#69 - Nicolas Yunes: What Comes After Einstein, Gravity, Black Holes, Playing Professional Soccer, & Messi

Nicolás Yunes is a Physics Professor at the University of Illinois studying gravity, black holes, gravitational waves, and the places where general relativity might finally break. In this conversation, we ask some of the biggest questions in physics: What is gravity?

Can time bend? Could anti-gravity exist?

Are wormholes possible? Why is the universe expanding?

And why, after more than 100 years, has Einstein survived every serious test? But Yunes’s own story is just as interesting.

He grew up in Argentina, nearly pursued soccer, came to the United States on a scholarship, struggled to learn physics in English, and watched Argentina’s economy collapse while he was in college. We talk about luck, regret, AI, choosing problems actually worth solving, and the advice he gives his daughter: don’t give up.

A conversation about understanding the universe—and figuring out what is worth spending your life trying to understand. *EPISODE LINKS:* - Nicolas Yunes's UIUC Website: physics.illinois.edu/people/directory/profile/nyunes - Yunes Gravity Theory Group: yunes-gravity-theory-group.physics.illinois.edu - Illinois Center for Advanced Studies of the Universe (ICASU): icasu.illinois.edu - Is Einstein Still Right? (Book): *OUTLINE:* 0:00 - What’s the Next Big Thing in Physics? 1:49 - Why Good Ideas Arrive When You Stop Looking 3:06 - LISA: Testing Einstein From Space 6:06 - How to Capture an Idea Before You Forget It 7:29 - Is Einstein Still Right? 13:43 - What Would It Take to Prove Einstein Wrong? 17:44 - What Is Gravity, Really? 28:15 - How Can Time Stretch? 32:16 - Could Relativity Solve Nuclear Waste? 34:20 - Can We Artificially Bend Time? 36:01 - Why Humans Are Terrible at Understanding Scale 40:37 - What Shape Is the Universe? 47:49 - Does Anti-Gravity Exist? 50:11 - Wormholes, White Holes & Faster-Than-Light Travel 52:51 - Is Dark Energy Actually Anti-Gravity? 56:35 - Why Physicists Think Beauty Might Point Toward Truth 58:45 - Why Does Mathematics Describe the Universe So Well? 1:00:43 - How Computers Changed Physics 1:07:48 - Differential Geometry & the Curvature of Spacetime 1:11:05 - Is Math the Best Language for Describing Reality? 1:14:30 - Do You Think Differently in Spanish and English? 1:21:47 - What Gets Lost in Translation? 1:25:00 - What Do Black Holes Sound Like? 1:29:15 - Growing Up in Argentina & Choosing Physics 1:35:08 - From Goalkeeper to America on a Soccer Scholarship 1:38:24 - Argentina’s 2001 Economic Collapse Changed Everything 1:40:17 - Becoming a Professor in Montana 1:41:29 - Learning American Culture the Hard Way 1:42:28 - How Much of Success Is Luck? 1:45:02 - Advice to His Daughter: Never Give Up 1:49:11 - How to Live With Regret 1:51:06 - “We’ll Burn That Bridge When We Get to It” 1:52:00 - What Does He Regret? 1:54:47 - Thinking Five or Ten Moves Ahead 1:56:38 - Which Problems Are Actually Worth Your Life? 1:58:26 - Why He Changed His Mind About AI 2:00:07 - AI Is the New Calculator 2:01:49 - The Coming Era of Precision Data 2:03:33 - Why the Biggest Discoveries May Happen Between Fields 2:04:31 - Illinois Center for Advanced Studies of the Universe 🚥 Overrated or Underrated 🚥 2:10:33 - 🇦🇷 Tango & Carlos Gardel 2:14:53 - 🧠 Edward Witten 2:17:15 - 🌌 Quantum Gravity & Carlo Rovelli 2:22:54 - ⚽ Lionel Messi 2:24:45 - Closing Words *Consider Supporting Us* If you enjoy our talk show and videos, your support means the world to us! Your contributions help us keep the show running and focus on creating interesting conversations with interesting people.

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