Your Guide Through the Quantum World

Jorge Cham, aka, PHD Comics, in collaboration with Physics Magazine, has designed the official mascot for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

Quantum science is a hard nut to crack—even for the brightest physicists. But 2025 might offer a pivotal moment for raising public awareness of the field and its technological implications. The United Nations’ declaration of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) is sparking a burst of outreach activities, with 100 events (and counting) planned globally. The year was officially kicked off on February 4–5 at an inauguration ceremony held at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris (see Research News: Curtain Rises on the Year of Quantum).

At the ceremony, UNESCO unveiled its IYQ mascot, Quinnie, created by Jorge Cham, aka, PHD Comics, in collaboration with us at Physics Magazine. The mascot was developed during brainstorming sessions for a series of animated cartoons, which we will release throughout the year [1]. Harnessing Cham’s ability to explain the most complex scientific concepts through cartoons, we hope to communicate to the broadest possible audience what we know and, perhaps more importantly, what we don’t know about quantum science.

To us, Quinnie represents a young generation approaching quantum science with passion, ingenuity, and energy. We imagine her effortlessly surfing on quantum-mechanical wave functions and playfully engaging with the knottiest quantum ideas, from entanglement to duality. According to a worn-out quote by Richard Feynman: “If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics.” Much progress has been made since his statement, but we hope that Quinnie will help this young generation have fun in trying to make it fully obsolete.

Matteo Rini is the Editor of Physics Magazine.

References

1. The production of the animated cartoon series is supported by an AIP Venture Grant Program jointly awarded to the American Physical Society, Optica, and the American Association of Physics Teachers.

This piece was published on Physics.aps.org

Featured image: Quinnie and her dual sister, by Jorge Cham.