Physics World Weekly Podcast

Data are at the core of science, but traditional journal articles normally deliver a distillation of the raw data gathered by the authors. While the movement towards open access is widely supported by researchers and funding agencies, a 2024 study by IOP Publishing revealed that many scientists still encounter a wide range of practical, ethical and technical barriers when it comes to sharing their data.

As a result, the publisher has launched a free online course that aims to give early-career researchers the practical skills and confidence they need to share and manage research data effectively.

To talk about the course and IOP Publishing’s open data policy I am joined by Laura Feetham-Walker, who is head of publishing strategy and performance at IOP Publishing.

IOP Publishing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Institute of Physics and it publishes Physics World.

You can register for the free course here: “Open Data Excellence“

Noise is the enemy of many computing paradigms. Conventional computers are power hungry because they must operate at energy levels well above those of electronic fluctuations in silicon. The problem is much more acute in quantum computing, where noise is a significant barrier to creating practical processors.

But what if we could use noise as a computational resource? That is the idea behind thermodynamic computing – which is the focus of this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast. My guest is the theoretical physicist Stephen Whitelam – who joins me down the line from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US.

“Generative Thermodynamic Computing” by Stephen Whitelam

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features an interview with Paul Howarth, who became president of the Institute of Physics (IOP) in February.

The IOP is the professional body and learned society for physics in the UK and Ireland. Representing 21,000 members, it supports physicists at all stages of their careers and seeks to make physics accessible to people from all backgrounds.

With a PhD in nuclear physics, Howarth has had a long career in the nuclear sector working on the European Fusion Programme and at British Nuclear Fuels, as well as co-founding the Dalton Nuclear Institute at the University of Manchester and serving as chief executive officer of the National Nuclear Laboratory.

He talks to Physics World’s Michael Banks about his career in nuclear energy and his priorities now as president of the IOP. These include improving physics education and raising the profile of physics and physicists across society.

Howarth also voices concerns about recent funding cuts to particle physics, astronomy and space science in the UK, saying it could hamper the flow of students into the subject, with a potential impact on burgeoning areas such as quantum tech.

The Institute of Physics owns IOP Publishing, which brings you Physics World.

Nuclear fusion powers the Sun, and scientists and engineers have long been trying to harness the process to generate clean energy. While much progress has been made, the commercially-viable generation of fusion energy remains elusive.

One important challenge is developing a range of specialized materials that can contain an extremely hot, radiation-emitting plasma in close proximity to ultracold superconducting magnets.

Our guest this week is Jacob John of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, who studies how radiation damages materials. In conversation with Physics World’s Matin Durrani, he talks about the near-oxymoronic materials requirements for fusion reactors and how they can be met.

The quantum-technology sector is burgeoning, but challenges remain when it comes to creating viable commercial products. While quantum sensors show great promise, some technologies rely on ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) – which is difficult to achieve in compact, portable devices.

My guest in this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast is Florence Concepcion, who focuses on the miniaturization of UHV systems for practical quantum sensors and other devices. She is a senior quantum engineer at Aquark Technologies – a UK-based company that is developing cold-matter quantum technologies.

In 2025 Concepcion was awarded a £1.9m Innovate Future Leaders Fellowship by the UK government. She explains how that money will be spent over four years to develop vacuum systems for quantum technologies.

Before joining Aquark, Concepcion did a PhD on a topic at the intersection of astronomy and atomic physics. She talks about her transition from academia to industry and we chat about careers for physicists in the quantum sector.

 

 

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