39,140
by by the experimental

477
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:39,940
setup,

478
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:42,740
because in that, you you need to,

479
00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:44,660
add a high pressure.

480
00:17:45,105 --> 00:17:47,924
At the same time, you you you you,

481
00:17:48,785 --> 00:17:49,365
you thought

482
00:17:49,664 --> 00:17:50,164
a

483
00:17:51,105 --> 00:17:53,744
high high temperature. Right? The temperature is higher

484
00:17:53,744 --> 00:17:54,545
to make your

485
00:17:55,265 --> 00:17:56,404
make these environments,

486
00:17:56,785 --> 00:17:57,845
like, more difficult.

487
00:17:59,230 --> 00:18:01,630
I see. Okay. Well, it sounds like you've

488
00:18:01,630 --> 00:18:02,269
got lots of,

489
00:18:03,149 --> 00:18:05,149
lots of potential work for you and your

490
00:18:05,149 --> 00:18:05,649
team

491
00:18:05,950 --> 00:18:06,769
in the future.

492
00:18:08,349 --> 00:18:10,349
So thanks thanks so much for coming on

493
00:18:10,349 --> 00:18:12,609
the podcast. And, again, congratulations

494
00:18:13,149 --> 00:18:13,389
for,

495
00:18:14,664 --> 00:18:18,125
for being the, recipients of the Physics World

496
00:18:18,505 --> 00:18:20,585
breakthrough of the year for 2025,

497
00:18:20,585 --> 00:18:21,724
you and your team.

498
00:18:22,184 --> 00:18:24,265
And, yeah, here at Physics World, we wish

499
00:18:24,265 --> 00:18:25,724
you all the best.

500
00:18:26,424 --> 00:18:27,164
Thank you.

501
00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:30,480
Thank you, Hamish. Thank you. See you

502
00:18:36,059 --> 00:18:36,559
later.

503
00:18:38,059 --> 00:18:39,440
That was Gong Yuzhang

504
00:18:40,015 --> 00:18:42,515
at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese

505
00:18:42,894 --> 00:18:44,115
Academy of Sciences,

506
00:18:44,654 --> 00:18:46,894
who led the team that has won the

507
00:18:46,894 --> 00:18:48,275
2025

508
00:18:48,575 --> 00:18:51,694
Physics World breakthrough of the year award for

509
00:18:51,694 --> 00:18:54,755
their pioneering work on two d metals.

510
00:18:55,349 --> 00:18:57,930
And there's much more about the Physics World

511
00:18:58,150 --> 00:19:00,650
breakthrough of the year and the nine

512
00:19:01,029 --> 00:19:03,049
runners up on the website.

513
00:19:04,309 --> 00:19:06,730
As this year is drawing to an end,

514
00:19:06,869 --> 00:19:09,670
here at Physics World, we're busy planning for

515
00:19:09,670 --> 00:19:10,845
2026.

516
00:19:11,644 --> 00:19:14,125
Joining me to chat about what will be

517
00:19:14,125 --> 00:19:15,265
hot in physics

518
00:19:15,644 --> 00:19:18,224
in the coming year is Matin Durrani,

519
00:19:18,845 --> 00:19:20,065
editor in chief

520
00:19:20,365 --> 00:19:21,585
of Physics World.

521
00:19:22,044 --> 00:19:22,784
Hi, Matin.

522
00:19:23,244 --> 00:19:24,144
Hello, Hamish.

523
00:19:24,769 --> 00:19:25,269
So,

524
00:19:25,970 --> 00:19:28,369
what's going to be hot in physics in

525
00:19:28,369 --> 00:19:29,329
2026?

526
00:19:29,329 --> 00:19:30,690
Do you have any pics? Have you got

527
00:19:30,690 --> 00:19:32,789
your crystal ball out yet?

528
00:19:33,169 --> 00:19:34,849
Well, you're right. I what I always used

529
00:19:34,849 --> 00:19:36,549
to do is I'd get my imaginary

530
00:19:36,929 --> 00:19:39,204
crystal ball out and try and predict what's

531
00:19:39,204 --> 00:19:40,644
gonna happen in physics. But you know what

532
00:19:40,644 --> 00:19:43,125
it's like, Hamish. It's so difficult to know

533
00:19:43,125 --> 00:19:44,825
what's gonna happen in physics because,

534
00:19:45,204 --> 00:19:46,244
you know, if we knew what was gonna

535
00:19:46,244 --> 00:19:48,085
happen, we wouldn't bother doing physics. We wouldn't

536
00:19:48,085 --> 00:19:49,384
get out of bed, would we?

