Canada's Justin Trudeau: Feminist, Yogi, And Apparently Quantum Computing Whiz Too

Jan Dizon, Tech Times 16 April 2016, 08:04 am

Justin Trudeau made history when he took the seat of Prime Minister of Canada and unveiled his cabinet consisting of exactly 50 percent women.

Trudeau also recently went viral when he was snapped in a pretty tricky yoga pose that his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was also photographed in decades earlier.

Now, Trudeau is showing that he's not one to let a smart-aleck reporter try to let one past him by schooling him a bit about quantum computing.

According to CBC News, the incident happened when the Prime Minister was speaking at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario to affirm a $50 million research budget for the school.

The budget was reportedly part of a program to support women in STEM and in attendance were some 200 high school students – mostly young women.

However, when the floor was opened for questions from reporters, one decided to use the event to question Trudeau about Canada's mission against ISIS instead of about the scientific thinktank.

"I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing, but ..." the reporter said.

Instead of brushing aside the question, Trudeau one-upped the reporter on his bluff by giving him exactly what he wanted: a lesson in quantum computing.

"Very simply," Trudeau began, "How normal computers work is there's either power going through a wire or not. It's one or zero. They're binary systems. What quantum states allow for is much more complex information to be encoded into a single bit."

Check out the Canadian Prime Minister's full explanation below:

Feeling smarter yet?

Back to the event at hand, Trudeau said the budget affirmation was not only to support women in STEM but also to help the country strengthen itself in the scientific world.

"It's extremely important to underline just how essential the work being done here is, not just for Canada but for the entire world."

"The investment we're announcing today will strengthen the Perimeter Institute's position as a world-leading research center in helping advance Canada's role as a leader in the global scientific community," he said.

Apparently, Trudeau was not the only quantum computing genius at the event. Welcoming him via video was theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.