Discover Quantum Physics Over Drinks! An evening with Prof. Valerio Scarani

Come for an evening of scientific exploration on quantum randomness with Prof. Valerio Scarani. (incl. a drink, limited seats) We live with unpredictability all the time. Flip a coin. Shuffle a deck. Roll a die. We call the outcomes random because we can’t predict what will happen. But with these everyday examples, we assume there is an underlying physical story. If we somehow knew exactly how the coin was tossed, how the cards were shuffled or how the die left your hand, perhaps the outcome could—in principle—be worked out. Quantum physics asks whether nature works that way at its deepest level too. Are the results we observe simply determined by hidden, pre-existing properties we cannot see? For this Make Room for Wonder evening, Prof. Valerio Scarani, NUS Physics and the Centre for Quantum Technologies, takes that question apart. Through Bell’s theorem and the experiments it inspired, he will show why quantum physics cannot be explained by the simple idea that particles carry local, pre-set answers waiting to be revealed — and what that forces us to reconsider about randomness, measurement and reality itself. Why come even if you know nothing about physics? Because this is really about something all of us live with: chance, prediction, choices and how much we can ever truly know. You’ll leave with a glimpse into the questions occupying some of the sharpest minds in physics — and perhaps a slightly less comfortable relationship with the word random. Come after work. Make it a date. Bring the friend you always end up having strange conversations with. Or come alone. Just come curious. 6:45 pm — Settle in, get your free drink. Grab dinner & drinks while you enjoy the lecture. Menu here 7:00 pm — Welcome 7:10 pm — Prof. Scarani's Lecture: Is Our Reality a Random Roll of Dice? 7:50 pm — Moderated audience Q&A 8:10 pm onward — Drinks, conversation and rabbit holes 8:30 pm — Formal close Come curious. Leave with wonder.