537
00:19:50,269 --> 00:19:51,630
I mean, there were only some things that

538
00:19:51,630 --> 00:19:53,950
you can always guarantee, which are things like,

539
00:19:54,429 --> 00:19:57,630
specific space missions launching or a particle collider

540
00:19:57,630 --> 00:20:00,029
opening or a light source. And those are

541
00:20:00,029 --> 00:20:02,444
sort of the big science projects, which have

542
00:20:02,444 --> 00:20:05,325
big timetables and, you know, big plan. Those

543
00:20:05,325 --> 00:20:06,684
are the kind of things that you can

544
00:20:06,684 --> 00:20:08,125
know about for sure.

545
00:20:08,605 --> 00:20:10,845
But it's a really thankless task. So, basically,

546
00:20:10,845 --> 00:20:12,765
Hamish, to answer your question, what's gonna happen

547
00:20:12,765 --> 00:20:15,839
next year? I don't know. However, we've got

548
00:20:15,839 --> 00:20:17,599
a couple of things lined up on Physics

549
00:20:17,599 --> 00:20:18,579
World, which,

550
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:23,119
these, online panel discussions called, Physics World Live.

551
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,220
And I guess we've got three coming up,

552
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,755
which in a sense is our take on

553
00:20:27,755 --> 00:20:29,595
what we think of the, the big things

554
00:20:29,595 --> 00:20:31,214
in physics happening right now.

555
00:20:31,515 --> 00:20:33,034
And these I mean, I have to say

556
00:20:33,034 --> 00:20:34,815
these are very timely topics.

557
00:20:35,515 --> 00:20:37,615
One of them is quantum metrology,

558
00:20:38,394 --> 00:20:40,554
and anything quantum is very hot. I mean,

559
00:20:40,554 --> 00:20:43,820
you're you're pretty well guaranteed that anything quantum

560
00:20:43,820 --> 00:20:47,039
will be hot and exciting in 2026.

561
00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:50,080
Another one is on fusion energy,

562
00:20:50,460 --> 00:20:53,100
and it seems like the momentum is is

563
00:20:53,100 --> 00:20:56,695
growing, isn't it, for fusion fusion energy? Lots

564
00:20:56,695 --> 00:20:59,275
of small and medium sized companies coming in

565
00:20:59,414 --> 00:20:59,894
with,

566
00:21:00,375 --> 00:21:03,654
novel technologies that they hope will sort of

567
00:21:03,654 --> 00:21:04,154
crack,

568
00:21:05,255 --> 00:21:07,515
crack what has been a very difficult problem

569
00:21:07,654 --> 00:21:09,674
getting fusion energy going.

570
00:21:10,679 --> 00:21:13,720
Medical physics, again, you know, applying physics to

571
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,019
medicine is a very, very hot topic. So

572
00:21:17,079 --> 00:21:19,400
what what what are these physics world live

573
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,559
events? And so what, you know, what what

574
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,259
why are we covering these topics?

575
00:21:23,835 --> 00:21:25,115
Well, we've been doing this for a few

576
00:21:25,115 --> 00:21:27,115
years now, Hamish. So these are online panel

577
00:21:27,115 --> 00:21:27,615
discussions

578
00:21:27,914 --> 00:21:28,414
about,

579
00:21:29,035 --> 00:21:30,734
particular hot topics in physics.

580
00:21:31,755 --> 00:21:34,474
So anybody can register and and and watch

581
00:21:34,474 --> 00:21:37,029
them. So, yeah, the first one, which you're

582
00:21:37,029 --> 00:21:38,549
actually organizing, Hamish, so I hope you know

583
00:21:38,549 --> 00:21:40,410
what this is about. It's about quantum metrology.

584
00:21:40,549 --> 00:21:41,769
So the idea of,

585
00:21:43,509 --> 00:21:46,089
ensuring it's ways of ensuring companies and academics

586
00:21:46,470 --> 00:21:49,289
can sort of test and validate and commercialize

587
00:21:49,990 --> 00:21:52,384
new quantum tech. And we know that, you

588
00:21:52,384 --> 00:21:54,384
know, it's been the International Year of Quantum

589
00:21:54,384 --> 00:21:56,944
Science Technology, which, by the way, that is

590
00:21:56,944 --> 00:21:58,625
one thing that's happening next year. It draws

591
00:21:58,625 --> 00:22:00,704
to a close with a closing ceremony in

592
00:22:00,704 --> 00:22:02,565
Ghana, so that's something that's happening.

