The Quantum Kid

Tesseract Quantum
  • 3.0 (2)
  • Physics
  • Updated Monthly

Big questions about quantum, answered by the people building it. Kai and his mom, physicist and former WIRED editor Katia Moskvitch, talk to Nobel laureates, top scientists and tech leaders, and go inside labs from CERN to ETH Zurich, to find out how quantum computing, fusion, space science and AI are shaping tomorrow's world. If Kai gets it, so will you. Guests include John Martinis, Steven Chu, Peter Shor, John Preskill and Scott Aaronson. Made by Tesseract Quantum.

  1. 5d ago

    This Roblox game uses quantum computing?! (Gamescom reveal) Kai plays quantum chess too

    This game was shown live at Gamescom, where it got serious attention, so we had to find out what it's actually doing with quantum computing. Can a video game really run on quantum mechanics? Kai finds out, then sits down for a real game of quantum chess, where winning means putting his own king into superposition. Chapters:0:00 What is a quantum game?0:17 Can a quantum computer make a game?0:34 Quantum chess: a pawn in superposition0:52 Meet James Wootton (CSO, MOTH Quantum) and Natasha Skult (CEO, MiTale)1:52 Kai plays MOTH in real time2:50 Quantum computers for level generation3:11 Quantum music3:56 Should players care about quantum technology?4:53 MOTH at Gamescom5:15 Quantum chess with Tamás Varga6:49 Can I build my own quantum game?7:23 Quantum backrooms11:13 Quantum computer as a booster11:58 The future of quantum gaming12:09 Clay: The Last Redemption13:23 Quantum computing and procedural generation13:58 I lost my MOTH14:03 Thank you, James and Natasha! In this episode, Kai explores a Roblox-style quantum game (rescuing a moth using quantum mechanics!), then learns to play quantum chess with Tamás Varga, discovering what superposition and entanglement actually mean by using them to win. Along the way, we dive into: How a video game can be built around real quantum mechanicsWhat superposition actually means, explained through a chessboard, not a textbookWhat entanglement means and how it shows up in the gameWhy quantum ideas are showing up in gaming and entertainment, not just labsKai's honest reaction to putting a chess piece in two places at once!💬 Leave a comment here on Spotify. Kai reads them all! 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes▶️ Watch more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    This Roblox game uses quantum computing?! (Gamescom reveal) Kai plays quantum chess too

  2. 5d ago

    Can quantum computers really break the encryption protecting your data?

    Can quantum computers really break the encryption protecting your data? Kai sits down with Rebecca Krauthamer, CEO of QuSecure, to find out, recorded live in Geneva at the AI for Good Summit. Plus, great questions from the UN diplomatic corps in the audience! Chapters:0:00 Rebecca Krauthamer, CEO of QuSecure0:45 What is encryption?1:30 Do quantum computers threaten Roblox, banking and email?2:00 How quantum computers work, really, and what Peter Shor discovered in the 1990s3:06 Preparing hospitals and banks for the future3:54 Why quantum computers could break today's encryption5:25 Steps you can take right now to protect yourself6:45 Why we need quantum safety8:18 Kai's take on quantum computing The Quantum Kid is a show where 10-year-old Kai asks the world's top scientists and tech leaders to explain quantum computing to him, and if he gets it, so will everyone else. 💬 Leave a comment here on Spotify. Kai reads them all! 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes▶️ Watch more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    Can quantum computers really break the encryption protecting your data?

  3. 5d ago

    Particle Fever director: can art explain quantum physics better than equations?

