Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling with John Martinis

StarTalk Radio

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4.6 • 14.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Can quantum tunneling occur at macroscopic scales? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice sit down with John Martinis, UCSB physicist and 2025 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, to explore superconductivity, quantum tunnelling, and what this means for the future of quantum computing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Chuck, we bagged another Nobel laureate.
0:02.6	Yes, we're keeping them tied up in the closet.
0:06.8	2025 Nobel Prize in physics to macroscopic quantum tunneling.
0:12.2	Yeah, man.
0:12.9	Coming up on StarTalk.
0:16.4	Welcome to StarTalk.
0:19.1	Your place in the universe where science and pop culture collide.
0:24.8	StarTalk begins right now.
0:30.2	This is StarTalk.
0:32.3	Neil deGrasse, and you're a personal astrophysicist.
0:35.4	I got with me, Chuck Knight, Chuck, baby.
0:36.7	Hey, Neil! Yeah, how you doing, man? I am doing great. I'micist. I got with me, Chuck Knight, Chuck, baby. Hey, Neil!
0:37.9	Yeah, how you doing, man? I am doing great. I'm feeling good. We got a good show. We got a good show. You know what everyone was curious about? announced just a couple of months ago. Right. The 2025 Nobel Prize in physics. Yes. And I can't believe that I didn't get it.
0:57.9	No one knows more about fixes than I do.
1:03.1	As a matter of fact, my brain is a quantum computer itself.
1:06.8	My nickname in the White House is Cupid.
1:08.7	That's what they call me.
1:09.9	I walk in.
1:12.5	Hey, Cupid, figure this out for me.
1:19.2	Well, I was kind of surprised as you are.
1:23.3	We've got on the horn,
1:45.1	Professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, John Martinez. Did I pronounce your last name correctly, sir? Yeah, that's correct. All right. John Martinez, Professor of Physics, UC Santa Barbara. I've been to Santa Barbara once. That is not a real town. It's a fake town. It's a movie set. It does look like a movie set. It's like there was no garbage in the street.
	...

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