593
00:22:02,865 --> 00:22:04,065
And we know that there's a it's a

594
00:22:04,065 --> 00:22:06,829
burgeoning industry, and you need the metrologists

595
00:22:07,289 --> 00:22:09,069
to come in and sort of validate

596
00:22:09,369 --> 00:22:11,950
these technologies and make sure that everybody's operating

597
00:22:12,009 --> 00:22:14,409
to the same standards and principles. And you

598
00:22:14,409 --> 00:22:16,829
can sort of you could compare different

599
00:22:17,130 --> 00:22:18,970
pieces of kits, and it's really important that

600
00:22:18,970 --> 00:22:20,250
you have that in place so that the

601
00:22:20,250 --> 00:22:21,710
industry as a whole can

602
00:22:22,065 --> 00:22:24,244
can make progress. So I think quantum metrology

603
00:22:25,504 --> 00:22:27,744
is a really important area. So, well, we're

604
00:22:27,744 --> 00:22:29,924
looking forward to doing that one. Oh, definitely.

605
00:22:29,984 --> 00:22:31,504
I I was I was very lucky. I

606
00:22:31,504 --> 00:22:34,164
went to a a conference or a meeting.

607
00:22:34,490 --> 00:22:36,809
I suppose possibly it's better to describe it

608
00:22:36,809 --> 00:22:37,869
as on quantum

609
00:22:38,170 --> 00:22:38,670
metrology

610
00:22:38,970 --> 00:22:40,590
at the National Physical Laboratory

611
00:22:40,970 --> 00:22:41,789
in The UK,

612
00:22:42,650 --> 00:22:45,390
which is the, you know, the the institute

613
00:22:45,609 --> 00:22:48,090
institution in The UK that looks after things

614
00:22:48,090 --> 00:22:51,585
like standards and develops new technologies for measuring

615
00:22:52,444 --> 00:22:54,365
current, and, you know, all those sorts of

616
00:22:54,365 --> 00:22:56,125
things. And it's always a real pleasure to

617
00:22:56,125 --> 00:22:59,025
go to NPL. The physicists who work there

618
00:22:59,085 --> 00:22:59,825
are fantastic.

619
00:23:00,845 --> 00:23:02,444
They, you know, they work on some really

620
00:23:02,444 --> 00:23:04,845
interesting projects, and they're always really happy to

621
00:23:04,845 --> 00:23:05,220
chat.

622
00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:08,039
And, yeah, definitely, quantum metrology

623
00:23:08,500 --> 00:23:11,140
is, is a hot topic there. And it's

624
00:23:11,140 --> 00:23:12,119
interesting that

625
00:23:12,579 --> 00:23:14,179
one of the things that I suppose I

626
00:23:14,179 --> 00:23:15,940
never really thought of before I went to

627
00:23:15,940 --> 00:23:18,119
the conference was this distinction

628
00:23:18,579 --> 00:23:19,079
about

629
00:23:19,634 --> 00:23:20,134
using

630
00:23:21,555 --> 00:23:22,055
quantum

631
00:23:22,674 --> 00:23:23,894
to make better

632
00:23:24,595 --> 00:23:25,095
metrology,

633
00:23:27,795 --> 00:23:28,295
versus

634
00:23:28,835 --> 00:23:29,335
developing

635
00:23:29,954 --> 00:23:30,454
metrology

636
00:23:31,394 --> 00:23:33,255
to make better quantum technologies.

637
00:23:33,849 --> 00:23:36,569
And I suppose a classic example of the

638
00:23:36,569 --> 00:23:37,069
former

639
00:23:37,369 --> 00:23:37,869
is,

640
00:23:38,250 --> 00:23:40,970
an atomic clock, where you're using the, you

641
00:23:40,970 --> 00:23:44,329
know, the quantum properties of atoms and of

642
00:23:44,329 --> 00:23:44,829
lasers,

643
00:23:45,769 --> 00:23:46,589
or masers

644
00:23:47,164 --> 00:23:47,664
to,

645
00:23:48,044 --> 00:23:50,224
to to to make a a much better

646
00:23:50,845 --> 00:23:53,404
time standard. And that's a great example of

647
00:23:53,404 --> 00:23:54,304
using quantum

648
00:23:54,605 --> 00:23:55,345
for metrology.

