Alexandra de Castro
I tell science stories in English and Spanish. The same passion for science that once drove me to obtain a Ph.D. in physics, and work as a research scientist for fifteen years, inspired me to steer my career towards the popularization of science. Since 2014, I have been writing, editing, and managing outreach projects for several organizations. In 2021, I joined United Academics Magazine as Editor-in-chief. My favorite topics are theoretical physics, particle physics, climate change, astronomy, and space exploration.
Quantum Algorithm Tested on a Commercial Quantum Device Can Help Discover Drugs
PASQAL has successfully implemented for the first time an algorithm on a commercial neutral atoms quantum device to tackle a critical molecular biology problem...
Simulating phases of matter in magnetic materials with qubits
Investigating the collective behavior of atoms or molecules leading to phases of matter is crucial to understand phenomena such as magnetization, superfluidity, and superconductivity....
Predicting toxicity with qubits
In our daily lives, we are exposed to a myriad of chemicals in the environment and goods, such as food, toiletry products, and plastic...
European Jupiter ICy Moons Explorer: Our Next Adventure to Jupiter and Its Habitable Supermoons
Imagine extraterrestrial micro monsters swimming, growing, and reproducing in an immense ocean of liquid water, trapped under an ice crust. This may sound like...
James Webb’s Deep Field, A Colorful Time Tunnel
In the beginning—about 400,000 years after the Big Bang— darkness was upon the face of the deep. The light was trapped inside the neutral...
Empowering Atoms to Understand Themselves
To understand processes essential for life, such as molecular recognition, gene transcription and translation, and DNA repair, quantum mechanics is unavoidable. That is also...
Betelgeuse’s Great Dimming Explained Using Weather Satellite as Space Telescope
Whenever we take a moment to gaze at the stars, we recognize Orion quickly. Most of the stars shaping the Greek hunter's constellation shine...
Quantum Mechanics Might Be Responsible for Mutations
In living beings, the information to build proteins, and therefore tissue and organs is coded in a sequence of molecules —nicknamed with the letters...
Astronomy May Have Influenced Ancient Human Species and Gave Rise to the Homo Sapiens
Early humans appeared in Africa about three million years ago. During the Pleistocene Era (from 2.6 million to 11 thousand years ago), major changes...
Europe Will Power the Flight of the Next Man and First Woman to the...
The dark, silver desert longs for the pressure of our feet again. The Artemis program aims for this next big step for humanity, not...