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Thomas Bourke

@thomasbourke1.bsky.social
244 followers 617 following 21 posts

Physics PhD student at Cambridge academic page: thomasbourke1.github.io non-academic: thomtalks.substack.com Semiconductor Physics | Quantum Optics

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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Thought I'd share this wonderful new video from @projectsinflight.com !!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4my...
youtube.com
Converting My SEM Into a TEM is Surprisingly Easy
YouTube video by ProjectsInFlight
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Say hi if you spot me at #QuantumShowcase25 today in London!
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Lastly, consider watching some of his films this week. My favorites include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, Three Days of the Condor, The Sting, Jeremiah Johnson, and All Is Lost. Rest in peace to a man who has given us much.
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Great piece in the WSJ
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Ners, France ☀️ Enjoying some poolside reading despite the current heatwave.
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María Gragera Garcés @grageragarces.github.io · 23/06/2025
go.bsky.app/75SvR2M - Who am I missing? ~got bored this afternoon, do forgive me. But on a serious note would love to know who I haven't discovered on here yet (or mistakenly omitted due to the sheer amount of people)
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
He's right. "Nothing short of devastating" By @holdenthorp.bsky.social @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Grant Sanderson's new video is a beautiful animation that I wish existed when I first heard about Grover's algorithm!
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon
Title:
SOME GRAMMATICAL VOICES FOR USE IN SCIENTIFIC WRITING

ACTIVE VOICE
e.g.
Our team collected samples and then we tested them.

CLICKBAIT VOICE
e.g.
We collected some samples...
You won't believe what happened next!

PASSIVE VOICE
e.g.
Samples were collected and tested.

HAIKU VOICE
e.g.
Quiet science lab.
Workers arrive with samples.
The testing begins.

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE VOICE
e.g. We did all the collecting and testing.
No need to thank us.
Just doing our job.

CONSPIRACY VOICE
e.g.
Mysterious "Samples" were harvested and covertly "tested" by so-called scientists.
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
>250km quantum key distribution! wow spectrum.ieee.org/quantum-key-...
spectrum.ieee.org
Quantum Messages Cover City Distances Via Telco Lines
Toshiba sent QKD keys more than 250 kilometers
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University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · 15/04/2025
'What’s the problem? Well, pretty much everything. These aren’t species returned from extinction.' @oxfordgeography.bsky.social's Dr Richard Grenyer argues that extinction is, for the time being, a symptom of our global economic system ⬇️
theconversation.com
Why ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves are a Trojan horse to hide humanity’s destruction of nature
Extinction is, for the time being, forever – and a symptom of our global economic system.
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
welp guess I gotta check this out
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Lmao
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Fantastic post for understanding the technology readiness level (TRL) of quantum computing www.oezratty.net/wordpress/20...
oezratty.net
Sorting out the confusion on quantum computing utility
Understanding quantum computing's pace of progress is not an easy task. Recent months have complicated it with contradictory messages. CEOs like Jensen Huang (Nvidia) and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) estima...
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WIRED @wired.com · 27/03/2025
Modern science wouldn’t exist without the online research repository known as arXiv. Three decades in, its creator still can’t let it go.
wrd.cm
Inside arXiv—the Most Transformative Platform in All of Science
Modern science wouldn’t exist without the online research repository known as arXiv. Three decades in, its creator still can’t let it go.
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Sunday afternoons ☀️
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Visiting the Cavendish Laboratory ✨
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
a very important thread
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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 17/03/2025
It’s been difficult to find important questions that quantum computers can answer faster than classical machines, but a new algorithm appears to do it for some critical optimization tasks. @stephenornes.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-spee...
quantamagazine.org
Quantum Speedup Found for Huge Class of Hard Problems | Quanta Magazine
It’s been difficult to find important questions that quantum computers can answer faster than classical machines, but a new algorithm appears to do it for some critical optimization tasks.
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East London Kingfishers @londonkingfishers.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Spring growth Male kingfisher down on Hackney Marshes this morning sat amongst new leaves in the warm sunshine. I think he has a partner as he was interacting with a female just before this. #LondonBirds #kingfisher #kingfisher #hackney #riverlea #ukbirds #birds #hackneymarshes
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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 13/03/2025
The physicists David Pérez-García (left) and Toby Cubitt designed a quantum material whose behavior can capture any calculation possible for a Turing machine. “It started as a joke. Then we started to cook up ideas,” Pérez-García said. buff.ly/SKLsRk0
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
New post just out Ten books to help understand the world we're now in. Five recommendations on the US/Trump/Musk and five on Europe and the rest of the world. (This one is free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
open.substack.com
Ten books to understand the world we're now in
Trump’s second term is on track to be more damaging than his first.
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 26/02/2025
RNA xkcd.com/3056
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Frosty canal walk
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Nature @nature.com · 22/01/2025
Nature research paper: Superconductivity in 5.0° twisted bilayer WSe2 go.nature.com/3PLNLGx
go.nature.com
Superconductivity in 5.0° twisted bilayer WSe2 - Nature
We report superconductivity, in a limited region of displacement field and density, in 5.0° twisted bilayer WSe2 with a maximum critical temperature of 426 mK, establishing that moiré flat-band superconductivity extends beyond graphene structures.
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/\__/\__/\__/ @cardiograms.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
David Lynch smirking in an interview

-Believe it or not, Eraserhead is my most spiritual film.
-Elaborate on that.
-No.
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lukelukeluke @lukelukeluke.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
Here is a nice mushroom
A single 1” tall splitgill mushroom grows off the end of a broken branch, upturned so it’s underside can be viewed against a brown forest background 

All photos by me
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 21/12/2024
Exclusion Principle xkcd.com/3027
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Roger Kristiansen @rogerkristiansen.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
One of my favourites from my Cessna flight over the river deltas in Iceland back in June. #iceland #aerialphotography #nature #fujifilm
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Physics World @physicsworld.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
What were the most important developments in physics this year? Here are our selections: physicsworld.com/a/top-10-bre... 🧪⚛️🔭 #quantum
physicsworld.com
Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year in physics for 2024 revealed – Physics World
Work on entangled imaging, recoiling nuclei and transparent mice are on our shortlist
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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 25/11/2024
Distributed computing isn’t just a huge boost to computational efficiency. It also bolsters some of the cryptographic systems that keep our information safe. www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-dist...
quantamagazine.org
What Is Distributed Computing? | Quanta Magazine
Our computers can get a lot more done when they share the load with other machines.
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
yippee #balatro
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Davide De Biasio @davidedebiasio.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Scientists, when do we start lobbying for #Bluesky to implement native LaTeX support? #science #physics #mathematics 🧪⚛️
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Thomas Bourke @thomasbourke1.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
golden hour
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