649
00:23:56,924 --> 00:23:57,984
On the other hand,

650
00:23:58,605 --> 00:24:01,664
when you're developing new quantum technologies,

651
00:24:01,964 --> 00:24:02,625
you need

652
00:24:03,190 --> 00:24:03,690
standards,

653
00:24:04,710 --> 00:24:05,190
to,

654
00:24:05,590 --> 00:24:07,850
I suppose work out if those quantum technologies

655
00:24:07,990 --> 00:24:10,470
are are good enough for doing what you

656
00:24:10,470 --> 00:24:12,230
what you want them to do. So for

657
00:24:12,230 --> 00:24:12,730
example,

658
00:24:13,109 --> 00:24:16,230
a quantum computer is based on qubits, and

659
00:24:16,230 --> 00:24:18,964
you need to decide whether these qubits,

660
00:24:20,144 --> 00:24:22,005
remain quantum for long enough

661
00:24:22,305 --> 00:24:23,105
to do your,

662
00:24:24,464 --> 00:24:25,285
your calculation

663
00:24:25,744 --> 00:24:27,984
on the quantum computer. So, you know, you

664
00:24:27,984 --> 00:24:28,644
need to

665
00:24:29,025 --> 00:24:29,924
define standards,

666
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,140
metrology standards for how good a qubit is.

667
00:24:34,519 --> 00:24:36,440
So, you know, there's two ways of looking

668
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,160
at quantum metrology, you know, harnessing the power

669
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,900
of quantum mechanics to make better metrology,

670
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:43,980
and then actually developing

671
00:24:45,305 --> 00:24:49,005
metrology for new quantum technologies. So, yeah, it's

672
00:24:49,144 --> 00:24:49,644
doubly

673
00:24:50,025 --> 00:24:52,825
exciting, I think. So, yeah, stay tuned for

674
00:24:52,825 --> 00:24:53,325
that.

675
00:24:53,865 --> 00:24:56,265
Yeah. Because it's amazing things like entanglement being

676
00:24:56,265 --> 00:24:58,184
used for practical purposes. You know, I was

677
00:24:58,184 --> 00:24:58,845
at the

678
00:24:59,224 --> 00:25:00,285
Institute of Physics

679
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:03,960
event at the Royal Institution in London last

680
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,140
month in November, and there was a representative

681
00:25:06,279 --> 00:25:07,099
from the company,

682
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,079
Digistain that makes entangled cam, which is this

683
00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:14,039
piece of equipment using entangled photons for medical

684
00:25:14,039 --> 00:25:14,859
physics purposes.

685
00:25:15,474 --> 00:25:16,914
And, you know, it's incredible to think that

686
00:25:16,914 --> 00:25:18,355
that's happening and that you well, you know,

687
00:25:18,355 --> 00:25:19,954
if there's other companies in the area, how

688
00:25:19,954 --> 00:25:22,274
do you make sure that they're all working

689
00:25:22,274 --> 00:25:23,714
to the same standard and that you could

690
00:25:23,714 --> 00:25:26,274
compare one entangled camera with another? You know,

691
00:25:26,274 --> 00:25:28,115
these are kind of questions that you need

692
00:25:28,115 --> 00:25:30,900
metrology for. You need that system in place.

693
00:25:31,140 --> 00:25:33,460
Like with the kilogram or the second, you

694
00:25:33,460 --> 00:25:35,539
need those systems in place so that we're

695
00:25:35,539 --> 00:25:36,820
all operating to the same,

696
00:25:37,460 --> 00:25:39,940
principles. Oh, definitely. It's a big big deal,

697
00:25:39,940 --> 00:25:41,940
and it's, you know, just that area that

698
00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:44,440
physicists make, you know, contributions to.

699
00:25:44,845 --> 00:25:46,684
And yeah. I mean, I I suppose now,

700
00:25:46,684 --> 00:25:48,924
you know, entanglement is not seen as a

701
00:25:48,924 --> 00:25:51,085
sort of a weird thing. It's seen as

702
00:25:51,085 --> 00:25:53,484
a resource. I mean, that's how how people

703
00:25:53,484 --> 00:25:55,884
describe it these days. Entanglement is a resource

704
00:25:55,884 --> 00:25:57,024
for quantum computing.

705
00:25:57,539 --> 00:25:59,720
And, so, yeah, how do you measure it?

706
00:26:00,420 --> 00:26:00,920
Exactly.

707
00:26:01,220 --> 00:26:03,320
So, yeah, I think I think quantum metrology,

708
00:26:03,539 --> 00:26:06,100
all different flavors of it, will be very

709
00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:08,580
exciting next year. Good. Because you you're organizing

710
00:26:08,580 --> 00:26:09,320
that event.

711
00:26:09,634 --> 00:26:11,315
I'm glad you're enthused about that. Well, you

712
00:26:11,315 --> 00:26:13,555
know, I've I've I've at least I've spoken

713
00:26:13,555 --> 00:26:16,355
to lots of interesting people at NPL about

714
00:26:16,355 --> 00:26:19,075
it. So, yeah, I'm sure it'll be, it'll

715
00:26:19,075 --> 00:26:20,375
be a a great success.

