quantum mechanics quantum mechanics

Stories About

quantum mechanics

Subscribe to Breaking News Alerts

In 'Something Deeply Hidden,' Sean Carroll Argues There Are Infinite Copies Of You

Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime, Sean Carroll NPR hide caption

toggle caption

NPR

Review

In 'Something Deeply Hidden,' Sean Carroll Argues There Are Infinite Copies Of You

September 13, 2019 • The physicist dives into fraught territory, taking up the age-old debate over quantum mechanics — aiming to convince readers that the Many Worlds interpretation is the one that describes reality.

'Einstein's Unfinished Revolution' Looks At The Quantum-Physics-And-Reality Problem

Physicist Albert Einstein. Bettmann Archive hide caption

toggle caption

Bettmann Archive

Review

'Einstein's Unfinished Revolution' Looks At The Quantum-Physics-And-Reality Problem

April 19, 2019 • A century after the birth of quantum mechanics, no one is sure what it is telling us about the nature of reality — and Lee Smolin's book adds to a stream of excellent works on the topic.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Strange Parallels: Alternative Histories In Physics And Culture

December 7, 2017 • Ideas of parallel universes and alternative histories, once confined to mere rumination about lost opportunities and fictional scenarios, are now a part of science, says guest writer Paul Halpern.

Maciej Frolow/Getty Images

How Real Is Reality?

January 5, 2016 • Reality seems pretty stubborn, pretty fixed — and pretty much independent of whatever is going on in your head. But is it, really? Astrophysicist Adam Frank explores the scientific debate.

One Concept That Gives Physicists A Casper-Like Haunting

This is an artist's imaginative rendering of an atom, but quantum mechanics makes it hard to imagine exactly what an atom is. Richard Graham Farmer/Science Photo Library/Corbis hide caption

toggle caption

Richard Graham Farmer/Science Photo Library/Corbis

One Concept That Gives Physicists A Casper-Like Haunting

May 19, 2015 • Recently, astrophysicist Adam Frank raised the idea that your butt — and the chair it sits on — are not solid matter. Now, he revisits the issue of why you don't fall to the floor, with an addendum.

Stephane Bidouze/iStockphoto

Do Fairies Live In The Multiverse?

March 4, 2015 • Little, fabulous, flying entities capable of magical deeds that defy what we think reasonable in this world may exist, but we couldn't confirm this directly, says astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser.

Cute Dog Video Answers Mystery Of The Cosmos. Maybe

Maymo the beagle. Jeremy Lakaszcyck/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Jeremy Lakaszcyck/AP

Cute Dog Video Answers Mystery Of The Cosmos. Maybe

September 2, 2014 • Newton's laws, quantum mechanics, information theory — the fundamental rules of existence — find expression in the human world for human purposes, says commentator Adam Frank.

Anthia Cumming/iStockphoto

Watch And Learn: Wave-Particle Quantum Weirdness

July 15, 2014 • Understanding how things work in the quantum world is both fun and mind-bending. Physicist Adam Frank suggests spending a minute watching this video on the wave-particle duality.

Physics Feels The Pull Of Nature's Biggest Mysteries

Physics is full of big, interesting questions about phenomenon such as black holes. This illustration shows the supermassive black hole at the heart of the active galaxy NGC 3783 in the southern constellation of Centaurus. M. Kornmesser/ESO hide caption

toggle caption

M. Kornmesser/ESO

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Physics Feels The Pull Of Nature's Biggest Mysteries

July 9, 2014 • We don't have all the answers; many big questions hang over the world of theoretical physics. Is this business as usual? Or symptom of a major crisis in our understanding of nature?

This artist's impression shows the surroundings of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the active galaxy NGC 3783 in the southern constellation of Centaurus. M. Kornmesser/ESO hide caption

toggle caption

M. Kornmesser/ESO

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Do Black Holes Exist?

February 5, 2014 • Stephen Hawking wants to do away with black holes (as we know them) so he can save the two pillars of modern physics: general relativity and quantum mechanics. At stake is our understanding of the nature of space and time, and how matter affects, and is affected by, both.

Why We Need A Science Capable Of Explaining Itself

We think that life came from non-life, from the increasing complexity of chemical reactions between biomolecules present on the primordial Earth. But what about the universe? How did it come to be if there was nothing before? iStockphoto hide caption

toggle caption

iStockphoto

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Why We Need A Science Capable Of Explaining Itself

December 18, 2013 • What was there before the universe began? It's not a question we can really answer with the science we have at hand, says commentator and physicist Marcelo Gleiser.

Probing The Unknowable Mysteries Of The Brain

iStockphoto

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Probing The Unknowable Mysteries Of The Brain

December 4, 2013 • Is the brain a sort of quantum computer? What is consciousness? Marcelo Gleiser's brain is buzzing with big questions after participating in a conference that asked if quantum physics plays a role in how we think.

Scientists Demonstrate Leaner System For Quantum Encryption

Navajo encryption boxes seen at right in 2003 employ principles of quantum physics. The latest research has shown the ability to run larger networks with less such hardware. Elise Amendola/Associated Press hide caption

toggle caption

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

The Two-Way

Scientists Demonstrate Leaner System For Quantum Encryption

September 4, 2013 • Writing in Nature, a team of scientists say they've figured out how to reduce the infrastructure needed for such a system.

The Idea That Changed The World: 100 Years Of Quantum Jumps

Niels Bohr in September 1953 Keystone/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Keystone/Getty Images

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

The Idea That Changed The World: 100 Years Of Quantum Jumps

August 14, 2013 • A technological revolution that is still playing out today began with new ideas about how atoms and subatomic particles work. Commentator Marcelo Gleiser tells the story of Danish physicist Niels Bohr and the work that changed how we live today.

Black Holes + Wormholes = Quantum Answers

An artist's impression shows the area around a supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy NGC 3783 in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Could a wormhole connect one black hole to another elsewhere in the Universe, creating an entangled pair? M. Kornmesser/ESO hide caption

toggle caption

M. Kornmesser/ESO

July 30, 2013 • For 60 years researchers have been searching for a way to unite our separate understandings of the very large and the very small into a single coherent theory. Now a remarkable new idea is raising eyebrows, and hopes, around the world. Has the path to solve this problem just been found?