In this episode of The New Quantum Era, Sebastian is joined by Dr. Emily Edwards, a co-founder of the Q12 initiative, an NSF-funded effort aimed at enhancing quantum science education from middle school through early undergraduate levels. Emily brings her expertise in organizing and motivating educators, as well as her passion for science communication. In this episode, we delve into the unique challenges of teaching quantum science and explore effective strategies to make this abstract field more accessible to learners of all ages.

Key Points

• Challenges in Quantum Communication and Education: Emily discusses the public perception of quantum science, often influenced by pop culture, and the importance of demystifying the subject to make it more approachable.
• Strategies for Formal and Informal Learning: The conversation highlights different techniques for teaching quantum science in formal settings, like schools, and informal settings, such as science museums or YouTube. Emily emphasizes the importance of foundational knowledge and incremental learning.
• Role of Technology in Quantum Education: Emily talks about using scanning electron microscopes and other technologies to make the invisible world of quantum science visible, thus igniting public interest and imagination similar to stargazing.
• Importance of Science Communication Workshops: Emily shares her experience in leading science communication workshops, aiming to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of science content created by the public.
• Public and Private Sector Collaboration: The discussion touches on the need for a blend of federal and private funding to sustain and scale quantum education initiatives. Emily stresses the importance of industry involvement to emphasize the urgency and importance of scientific literacy for the future workforce.

In this episode of The New Quantum Era, your host Sebastian Hassinger talks with Dr. Daniel Lidar. Dr. Lidar is a pioneering researcher in quantum computing with over 25 years of experience, currently a professor at the University of Southern California. His work spans quantum algorithms, error correction, and quantum advantage, with significant contributions to understanding quantum annealing and noise suppression techniques. Lidar has been instrumental in exploring practical quantum computing applications since the mid-1990s.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Dr. Lidar discussed how his experiments have demonstrated computational advantages on D-Wave and IBM quantum devices using innovative error suppression methods like dynamical decoupling
• We discuss Dr. Lidar's involvement in the exploration of the mechanics of quantum annealing, particularly with D-Wave devices, and its potential for solving optimization problems
• Daniel provides a detailed view of emerging approaches to error suppression, including logical dynamical decoupling (LDD) and its experimental validation
• Finally we touch on Quantum Elements, his new company focused on developing more accurate open-system quantum simulation software to improve quantum hardware performance

In this episode, Sebastian Hassinger welcomes back James Wootton, now Chief Science Officer at Moth Quantum, for a fascinating conversation about quantum computing's role in creative applications. This is a return visit from James, having appeared on episode 2, this time to talk about his exciting new role. Previously at IBM Quantum, James has been a pioneer in exploring unconventional applications of quantum computing, particularly in gaming, art, and creative industries.

Key Topics

Origins of James's Quantum Journey

• Started in Arosa, Switzerland (coincidentally where Schrödinger developed his wave equation)
• Initially skeptical about commercial applications of his quantum error correction research
• Created "Decodoku" (a play on "decoder" and "Sudoku"), a puzzle game to gamify quantum error correction in 2016
• The same year IBM put a 5 qubit machine on the cloud, creating a paradigm shift in accessibility

Quantum Gaming Innovations

• Developed what may be the first quantum computing game
• Created "Hello Quantum," a mobile educational game
• Developed "Quantum Blur," a tool that encodes images in quantum states, allowing users to see how quantum gates affect images
• Used quantum computing for procedural generation in games, including terrain generation for Minecraft-like environments

Quantum Art and Creativity

• Collaborated with a classical painter who has used Quantum Blur as his main artistic tool for five years
• Explored using quantum computing for music generation
• Investigated language generation using the DiscoCat framework

Moth Quantum

• James joined Moth Quantum as Chief Science Officer
• The company focuses on bringing quantum computing to creative industries
• Their approach recognizes that in creative fields, "usefulness" can mean bringing something unique rather than just superior performance
• Aims to build expertise with current quantum technologies to be ready when fault tolerance enables quantum advantage
• At the beginning of May, 2025, Moth collaborated with musical artist ILA on a project called "Infinite Remix," using quantum computing in the creation of an exciting new musical creation tool.