Prineha Narang is one of the rising stars of science and the field of quantum technology.
She earned her PhD in applied physics at Caltech, taught materials science at Harvard and now has her own lab at UCLA. The lab focuses on quantum materials, non-equilibrium dynamics, photonics, quantum information science and other easily digestible areas. Beyond her academic career, Narang is a science advisor to the government and a venture capitalist at DCVC.
As you might imagine, we get into quantum computing and quantum technology in this episode. Quantum vs. AI, the US vs. China, when quantum tech will break encryption, quantum sensing and whether or not quantum technology actually has a bright future. The quantum sensing portion of the chat was all new to me and rather astonishing.
Since Narang is also a competitive runner and mountaineer, we provide some top tips on gear because that is just the kind of all-purpose podcast that we deliver.
And, if you can’t get enough quantum computing, come check out our video episode on PsiQuantum building the largest quantum machine in history.
Enjoy!
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Timestamps (they link out to YouTube)
00:00 Intro
02:17 The Physicist Who Almost Became a Pro Runner
13:39 A Cold Email, a Full Ride, and the Road to Caltech
26:15 How Video Game Chips Quietly Took Over Science
31:56 Is Quantum Losing the Spotlight to AI?
40:50 "I Still Don't Believe in Quantum": Answering the Skeptics
46:28 The Google Result That Could Break Encryption
53:44 Is It Time to Panic About Q-Day?
1:06:48 Quantum Sensing and the Case of Who Sneezed
1:17:30 Does Consciousness Run on Quantum Rules?
1:22:28 The Advice She Gives Terrified Students
1:30:20 So When Does Quantum Actually Get Real?