716
00:26:20,755 --> 00:26:22,595
And, I mean, I suppose fusion is the

717
00:26:22,595 --> 00:26:24,595
same way, isn't it, in the sense that,

718
00:26:25,309 --> 00:26:28,049
there's a lot of interest in fusion energy,

719
00:26:28,429 --> 00:26:29,329
a lot of,

720
00:26:29,710 --> 00:26:31,970
companies that are springing up with their own

721
00:26:32,109 --> 00:26:33,970
sort of takes on how to

722
00:26:34,589 --> 00:26:36,929
extract energy from the fusion of

723
00:26:37,309 --> 00:26:37,809
hydrogen

724
00:26:38,269 --> 00:26:38,769
nuclei.

725
00:26:41,365 --> 00:26:42,644
So can you tell us a bit more

726
00:26:42,644 --> 00:26:44,505
about that PW Live?

727
00:26:45,365 --> 00:26:46,884
Well, I mean, if you think of fusion,

728
00:26:46,884 --> 00:26:48,484
you tend to associate it with the big

729
00:26:48,484 --> 00:26:50,965
project like Eat Well, ITER in Southern France.

730
00:26:50,965 --> 00:26:51,845
That's a huge,

731
00:26:52,484 --> 00:26:54,700
machine being built at the moment. But there

732
00:26:54,700 --> 00:26:56,539
are a lot of private companies involved in

733
00:26:56,539 --> 00:26:58,299
this area at the moment. So not last

734
00:26:58,299 --> 00:27:00,400
week, I was at the Institute of Physics

735
00:27:00,460 --> 00:27:01,279
business awards

736
00:27:02,220 --> 00:27:04,539
in London at the Houses of Parliament, and

737
00:27:04,539 --> 00:27:06,720
there was somebody from Tokamak Energy

738
00:27:07,244 --> 00:27:09,424
who, they won one of the business awards.

739
00:27:09,565 --> 00:27:11,345
And she was their chief

740
00:27:11,644 --> 00:27:13,805
technology officer and used to work at Rolls

741
00:27:13,805 --> 00:27:16,224
Royce Aerospace in Derby.

742
00:27:16,605 --> 00:27:16,924
And,

743
00:27:17,805 --> 00:27:18,924
you know, she said to me, and I

744
00:27:18,924 --> 00:27:21,345
didn't quite realize this, they have 300

745
00:27:21,950 --> 00:27:23,410
members of staff there including

746
00:27:24,190 --> 00:27:26,750
a 120 people with PhDs. So, you know,

747
00:27:26,750 --> 00:27:29,630
these are, you know, big companies, serious companies

748
00:27:29,630 --> 00:27:31,789
with a lot of effort being put into,

749
00:27:31,789 --> 00:27:33,250
you know, harnessing fusion

750
00:27:33,549 --> 00:27:34,769
as an energy source

751
00:27:35,524 --> 00:27:37,204
and building the magnets and so on and

752
00:27:37,204 --> 00:27:38,644
coming up with designs for how it would

753
00:27:38,644 --> 00:27:41,204
work. So, yeah, that that's, you know, that's

754
00:27:41,204 --> 00:27:42,005
gonna be in the,

755
00:27:43,125 --> 00:27:44,404
towards the end of next year when we

756
00:27:44,404 --> 00:27:46,005
have that Physics World Live. So, yeah, looking

757
00:27:46,005 --> 00:27:48,244
forward to that one. Yeah. That'll be interesting.

758
00:27:48,244 --> 00:27:49,524
I mean, I have to say I'm a,

759
00:27:49,524 --> 00:27:51,420
you know, sort of a slight skeptic

760
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:53,180
when it comes to fusion.

761
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,119
And, I I often wonder that,

762
00:27:57,079 --> 00:27:58,519
you know, the reason why we have all

763
00:27:58,519 --> 00:27:59,740
these small and medium

764
00:28:00,039 --> 00:28:01,019
sized companies

765
00:28:01,559 --> 00:28:03,980
is that it's turning out to be incredibly

766
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:04,700
expensive

767
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:06,380
to build a large

768
00:28:06,704 --> 00:28:07,684
fusion facility.

769
00:28:08,224 --> 00:28:09,525
And we sort of think, well,

770
00:28:10,544 --> 00:28:11,684
maybe that's the problem.

771
00:28:12,304 --> 00:28:14,065
It's that we're trying to build a large

772
00:28:14,065 --> 00:28:16,484
one. Maybe we can build a small one.

