back

 

Karla's first appearance was not in a Photonics Friday comic but in the TOPTICA Christmas Card of 2021.
Karla's first appearance was not in a Photonics Friday comic but in the TOPTICA Christmas Card of 2021.
Karla wants to know where the lasers come from. Her mum shows her the TOPTICA production rooms.
Karla wants to know where the lasers come from. Her mum shows her the TOPTICA production rooms.

Karla Clever

The little girl with a great future

Karla Clever is nine years old and the child of the Swiss physicist Dr. Quintessa Clever and the Irish restorer Pat Enar. The family lives in the German city of Göttingen, where Karla was born.

Karla was infected with an enthusiasm for the natural sciences by her mother. She loves doing physics experiments and wants to build her own quantum computer. As she soon ran out of space in her room for this project, she set up a laboratory in her tree house. The installation of a suitable air flow system is currently still causing some difficulties, which is why she wanted a 3D printer for Christmas to create suitable components. Her first project to familiarize herself with this technology was a 3D print of the Save icon.

She wants to have her first paper published by her eleventh birthday at the latest. Her regular annoyance about the late school bus provided a suitable topic. Working title: “An 8 qubit solution for the travelling school bus problem.”

Karla's favourite thought experiment is the Quantum Zeno Effect. She once set up an experiment with her dad's old camcorder, trying to “freeze” her snack in place by observing it. While the snack unfortunately didn't stay fresh forever, Karla is convinced she's on the verge of cracking the code to quantum immortality ... for pizza slices, at least.

When she's not experimenting in her treehouse lab, she likes to spend time in her father's studio, from whom she has inherited some artistic talent. There she has her own little easel where she likes to paint portraits of great scientists such as Marie Curie and Albert Einstein. Her dream is to have her own exhibition with the title “Physicists in Pastels: Soft Lines, Hard Science.”

She is the administrator of an online community for cryptography under the name “SuperpositionGirl”. Here she loves to discuss the Voynich manuscript and is determined to decipher it in the near future with her self-built quantum computer.

If she succeeds, we'll be sure to find out in an issue of Photonics Friday!

At school, Karla joined the group "The Young Physicists". She won first prize in a science competition with her project.
At school, Karla joined the group "The Young Physicists". She won first prize in a science competition with her project.
Many children want a cat for Christmas. So does Karla.
Many children want a cat for Christmas. So does Karla.
In addition to her enthusiasm for physics, Karla also showed an artistic talent very early on. She knows how to combine art and science in a unique way.
In addition to her enthusiasm for physics, Karla also showed an artistic talent very early on. She knows how to combine art and science in a unique way.
Karla loves classic science fiction. So she was a little disappointed to discover that she only found an old gas laser in the attic and not a prop from the classic film ‘Forbidden Planet’.
Karla loves classic science fiction. So she was a little disappointed to discover that she only found an old gas laser in the attic and not a prop from the classic film ‘Forbidden Planet’.