Somewhere under the pile of press releases, sci-fi-looking graphics and announcements full of scientific jargon, quantum became a persistent object of great curiosity in the Times Free Press newsroom.
Every few weeks, it seemed, we would get word of a new development involving quantum technology: EPB’s plans to become the first commercial quantum network, and then to buy a $22 million quantum computer and partner on a hub with Vanderbilt University; a quantum network node at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; notices about students being taught quantum computing at Tyner Academy.
“Wait,” we would say. “Kids know what quantum is? Can they teach me?”
It’s clear Chattanooga is betting big on quantum. And it’s clear that many people still have no idea what that means.
As journalists, it’s not generally our job to be experts on everything we report on (and you probably wouldn’t want to read our work if we wrote like the typical quantum scientist). It’s our job to learn from experts, ask the questions that “normal” people would have and deliver that information in a way that’s easy to understand and explains why this might matter to the average Chattanoogan.