773
00:28:16,625 --> 00:28:18,625
But I don't I don't know. Is that

774
00:28:18,625 --> 00:28:21,265
backed by physics and engineering? Or is it

775
00:28:21,265 --> 00:28:23,430
just, well, we tried it one way, and

776
00:28:23,430 --> 00:28:24,809
it's taking a long time.

777
00:28:25,190 --> 00:28:26,869
And, you know, we haven't got the results

778
00:28:26,869 --> 00:28:28,630
that we've wanted, so we just try it

779
00:28:28,630 --> 00:28:30,390
another way. I mean, that's fair enough. I

780
00:28:30,390 --> 00:28:32,970
suppose that's a a fairer way to innovate.

781
00:28:33,349 --> 00:28:35,349
But, I mean, there's that notion of there's

782
00:28:35,349 --> 00:28:37,029
that notion that we covered in physics world

783
00:28:37,029 --> 00:28:38,205
this year of unobtanium.

784
00:28:39,065 --> 00:28:40,984
The idea that you set yourself a challenge

785
00:28:40,984 --> 00:28:43,305
knowing it may might not be possible. Yeah.

786
00:28:43,545 --> 00:28:45,325
But, you know, trying to get there

787
00:28:45,705 --> 00:28:48,265
as a target is a useful exercise because

788
00:28:48,265 --> 00:28:50,345
other good things might happen along the way.

789
00:28:50,345 --> 00:28:51,705
And, you know, you hope you achieve it

790
00:28:51,705 --> 00:28:53,529
and if you but if you don't, you

791
00:28:53,529 --> 00:28:55,930
may come up with other breakthroughs or other

792
00:28:55,930 --> 00:28:59,289
developments that are also useful. So unobtanium, I

793
00:28:59,289 --> 00:29:00,730
think, is quite a nice way of putting

794
00:29:00,730 --> 00:29:01,230
it.

795
00:29:02,250 --> 00:29:04,650
Again, the other idea is vaporware, the idea

796
00:29:04,650 --> 00:29:06,515
that something sort of so ethereal that you

797
00:29:06,515 --> 00:29:08,595
you may it may never even happen, but,

798
00:29:08,595 --> 00:29:10,595
you know, still worth pursuing. So, yeah, fusion

799
00:29:10,595 --> 00:29:10,835
is,

800
00:29:11,394 --> 00:29:13,255
you know, exciting times at the moment.

801
00:29:13,794 --> 00:29:16,275
So medical physics, I mean, that's a a

802
00:29:16,275 --> 00:29:17,095
very broad,

803
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:18,460
field.

804
00:29:19,319 --> 00:29:21,019
Has that one been narrowed down,

805
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,400
that PW Live? Or Well, we got a

806
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,240
couple of speakers lined up for this one,

807
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:25,880
which is,

808
00:29:26,839 --> 00:29:29,400
we're running it in July to celebrate the

809
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,180
seventieth anniversary of the journal

810
00:29:31,755 --> 00:29:34,815
Physics in Medicine and Biology, which IOP Publishing

811
00:29:34,954 --> 00:29:35,454
publishes,

812
00:29:35,914 --> 00:29:38,015
on behalf of the Institute of Physics

813
00:29:38,394 --> 00:29:40,255
and Engineering in Medicine, IPEN.

814
00:29:40,795 --> 00:29:43,434
So it's celebrating its seventieth anniversary. So we've

815
00:29:43,434 --> 00:29:46,389
got the current editor in chief and two

816
00:29:46,389 --> 00:29:49,029
former editors editors in chief lined up to

817
00:29:49,029 --> 00:29:52,409
speak about the role of medical physics in,

818
00:29:53,109 --> 00:29:55,589
medicine and biology and how that field has

819
00:29:55,589 --> 00:29:57,795
evolved over the last seventy years. So that's

820
00:29:57,795 --> 00:29:59,394
definitely one to look forward to. And, yeah,

821
00:29:59,394 --> 00:30:00,755
a lot lots going on in that area

822
00:30:00,755 --> 00:30:02,055
as well as we all know,

823
00:30:02,515 --> 00:30:05,075
all sorts of different things. Oh, interesting. Yeah.

824
00:30:05,075 --> 00:30:07,075
I just I I did a podcast interview

825
00:30:07,075 --> 00:30:08,535
today, earlier today.

826
00:30:08,914 --> 00:30:11,075
I've, the microphones have been out all day

827
00:30:11,075 --> 00:30:12,535
today. It's been very busy

828
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:13,380
with,

829
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:15,440
someone called,

830
00:30:15,839 --> 00:30:18,579
Luke Cox at a company called Impulsonics.

