Conversations at the Perimeter

Theoretical physicist, philosopher, and international bestselling author Carlo Rovelli joins Lauren and Colin for a conversation about the quest for quantum gravity, the importance of unlearning outdated ideas, and a very unique way to get out of a speeding ticket. Rovelli is a Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at Perimeter Institute. He is also the author of seven popular science books, including The Order of Time, Reality is Not What it Seems, and the breakout bestseller Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Estelle Inack is a research scientist at Perimeter Institute, working at the intersection of quantum matter and artificial intelligence as a member of the Perimeter Institute Quantum Intelligence Lab (PIQuIL). She is also the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of yiyaniQ, a quantum intelligence startup. Her research aims to develop quantum-inspired algorithms to tackle real-world optimization problems using state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. Originally from Cameroon, Inack tells Lauren and Colin about her childhood fascination with naval architecture, and the path she took to pursue a career at the forefront of quantum technology. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Dustin Lang is a computational scientist at Perimeter Institute who develops techniques for finding needles in the cosmic haystack. He works on several large sky survey projects, tackling the statistical data analysis required to discern meaningful insights from huge datasets gathered by telescopes. In this conversation with Lauren and Colin, he shares his experiences mapping galaxies with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), and hunting for mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs) with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME). He explains how he and his colleagues employ software solutions to expand capabilities of hardware telescopes, the challenges he has encountered in radio versus optical astronomy, and the important role of chicken wire at CHIME. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Nicole Yunger Halpern reenvisions 19th-century thermodynamics for the 21st century, using the mathematical toolkit of quantum information theory. She is a fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS), a theoretical physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland. She is also the author of Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday’s Tomorrow, a book that blends the topic of quantum thermodynamics with the steampunk genre of art and literature, juxtaposing a Victorian aesthetic with futuristic technologies. She tells co-hosts Lauren and Colin about the inspirations behind her work – scientific and artistic – and explains how fundamental ideas in quantum information theory are reshaping science and technology. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Raymond Laflamme was the founding director of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, a position he held for 16 years, and he has been an associate faculty member at Perimeter Institute for more than two decades. He is known as one of the world’s leading experts on quantum information science, and was recently appointed as the chair of the Expert Panel on Quantum Technologies assembled by the Council of Canadian Academies. In this conversation with Lauren and Colin, Laflamme explains the incredible potential power of quantum technologies, and what drew him back to his native Canada to pursue research in the field. He shares how his life and career were influenced by his famous PhD supervisor, Stephen Hawking, and how his insatiable curiosity kept him motivated during his recent battle with lung cancer. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate