Is the Universe a Math Problem? With Terence Tao
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Paul, we have revisited the universe of math. Yeah, but really drilled down and really applied ourselves. Because that's how we roll. Yeah. Coming up on StarTalk. Welcome to StarTalk. Your place in the universe where science and pop culture collide. StarTalk begins right now. This is StarTalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson, your personal astrophysicist. And we're going to have a Cosmic Queries edition on the subject of mathematics. Why are you laughing at me like that?
Apparently you're going to scare people with this.
Everybody thinks there's a math quiz coming up.
That was a Halloween laugh, wasn't it? It was. I got Paul Mercurio here. How are you doing, man? I'm good, man. Good to see you. Yeah, you got your podcast. What was it called again?
Inside Out with Paul Mercurio.
Inside Out.
Did you get Disney permission for that? I did not. Well, thanks for bringing that up. I'm going to be getting sued right after this.
And you are out of a job after May.
Yes, thanks for bringing that up as well. Anybody have any deadly diseases they want to talk about?
How does mathematics relate to dark matter?
Yes, the Late Show got canceled. So I work on the Late Show. You've been on the Late Show a bunch. We love you there. Yeah. Well, not everybody. No, and yeah.
You've been with... With Stephen Colbert since the Colbert Report. Since the Daily Show. The Daily Show, yes.
I started at the Daily Show as one of the original writers, performers there. He came in as a performer. You predate him on the Daily Show. I'm old school. I'm OG. And we actually shared an office together. We'd write a lot together. And then he had the Colbert Report. I worked on that. So he and I have been together a long time. And it's weird and sad, you know, because it's like... It's not a lot of change over in the 10 years that we've been on the late show. So it's like a family breaking up, you know, it's really kind of, yeah. Okay. So I'll be at your house cutting your lawn for two bucks. Okay. I hope our guests need some help. I'll go to California. It doesn't snow out there, but I'll shovel anyway. All right.
And by the way, Barron.
Oh, you did get the title of Baron. You knighted me, Baron. Only if the people asking questions remember that. That's where that comes from. You'll find out. So who do we have today? I love me some mathematics. Yeah, this is fascinating. Ever since high school. Brilliant. I've been a big fan of mathematics. Even the obscure math that doesn't relate to anything ever, but it's still fun.
Yeah. But, of course... Well, initially you like math because there's a finality to it, but then when you really get into it, you realize there's a whole... bunch of non-finality to it. It can take you everywhere, right?
Yeah, yeah, everywhere and anywhere and everywhere. Yes, exactly. Yeah, yeah. So, you know what we found? We found like a badass mathematician. Ooh. Yeah. That sounds like a good movie title. Is he also an assassin? We cannot divulge that publicly. We have Terence Tao. Terence, did I pronounce your name correctly? That's correct. Yes, please speak up. No, that's wrong.
That's not how you pronounce your name.
You are professor of mathematics at UCLA. That is not a community college in Oxnard. Yeah, UCLA Community College. You're professor of mathematics at... UCL, that's officially University of California, Los Angeles. Yes, it is. And here's the best part. Director of Special Projects at IPAM, Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics.
Can I just ask, Terrence, did they give you the title of Director of Projects and you insisted the word special be put in there? That's what people are saying on social media. I'm just relaying information right now.
No, it predates me, but certainly that title helped me accept the position.
So we can say, we can say, he has a special set of skills. Oh, there you go. This guy is definitely badass.
He's got a special set of skills. In a weird way, you could be like the accountant, right? That's that movie. Oh, yes. Yes. Where he's mathematically brilliant, but then also could just kill you with two fingers. Yes, yes.
But that is not our guest today. Okay. Enough with the superhero.
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