    Can quantum be explained through art instead of equations? Award-winning filmmaker Mark Levinson (Particle Fever, The Universe in a Grain of Sand) joins Roger Highfield from the Science Museum Group to answer Kai's biggest questions! Chapters: 0:00 Meet Mark Levinson and Roger Highfield 1:09 Why quantum physics is so hard to explain 2:28 Can film make invisible physics visible? 3:42 Inside "The Universe in a Grain of Sand" 5:23 How museums make quantum ideas click 7:41 Kai's own take on superposition and entanglement 10:20 Why quantum ideas give even scientists a headache 12:22 Why CERN and museums are teaming up 14:05 What quantum education looks like next For the past year, The Quantum Kid has explored quantum technologies through the eyes of Kai, a curious young co-host who started this journey at age nine. In this special anniversary episode, Kai has officially turned 10! To celebrate, we are joined by two exceptional science storytellers: Mark Levinson, physicist and director of the acclaimed films Particle Fever and The Universe in a Grain of SandRoger Highfield, Director of Science at the Science Museum Group, UKTogether, they explore one of the biggest challenges in science: how do you explain quantum ideas to the next generation? The conversation ranges from CERN and Particle Fever to Mark's latest film, The Universe in a Grain of Sand, which uses art, experimental cinema and stunning visuals to make some of the strangest ideas in physics more accessible. Along the way, Kai shares his own interpretations of superposition and entanglement, leading to a fascinating discussion about whether children may sometimes be better prepared for quantum thinking than adults. This episode celebrates one year of The Quantum Kid and Kai's journey from age nine to ten, proving that some of the biggest questions in science can start with a child's curiosity. The Quantum Kid is a show where 10-year-old Kai asks the world's top scientists and tech leaders to explain quantum computing to him, and if he gets it, so will everyone else. 💬 Leave a comment here on Spotify. Kai reads them all! 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes ▶️ Watch more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid 🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    Particle Fever director: can art explain quantum physics better than equations?

  4. 5d ago

    How do you build a quantum computing startup?

    In this episode of The Quantum Kid, Kai visits a real quantum computing startup, ZuriQ, at ETH Zurich to find out what it takes to build a company in one of the world's most advanced technologies. How do quantum startups begin? Who provides the funding? What makes a good founder? And what happens if your company fails? Kai speaks with: David DiVincenzo, pioneer of quantum computing and creator of the DiVincenzo criteriaAlexandra Beckstein, CEO of QAI Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in quantum technologiesExplore a quantum lab with Kai to learn how atoms can become qubits, and why building a startup requires much more than just a great idea! Chapters:0:00 Introduction to startups0:28 Inside a quantum laboratory3:01 Challenges of a quantum CEO4:37 Expert advice on startups7:05 Technical and design criteria9:01 Market applications11:56 Founding and funding advice16:14 The reality of failure The Quantum Kid is a show where 10-year-old Kai asks the world's top scientists and tech leaders to explain quantum computing to him, and if he gets it, so will everyone else. 💬 Leave a comment here on Spotify. Kai reads them all! 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes▶️ Watch more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    How do you build a quantum computing startup?

  5. 5d ago

    Why do kids learn quantum faster than adults? John Martinis explains

    Why do kids understand quantum concepts faster than adults? Nobel Prize winner John Martinis (2025 Nobel Prize in Physics) and Elisa Torres Durney (founder of Girls in Quantum) join Kai to find out, and to challenge how physics gets taught in the first place. In this episode, we explore why children have a natural advantage with non-intuitive ideas like superposition and entanglement, before anyone's told them physics is supposed to be hard. John shares real advice for parents on how to nurture scientific curiosity through building, playing and asking better questions, not more advanced ones. Chapters: 0:00 Meet John Martinis and Elisa Torres Durney 2:15 John Martinis on curiosity and building things as a kid 6:31 Elisa Torres Durney's path into quantum research 9:10 Why the "adult" way of teaching physics is failing 14:45 What is quantum chess? (and how it's different from the real thing) 18:30 Preview: Kai's quantum chess battle with Tamás Varga 23:33 Advice for raising the next generation of scientists In an upcoming episode: Kai takes on Tamás Varga, the creator of a quantum chess game called Niel's Chess, to see how quantum rules actually govern the board. 💬 Leave a comment here on Spotify. Kai reads them all! 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes ▶️ Watch more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid 🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    Why do kids learn quantum faster than adults? John Martinis explains

  6. 5d ago

    Can quantum computing help unlock fusion energy on Earth?

    Why can't we simulate the Sun, and could quantum computers help us build a star on Earth? Watch Kai visit a tokamak to find out. First, though, he heads to the Atacama Desert in Chile, where, among cacti and llamas, two remarkable observatories explore the wonders of the universe. Starting at Paranal and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Kai ponders how stars shine through nuclear fusion. That question takes him all the way to Japan, to the largest operational fusion reactor in the world, the JT-60SA tokamak, to see how scientists are trying to achieve fusion energy right here on Earth. Back in the studio, MIT physicist Peter Fisher explains why fusion is so difficult, especially when it comes to simulating plasma, where vast numbers of particles interact at extreme speeds. Today's classical computers struggle with this complexity, and that's exactly where quantum computing comes in. Quantum systems could simulate plasma in fundamentally new ways, helping scientists better understand and control fusion reactions. Researchers are already exploring this connection, combining quantum simulations with traditional methods. Chapters:0:00 Why can't we simulate the Sun?0:49 Seeing the invisible: inside Chile's observatories2:32 Inside a real fusion reactor in Japan8:53 How quantum computing could crack fusion17:24 What comes next for fusion energy 💬 Leave a comment here on Spotify. Kai reads them all! 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes▶️ Watch more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    Can quantum computing help unlock fusion energy on Earth?

