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Culture, history and society

Culture, history and society

The Physics World China Briefing is now out

08 Sep 2020 Michael Banks

Physics World China BreifingThis year has been dominated by one event: the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which was first reported in Wuhan, China, before quickly spreading throughout the world. The severe impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has been felt by all and physicists are no exception. Universities and research facilities all shut their doors earlier this year as scientists headed home under lockdown.

In this year’s Physics World China Briefing, we report how universities in China – the first to be affected – are now beginning to cautiously reopen. Despite a few localized outbreaks in the country, which seem to have been contained, things appear to be getting back on track. Without a vaccine on the immediate horizon, however, progress will remain slow and cautious and with international travel limited, collaborations will likely remain online-only for the foreseeable future.

Indeed, the impact of COVID-19 has already hit many scientific conferences, some of which have had to switch at short notice to online platforms. One example is Quantum 2020 – a major international conference in quantum technology organized by the Institute of Physics and IOP Publishing in partnership with the Chinese Physical Society and the University of Science and Technology of China. Due to be held in Shanghai, it will now take place entirely online on 19–22 October. For this year’s briefing, which is free to read, we talk to USTC physicist Chaoyang Lu about managing this virtual shift as well as the future of quantum technologies.

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