SOPHIA CHEN

Science Writer

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Check out some of my recent work below.

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Molecular Machines Make Waves At APS Meeting, APS News, May 2022

This Month In Physics: Arianna Rosenbluth and the Metropolis Monte Carlo Algorithm, APS News, March 2022

This Month In Physics: Otis Boykin and the Cold War-Era Resistor, APS News, February 2022

This Month In Physics: The Discovery of Francium, APS News, January 2022

Q&A with Quantum Scientist Chao-Yang Lu, APS News, July/August 2021

Birds Use Quantum Mechanics To See Magnetic Fields, New Research Suggests, Gizmodo, June 2021

The Race Is On For Quantum-Safe Cryptography, The Verge, June 2021

Unraveling the Possibilities of Knitted Materials, APS News, June 2021

These Drums Beat In Perfect Synchrony Because They’re Quantumly Entangled, Gizmodo, May 2021

Programming Matter To Do A Computer’s Job, APS News, May 2021

How Microsoft’s Quantum Boast Went Bust, Gizmodo, March 2021

Training Future Generations of Quantum Technologists, APS News, February 2021

Physicists Are Reinventing the Laser, Gizmodo, January 2021

Here, Play With This Quantum Puppet, Gizmodo, October 2020

How LGBT+ Scientists Would Like To Be Included And Welcomed In STEM Workplaces, Nature Careers, October 2020

To Make Fairer AI, Physicists Peer Inside Its Black Box, Wired, September 2020

D-Wave’s New Quantum Computer is Inscrutable and Open For Business, Gizmodo, September 2020

This New Quantum Processor Is Made Of Light, Gizmodo, September 2020

How Quickly Can Atoms Slip, Ghostlike, Through Barriers?, Wired, July 2020

The Equity-Diversity-Inclusion Industrial Complex Gets A Makeover, Wired, July 2020

When Politics And Particles Collide: Q&A with Yangyang Cheng, APS Physics, June 2020

These Bacteria Ate Their Way Through A Really Tricky Maze, Wired, June 2020

This Lab ‘Cooks’ With AI To Make New Materials, Wired, May 2020

Quantum Computing Manual, Protocol, May 2020 (pieces on QC during the Covid-19 Pandemic; Machine Learning in QC; Finance Applications of QC)

Physicists Rise To The Challenge, APS News, May 2020

Physicists Clear The Air With A Sweet Frickin’ Laser, Wired, April 2020

To Beat Covid-19, Scientists Try To “See” The Invisible Enemy, Wired, April 2020

How To Protect A Quantum Computer From Itself, APS News, April 2020

How To See The World’s Reflection From A Bag Of Chips, Wired, March 2020

Two Physicists Bet Over A Quantum Computing Moonshot, Wired, March 2020

Katherine Johnson’s Math Will Steer NASA Back To The Moon, Wired, February 2020

Physicists Take Their Closest Look Yet At An Antimatter Atom, Wired, February 2020

This Cloth Destroys Deadly Nerve Agents, Wired, February 2020

A Tiny Glass Bead Goes As Still As Nature Allows, Wired, January 2020

Alien Light, Photonics Focus, January 2020

How the Extreme Art of Dropping Stuff Could Upend Physics, Wired, January 2020

Painting With Gravity’s Palette, Physics, December 2020

Revolt! Scientists Say They’re Sick of Quantum Computing’s Hype, Wired, December 2019

Scientists Spot An Undersea Fault Using Fiber-Optic Cables, Wired, November 2019

What Makes An Element? The Frankenstein of Sodium Holds Clues, Wired, November 2019

A Scientist’s Tiny Black Hole Brings the Cosmos Into the Lab, Wired, November 2019

The Physics Nobel Goes to the Big Bang And Exoplanets, Wired, October 2019

Paving A Path For AI In Physics Research, Physics, October 2019

Synchronized Swimming Under the Microscope, SPIE Professional, October 2019

Why Google’s Quantum Victory Is A Huge Deal—And A Letdown, Wired, September 2019

Even Huge Molecules Follow the Quantum World’s Bizarre Rules, Wired, September 2019

Sean Carroll Thinks We All Exist On Multiple Worlds, Wired, September 2019

Unusual Fluids Flip, Twirl, and Redefine How Liquids Work, Wired, September 2019

Scientists Watch Atoms Fall To See Earth’s Changing Structure, Wired, September 2019

Physicists Made A Blazing Hot Plasma Doughnut To Study Solar Wind, Wired, July 2019