  7. 5d ago

    Inside CERN: is quantum computing the answer to the next LHC upgrade?

    Kai visited CERN just before the Large Hadron Collider shut down for one of the biggest upgrades in its history. The High-Luminosity LHC will dramatically increase collision density: stronger magnets (up to around 12 tesla), far more particle interactions, and an explosion in data that will push computing infrastructure to its limits. So 9-year-old Kai went to CERN to ask a direct question: if nature is quantum, and the data is growing beyond anything we've handled before, could quantum computers help? Inside CMS, 100 metres underground, protons collide every 25 nanoseconds. Millions of detector channels record events at microscopic precision. Physicists simulate quantum field theory on classical machines, and know exactly where approximations start to strain. Chapters:0:00 Introduction to CERN0:21 Particle collision process1:34 Quantum computing role3:35 Inside the CMS experiment5:55 Simulation challenges8:21 Data analysis in control room10:01 Future computing efforts12:05 Global data distribution13:26 Magnet testing and upgrade This episode covers serious scientific questions emerging from the next phase of high-energy physics. Follow the show to catch future episodes, and watch the previous ones! Oh, and leave a comment here on Spotify. Kai is looking forward to each and every one! 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes▶️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    Inside CERN: is quantum computing the answer to the next LHC upgrade?

  8. 5d ago

    A kid 3D-printed a human ear — then found out how quantum computers discover new drugs

    Would you like to print a new ear? How about a new heart? In this episode of The Quantum Kid, 9-year-old Kai goes somewhere very few kids ever get to go: a real bioprinting lab at ETH Zurich. With the help of a researcher, Kai 3D-prints a mini human ear 🦻 made from living cells, and learns how scientists use printed tissue to study the body and test new medicines. Back in the studio, Kai has a fascinating discussion about another big "wow" in science: the use of quantum computing for drug discovery. He chats with two quantum experts: Pedram Roushan, quantum physicist at Google Quantum AISabrina Maniscalco, Professor of Quantum Information Science and Co-Founder and CEO of AlgorithmiqThey explain how quantum computers are different from regular computers, and why they could help scientists discover new drugs by understanding molecules in much more detail. To help Kai and viewers understand quantum, we use analogies like LEGO bricks with mini brains 🧱🧠: tiny building blocks that can hold lots of possibilities at once, which is exactly what chemistry and biology need. Chapters:0:00 Inside a real bioprinting lab0:20 Why quantum computing matters for medicine0:47 The problem with studying molecules2:42 Why molecules are so hard to simulate6:12 How 3D bioprinting actually works9:25 The challenge of engineering living tissue11:05 The problems classical computers can't solve13:41 Quantum vs. classical computing, explained15:20 How AI and quantum computing work together18:52 What's next for drug discovery20:35 How soon could quantum drug discovery happen?22:22 Inside the design of a quantum algorithm25:01 What the future of science could look like Real labs. Real scientists. Big ideas, explained so viewers of any age can follow along. 🎧 Follow The Quantum Kid on Spotify for new episodes▶️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaiTheQuantumKid🌐 tesseractquantum.com

    A kid 3D-printed a human ear — then found out how quantum computers discover new drugs
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Ratings & Reviews

3
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Big questions about quantum, answered by the people building it. Kai and his mom, physicist and former WIRED editor Katia Moskvitch, talk to Nobel laureates, top scientists and tech leaders, and go inside labs from CERN to ETH Zurich, to find out how quantum computing, fusion, space science and AI are shaping tomorrow's world. If Kai gets it, so will you. Guests include John Martinis, Steven Chu, Peter Shor, John Preskill and Scott Aaronson. Made by Tesseract Quantum.

Information

  • Creator
    Tesseract Quantum
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Tesseract Quantum
  • Show Website
    The Quantum Kid

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