Stanford physics professor Zhang Shoucheng, a potential Nobel laureate, was among the first casualties of the U.S.-China trade war. But when the world loses a brilliant scientist, who really wins?
Eight months before he killed himself, Zhang Shoucheng was giving a presentation about quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain encryption to a room full of Google employees. Dressed in a navy blue blazer, the theoretical physicist and Stanford University professor was engaging and confident as he used the Dan Brown novel Angels and Demons to help explain Paul Dirac’s 1928 theory of antimatter.
Zhang was known for scientific theories and discoveries that could revolutionize computer technology, and he drew inspiration from Dirac’s story.
“At the time,” Zhang said of Dirac’s theory, “no one believed him, but do you know what he said? He said, ‘My equation is so beautiful, you guys simply just go look for it.’”
Evidence of antimatter was discovered five years later in cosmic-ray radiation, making Dirac’s equation, Zhang told the audience, “one of the greatest predictions of all humanity — that something conceived of be
With its recent high-profile Mars mission, China showed the world just how far its ambitious space program has come. Now, with growing U.S. concerns about the potential adversary ‘catching up,’ defense analysts are warning it’s not so much a race as it is a chess match. And, when it comes to space, China is playing to win.
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