Why Big Banks Could Soon Jump On The Quantum Bandwagon, Wired, July 2019

Particle Physics On A Tabletop, APS News, July 2019

Sorting Out The Neutron Lifetime, APS News, July 2019

New Analysis Techniques Unearth A Trove of Unusual Minerals, Wired, June 2019

Physicists Hack The Uncertainty Principle To See An Ion Wiggle, Wired, June 2019

What Next For Gravitational Wave Detection?, APS News, June 2019

First Black Hole Image: In A Nutshell, APS News, June 2019

Distant Neutron Stars Could Reveal The Quirks of Quarks, Wired, May 2019

This AI Uses Echolocation To Identify What You’re Doing, Wired, May 2019

Quantum Computing Scientists: Give Them Lemons, They’ll Make Lemonade, APS News, May 2019

These Super Precise Clocks Help Weave Together Space and Time, Wired, May 2019

Scientists Reveal The First Picture Of A Black Hole, Wired, April 2019

Q&A: Bruce Wielicki Thinks The World Needs A Climate Observatory, APS News, April 2019

Physicists Learn To Rewire Biology, APS News, April 2019

Listening With Light, SPIE Professional, April 2019

Scientists Reveal Ancient Networks Using AI—And X-Rays, Wired, March 2019

Quantum Physics Could Protect The Grid From Hackers—Maybe, Wired, March 2019

Get Ready for Gravitational Waves All Day, Every Day, Wired, February 2019

Why A Grape Turns Into A Fireball In the Microwave, Wired, February 2019

Scientists Reconstruct An Object By Photographing Its Shadow, Wired, January 2019

A Levitating Glass Bead Probes The Universe’s Mysteries, Wired, January 2019

Hardwiring the Brain, SPIE Professional, January 2018

Dark Matter Hunters Pivot After Years of Failed Searches, Wired, December 2018

Quantum Computing Needs You To Solve Its Core Mystery, Wired, December 2018

Mercury Pollution Is Way Up. One Huge Culprit? Gold Mines, Wired, November 2018

Kilogram Redefined. The Metric System Overhaul Is Complete, Wired, November 2018

Quantum Physicists Found A New, Safer Way to Navigate, Wired, November 2018

Q&A: Hirofumi Wada and the Physics of the Everyday, APS Physics, October 2018

Physicists Condemn Sexism Through ‘Particles For Justice’, Wired, October 2018

Physicists Win Nobel Prize For Lasers That Stretch, Bend, and Blow Up Molecules, Wired, October 2018

More Than Meets The Eye, SPIE Professional, October 2018

Laser-Carrying Airplanes Uncover Massive, Sprawling Maya Cities, Wired, September 2018

Arrays of Atoms Emerge As Dark Horse Candidate To Power Quantum Computers, Science, September 2018

New Microscope Shows the Quantum World in Crazy Detail, Wired, September 2018

Why Scientists Are Using Frog Eggs To Power Tiny Electronics, Wired, September 2018

Natural Nuclear Reactor Could Inspire Better Ways of Storing Radioactive Waste, Physics World, August 2018

The Case of A Revolutionary (But Imaginary?) Superconductor, Wired, August 2018

Charmed Baryon Puzzles Particle Physicists By Living Longer, Physics World, August 2018

Quantum Computing Will Create Jobs. But Which Ones?, Wired, August 2018

Why You Can’t Trust More Cryptocurrency White Papers, Wired, July 2018

What’s A Blazar? A Galactic Bakery For Cosmic Rays, Wired, July 2018

Bend It Like Bernoulli, APS News, July 2018

Why Are Countries Creating Public Random Number Generators?, Science, June 2018

The Quest To Make Super Cold Quantum Blobs In Space, Wired, June 2018

Machine Learning Reveals Quantum Phases of Matter, Physics World, June 2018

These Physicists Watched A Clock Tick For 14 Years, Wired, June 2018

How Big Is The Proton, Really?, APS News, June 2018

AI Makes Inroads In Physics, APS News, June 2018

Scientists Are Using AI To Painstakingly Assemble Single Atoms, Wired, May 2018

This Random Video Game Powers Quantum Experiments, Wired, May 2018

Hubble Trouble: A Crisis In Cosmology?, APS News, May 2018

Programming A Quantum Computer, APS News, May 2018

Chemists Orchestrate The Molecular Union Of Two Single Atoms, Wired, April 2018

Quantum Mechanics Could Solve Cryptography’s Random Number Problem, Wired, April 2018

Condensed Matter Gets An AI Assist, APS News, April 2018

Q&A With Danielle Bassett: The Physics of Brains, APS News, April 2018

The Hunt for the Elusive Majorana Qubit, APS News, April 2018

Quantum Technologies: Accelerating Toward Commercialization, SPIE Professional, April 2018

X-ray ‘Ghost Images’ Could Cut Radiation Doses, Science, March 2018

The Case of the Missing Dark Matter, Wired, March 2018

Google’s Quantum Computing Party Is As Fancy As Physics Gets, Wired, March 2018

Elusive Higgs-Like State Created In Exotic Materials, Quanta, February 2018

Portable Optical Lattice Clock Measures Elevation, Physics World, February 2018

How To Build A Space Communication System Out of Lasers, Wired, February 2018

These Perfectly Imperfect Diamonds Are Built For Quantum Physics, Wired, February 2018