831
00:30:19,279 --> 00:30:20,339
And they're using,

832
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:22,740
ultrasound,

833
00:30:24,319 --> 00:30:26,259
in a medical application that,

834
00:30:26,585 --> 00:30:27,404
you know, it's nothing

835
00:30:27,865 --> 00:30:29,644
to do with ultrasound imaging.

836
00:30:30,025 --> 00:30:32,664
It's using the effect of ultra ultrasound on

837
00:30:32,664 --> 00:30:33,164
cells

838
00:30:33,785 --> 00:30:35,644
to, you know, to

839
00:30:36,825 --> 00:30:39,704
encourage processes that could ultimately be used for

840
00:30:39,704 --> 00:30:41,565
things like personalized medicine.

841
00:30:42,169 --> 00:30:44,250
So, yeah, I mean, things are very exciting

842
00:30:44,250 --> 00:30:46,329
in medical physics. Yeah. Well, we saw the,

843
00:30:46,650 --> 00:30:48,809
physics well, our own top 10 breakthroughs for

844
00:30:48,809 --> 00:30:49,609
2025

845
00:30:49,609 --> 00:30:52,029
that included one of the breakthroughs was on

846
00:30:52,089 --> 00:30:54,809
proton arc therapy. And, of course, proton therapy,

847
00:30:54,809 --> 00:30:56,329
you know, twenty years ago is brand new,

848
00:30:56,329 --> 00:30:57,549
and that's being refined

849
00:30:57,884 --> 00:31:00,684
further and further. So, yeah, lots lots going

850
00:31:00,684 --> 00:31:02,445
on in that field. So, yeah, medical physics

851
00:31:02,445 --> 00:31:03,005
will be the,

852
00:31:03,724 --> 00:31:05,184
physics worldwide in July.

853
00:31:05,644 --> 00:31:08,205
And there's one more thing, I think that

854
00:31:08,205 --> 00:31:10,445
we can preview, Matin, and that is that

855
00:31:10,445 --> 00:31:11,265
our colleague,

856
00:31:12,019 --> 00:31:15,059
Margaret Harris, is going to the Global Physics

857
00:31:15,059 --> 00:31:16,579
Summit, which is the big,

858
00:31:17,220 --> 00:31:18,279
APS shindig.

859
00:31:18,740 --> 00:31:19,720
That's in March,

860
00:31:20,259 --> 00:31:21,559
in Boulder, Colorado.

861
00:31:22,339 --> 00:31:24,819
And she'll be doing a a live event

862
00:31:24,819 --> 00:31:27,544
there. Is that right? That's right. So Margaret

863
00:31:27,605 --> 00:31:30,325
and will be, hosting a Physics Worldwide at

864
00:31:30,325 --> 00:31:33,125
the Global Physics Summit, for people who are

865
00:31:33,125 --> 00:31:35,065
attending that in Denver and Colorado,

866
00:31:35,524 --> 00:31:37,284
which is funny because I went there in

867
00:31:37,284 --> 00:31:38,585
2020

868
00:31:38,804 --> 00:31:41,079
just when the pandemic struck. And I was

869
00:31:41,079 --> 00:31:42,200
there with lots of other people, and the

870
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:43,339
whole meeting was canceled.

871
00:31:43,879 --> 00:31:45,879
And that was a very strange experience. So

872
00:31:45,879 --> 00:31:47,960
we spent a week, six well, it'd be

873
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:49,099
six years ago now,

874
00:31:49,799 --> 00:31:51,019
you know, in this cavernous

875
00:31:52,904 --> 00:31:55,225
auditorium and conference hall with nothing going on,

876
00:31:55,225 --> 00:31:56,904
and all the companies were sort of packing

877
00:31:56,904 --> 00:31:59,465
their exhibits away. So it's back in Denver

878
00:31:59,465 --> 00:32:01,545
in, in in the spring. So, yeah, that

879
00:32:01,625 --> 00:32:03,384
that's what Margaret will be doing about careers

880
00:32:03,384 --> 00:32:05,519
in physics. And, of course, we know that,

881
00:32:05,519 --> 00:32:07,440
you know, physics degree can open all sorts

882
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:08,960
of doors, but often there are so many

883
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:10,559
doors that it can open that people aren't

884
00:32:10,559 --> 00:32:12,980
aware of all the opportunities that are available.

885
00:32:13,039 --> 00:32:14,720
So we'll be looking at some of the

886
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:16,160
options that you can do,

887
00:32:16,559 --> 00:32:18,480
with a degree in physics. So that's another

888
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:20,160
thing to keep an eye out for next

889
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,234
year. Sounds good. I've I think I've been

890
00:32:22,234 --> 00:32:24,634
to a few APS conferences in Denver. And,

891
00:32:24,634 --> 00:32:25,674
you know, I have to say the best

892
00:32:25,674 --> 00:32:27,615
thing about going to a conference in Denver

893
00:32:27,835 --> 00:32:30,335
is that it's very close to Boulder, Colorado,

894
00:32:30,794 --> 00:32:33,355
which is the headquarters of, an well, not

895
00:32:33,355 --> 00:32:35,294
the headquarters, but one of the big,

896
00:32:35,900 --> 00:32:37,519
sort of outposts of NIST,

897
00:32:37,900 --> 00:32:40,480
the, American Standards Institute,

898
00:32:40,940 --> 00:32:43,900
which, like NBL, is a fantastic place to

899
00:32:43,900 --> 00:32:47,179
visit. Lots of amazing physicists there doing some

900
00:32:47,179 --> 00:32:50,644
incredible work. So, who knows? Maybe Margaret will,

901
00:32:51,125 --> 00:32:52,725
be able to visit the folks at NIST

902
00:32:52,725 --> 00:32:53,305
as well.

903
00:32:53,684 --> 00:32:55,365
Yeah. That's where I mean, I know in

904
00:32:55,365 --> 00:32:56,884
in Boulder, they do a lot of on

905
00:32:56,884 --> 00:32:59,365
the the atomic clock work is done there.

906
00:32:59,365 --> 00:33:00,005
So that's,

907
00:33:00,325 --> 00:33:00,750
great.

908
00:33:01,230 --> 00:33:02,670
The other thing to mention, Hamish, that I

909
00:33:02,670 --> 00:33:04,430
should also add in is that our colleagues

910
00:33:04,430 --> 00:33:06,509
at the Institute of Physics in London are

911
00:33:06,509 --> 00:33:07,009
doing,

912
00:33:07,869 --> 00:33:09,410
more of their impact projects.

913
00:33:09,869 --> 00:33:12,029
These are the sort of in-depth reports looking

914
00:33:12,029 --> 00:33:15,164
at important tech technology areas. So they're doing

915
00:33:15,164 --> 00:33:16,224
more work on,

916
00:33:16,845 --> 00:33:17,345
artificial

917
00:33:17,964 --> 00:33:18,464
intelligence,

918
00:33:19,085 --> 00:33:20,845
and they're also starting a new impact project

919
00:33:20,845 --> 00:33:22,684
on medical physics, which ties in with what

920
00:33:22,684 --> 00:33:24,865
we were saying about medical physics being important.

921
00:33:25,085 --> 00:33:28,204
So those three areas, AI, metamaterials, and medical

922
00:33:28,204 --> 00:33:30,140
physics, the Institute of Physics will be looking

923
00:33:30,140 --> 00:33:32,539
at with their impact reports, which are we've

924
00:33:32,539 --> 00:33:33,259
done ones,

925
00:33:33,740 --> 00:33:36,619
previously on quantum physics and the green economy.

926
00:33:36,619 --> 00:33:38,380
So those are sort of three areas that

927
00:33:38,380 --> 00:33:40,559
are, you know, also hot topics.

928
00:33:40,934 --> 00:33:42,214
Like I say with physics, I said to

929
00:33:42,214 --> 00:33:43,575
you a few minutes ago, Amish, you never

930
00:33:43,575 --> 00:33:45,654
can quite predict exactly what will happen, and

931
00:33:45,654 --> 00:33:47,575
so I'm not going to. But I think

932
00:33:47,575 --> 00:33:49,494
these areas that I've talked about, we've talked

933
00:33:49,494 --> 00:33:51,654
about, kinda give a sense of, you know,

934
00:33:51,654 --> 00:33:53,734
where the where the hot topics are in

935
00:33:53,734 --> 00:33:55,335
in physics right now as far as we're

936
00:33:55,335 --> 00:33:55,835
concerned.

937
00:33:56,190 --> 00:33:58,829
So, yeah, lots to look forward to, in

938
00:33:58,829 --> 00:33:59,970
2026.

939
00:34:00,509 --> 00:34:02,349
I'm afraid that's all the time we have

940
00:34:02,349 --> 00:34:05,329
for this episode, which is supported by reports

941
00:34:05,470 --> 00:34:07,250
on progress in physics.

942
00:34:08,045 --> 00:34:11,025
Thanks to Gong Yoo Zhong and Matin Dharani

943
00:34:11,164 --> 00:34:12,545
for joining me today,

944
00:34:12,844 --> 00:34:15,105
and a special thanks to our producer,

945
00:34:15,405 --> 00:34:16,385
Fred Iles.