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Jan 6, 2026 57 min

Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling with John Martinis

from StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson Hosted by John Martinis, Chuck Nice, Neil deGrasse Tyson

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. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/macroscopic-quantum-tunneling-with-john-martinis/ Thanks to our Patrons Fran Rew, Shawn Martin, Kyland Holmes, Samantha McCarroll-Hyne, camille wilson, Bryan, Sammi, Denis Alberti, Csharp111, stephanie woods, Mark Claassen, Joan Tarshis, Abby Powell, Zachary Koelling, JWC, Reese, Fran Ochoa, Bert Berrevoets, Barely A Float Farm, Vasant Shankarling, Michael Rodriguez, DiDTim, Ian Cochrane, Brendan, William Heissenberg Ⅲ, Carl Poole, Ryan McGee, Sean Fullard, Our Story Series, dennis van halderen, Ann Svenson, mi ti, Lawrence Cottone, 123, Patrick Avelino, Daniel Arvay, Bert ten Kate, Kristian Rahbek, Robert Wade, Raul Contreras, Thomas Pring, John, S S, SKiTz0721, Joey, Merhawi Gherezghier, Curtis Lee Zeitelhack, Linda Morris, Samantha Conte, Troy Nethery, Russ Hill, Kathy Woida, Milimber, Nathan Craver, Taylor Anderson, Deland Steedman, Emily Lennox, Daniel Lopez, ., DanPeth, Gary, Tony Springer, Kathryn Rhind, jMartin, Isabella Troy Brazoban, Kevin Hobstetter, Linda Pepper, 1701cara, Isaac H, Jonathan Morton, JP, טל אחיטוב Tal Achituv, J. Andrew Medina, Erin Wasser, Evelina Airapetova, Salim Taleb, Logan Sinnett, Catherine Omeara, Andrew Shaw, Lee Senseman, Peter Mattingly, Nick Nordberg, Sam Giffin, LOWERCASEGUY, JoricGaming, Jeffrey Botkin, Ronald Hutchison, and suzie2shoez for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

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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.

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Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling with John Martinis

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This episode is 57 minutes long.

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This episode was published on January 6, 2026.

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