The Physics of One of the Craziest Big Air Snowboard Tricks Ever, Wired, February 2018

Why This Intercontinental Quantum-Encrypted Video Hangout Is A Big Deal, Wired, January 2018

How Dark Matter Physicists Score Deals On Liquid Xenon, Wired, January 2018

Physics Found Gravitational Waves. Now Come The Existential Questions, Wired, December 2017

New Kepler Exoplanet Discovery Fueled By AI, Wired, December 2017

The AI Company That Helps Boeing Cook New Materials For Jets, Wired, December 2017

Weird Magnets Could Make Computers Run 1000 Times Faster, New Scientist, December 2017

Should We Teach Facial Recognition Technology About Race?, Wired, November 2017

Neutrino Detector Could See Radioactive Potassium Deep Within The Earth, Physics World, November 2017

Now Particle Physics Is Getting In On The Archaeology Game, Wired, November 2017

Neutron Stars Collide, And Astrophysics Feels The Ripple, Wired, October 2017

The Physics Nobel Goes To The Detection of Ripples In Space And Time, Wired, October 2017

Helping Hand Or Hubris?: Debate Over Solar Geoengineering, APS News, October 2017

Archaeologists Don’t Always Need To Dig—They’ve Got Drones, Wired, September 2017

AI Research Is In Desperate Need Of An Ethical Watchdog, Wired, September 2017

The Quest To Perfect The Universal Language Of Science, Wired, August 2017

Why Adding A Drop Of Water Can Make Whisky Taste Even Better, New Scientist, August 2017

Quantum Internet is 13 Years Away. Wait, What’s Quantum Internet?, Wired, August 2017

Physicists Capture The Elusive Neutrino Smacking Into An Atom’s Core, Wired, August 2017

Slow Earthquakes, Physics World feature, July 2017

Physicists Try To Revive A Super-Safe, Decades-Old Cancer Treatment, Wired, July 2017

Type-II Dirac Fermions Spotted In Two Different Materials, Physics World, July 2017

Tiny, Laser-Beaming Satellites Could Communicate With Mars, Wired, July 2017

Protons Are Lighter Than Thought, Which May Solve A Big Puzzle, New Scientist, July 2017

Chinese Satellite Relays A Quantum Signal Between Cities, Wired, June 2017

Mini Particle Accelerators Make Cancer Treatment Safer For Everyone, Wired, June 2017

Physicists Find Another Gravitational Wave To Suggest Einstein Was Right, Wired, June 2017

The Bizarre Quantum Test That Could Keep Your Data Secure, Wired, May 2017

Big Plans Ahead For Quantum Computing, APS News, May 2017

This Drone Once Fought Wars. Now It’s Fighting Climate Change, Wired, May 2017

At The Bottom Of The Sea, Glass Spheres Prepare To Hunt For Mysterious Neutrinos, Wired, April 2017

Rocks of Ages: How Meteorites Reveal The Solar System’s History, New Scientist feature, April 2017

The Search For The Universe’s Missing Antimatter Remains Annoyingly Nebulous, Wired, April 2017

How African-American Women Succeed in Physics, APS News, April 2017

Mining Computer Simulations For New Materials, APS News, April 2017

Scientists Hack A Human Cell And Reprogram It Like A Computer, Wired, March 2017

What If Quantum Computers Made Hard Drives Made of DNA?, Wired, March 2017

Ultrafast Switch With Organic Crystal, Physics Focus, March 2017

How To Use Dark Matter Detectors To Catch A Uranium Thief, Wired, February 2017

Physicists Teach AI To Identify Exotic States of Matter, Wired, February 2017

Physicist Tackles Voynich Manuscript with Statistical Methods, APS News, February 2017

Physicists, Lasers, and an Airplane: Taking Aim At Quantum Cryptography, Wired, February 2017

Squeezed Light Plays A Quantum Drum, Physics World, January 2017

Physicists Can’t Agree On What The Quantum World Looks Like, New Scientist, January 2017

Optical Clock Mimics Spin-Orbit Coupling, Physics World, January 2017

Sonic Lamb Shift Detected In Ultracold Atoms, Physics World, December 2016

New Optical Device Absorbs Just One Photon, Physics World, November 2016

Language Trends Run In Mysterious 14-Year Cycles, New Scientist, November 2016

Quantum Computers Can Talk To Each Other Via A Photon Translator, New Scientist, November 2016

Loops of Ribbon Inspire Physicists, Physics World, November 2016

Q&A With Sabine Hossenfelder: Consultant for Armchair Physicists, APS News, November 2016

