ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Why do kids understand quantum concepts faster than adults? Nobel Prize winner John Martinis (2025 Nobel Prize in Physics) and Elisa Torres Durney (founder of Girls in Quantum) join Kai to find out, and to challenge how physics gets taught in the first place.
In this episode, we explore why children have a natural advantage with non-intuitive ideas like superposition and entanglement, before anyone's told them physics is supposed to be hard. John shares real advice for parents on how to nurture scientific curiosity through building, playing and asking better questions, not more advanced ones.
Chapters:
0:00 Meet John Martinis and Elisa Torres Durney
2:15 John Martinis on curiosity and building things as a kid
6:31 Elisa Torres Durney's path into quantum research
9:10 Why the "adult" way of teaching physics is failing
14:45 What is quantum chess? (and how it's different from the real thing)
18:30 Preview: Kai's quantum chess battle with Tamás Varga
23:33 Advice for raising the next generation of scientists
In an upcoming episode: Kai takes on Tamás Varga, the creator of a quantum chess game called Niel's Chess, to see how quantum rules actually govern the board.
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