Jun 23, 2014
Spiros Michalakis is a quantum physicist at the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at Caltech. Drop the mic... I mean…really…Spiros is a quantum physicist at the number 1 program for quantum physics in the US…and probably the world. But Spiros is not your typical quantum physicist. He’s the most approachable, down-to-earth and fundamentally accessible quantum physicist you are ever likely to hear speak. In the opinion of this episode write-up writer, Spiros is a superstar waiting for a place to happen. We can’t comment on his research though it sounds pretty amazing. (In this episode, he explains to us that there may be no such thing as time. Whaaaat?!?) We can say without doubt that he has an amazing willingness to communicate quantum physics to people who don’t know much about it (us) with patience. Seriously, Spiros is the Carl Sagan of Quantum Physics. In this episode, Spiros talks to us about how work on the Theory of Everything is going, what it means and what the consequences of such a theory for the world would be. Then, we run out of time because apparently you can’t quite fit the Theory of Everything into one one-hour podcast. We’re pretty sure we can do it in two which is why we’ll be bringing Spiros back on the show. Bryan has often said that on The Bryan Callen Show you will learn “everything.” We may finally make good on that. Well, maybe not. The Theory of Everything, people, will probably not be revealed on The Bryan Callen Show, but you might get a glimpse of what it would look like and how we’d get there from the best damn tour guide to the quantum world there is. You can follow Spiros at @quantum_spiros. The Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at Caltech has a blog with more on their work: quantumfrontiers.com. The institute’s website is iqim.caltech.edu. Spiros hasn’t written a book yet. We think he should. Tweet him to that effect.