Neutron Holograms Image The Interiors Of Objects, Physics World, November 2016

Physicists Break Record For Laser-Electron Interaction, Physics World, October 2016

Frequency Combs Power New Spectrometer-on-a-Chip, Physics World, October 2016

Frequency Comb Traps And Cools Atoms, Physics World, October 2016

Chip Shifts Frequencies Of Photon Qubits, Physics World, September 2016

Giant Two-Atom Molecules Are The Size Of Bacteria, Physics World, August 2016

Single Photon Simultaneously Excites Two Atoms, Physics World, August 2016

3D Display Exploits Twisted Light, Physics World, July 2016

What Do You Do When A Senator Calls Your Research A Waste of Money?, APS News, July 2016

Senate Introduces Research Legislation, APS News, July 2016

Bumblebees Use Their Fuzz To Detect Electric Fields, Physics World, June 2016

Super Sensitive Magnetometer, Physics Focus, May 2016

Ultrafast Light Pulses Drive Quasiparticle Collider, Physics World, May 2016

New Algorithm Puts Time-Scrambled Data Into Chronological Order, Physics World, May 2016

Gardener Q&A with Gary Gholson, Edible Baja Arizona, May/June 2016

China’s Heir to the LHC, APS News, May 2016

Transgender Physicists Face Fresh Challenges, APS News, May 2016

Montana State University Achieves Gender Parity in STEM Hiring, APS News, May 2016

2016 Sakharov Prize: Zafra Lerman, APS News, May 2016

Atoms as Thermometers, Physics Focus, April 2016

Disentangling the World of Science Policy APS News, March 2016.

Gardener Q&A: Raising Earthworms, Edible Baja Arizona, March/April 2016

The Quiet Epidemic of Mental Disorders in Refugees, Wired, February 2016.

Mysterious LHC Photons Have Physicists Searching For Answers, Wired, February 2016.

X-ray Laser Images Nanoclusters on Femtosecond Timescale, Physics World, January 2016

Recipe for New Materials Includes A Good Dash of Statistical Physics, Physics World, January 2016.

Astronomy Allies Team Up To Fight Sexual Harassment, APS News, December 2015

Revealing the Hidden Connection Between Pi And Bohr’s Hydrogen Model, Physics World, November 2015

Strong Interaction Between Antiprotons is Measured for the First Time, Physics World, November 2015

Yeast Can Now Produce (Almost) Anything, Wired, August 2015

Let’s Rate The Dumbest Solutions To California’s Drought, Wired, August 2015

Museums Are Using LEDs to Protect And Prettify Paintings, Wired, August 2015

Nepal’s Quake May Have Primed The Area For Another Big One, Wired, August 2015

Generic GMOs Aren’t Going To Bring Down Monsanto’s Empire, Wired, August 2015

We Finally Know What Graphene Is Good For: Origami, Wired, July 2015

How To Keep A 1,500-Foot Skyscraper From Falling Over, Wired, July 2015

Here Are Some Antidotes To Science’s Old White Guy Problem, Wired, July 2015

Obscure Particle Could Keep Iran Honest On Its Nuclear Deal, Wired, July 2015

Broken Strut Responsible For SpaceX’s Sad Rocket Explosion, Wired, July 2015

Charon Has An Outie In New Horizons’ Latest Closeup, Wired, July 2015

Pentaquarks Have Physicists Psyched—And Baffled, Wired, July 2015

Microbiologists Hold The Secrets To Making Perfect Cheese, Wired, July 2015

Wiring Monkey Brains Together Has A Point, Say Scientists, Wired, July 2015

8-Bit Video Shows The Moon Charon Orbiting Pluto, Wired, July 2015

Chill. Asteroid HM10 Isn’t Going To Destroy Earth, Wired, July 2015

Genetically Modified Animals Will Be On Your Plate In No Time, Wired, July 2015

What Gives the Beach That Smell? Sulfur-Making Algae, Wired, June 2015

Watch SpaceX’s Rocket On the Way to ISS (with Katie M. Palmer), Wired, June 2015

Space Tech Makes Everything Better, Even Wind Farms, Wired, July 2015

Why Harvest Opiates When You Can Get Yeast to Produce Them?, Wired, June 2015

8-Bit Video Shows the Moon Charon Orbiting Pluto, Wired, June 2015

Get Lost in the Internet’s Mind-Bending, Math-Inspired Art, Wired, June 2015

Particle Weirdness Shows that Physics is Right About Being Wrong, Wired, June 2015

Using News Reports to Track Wildlife Black Markets, Wired, June 2015

Now Even Airbus Wants In On the Reusable Rockets Game, Wired, June 2015

The Animals of the Serengeti Get Caught in Surprise Selfies, Wired, June 2015

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