Jan 2, 2026 06:36 PM
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/...tum-myths/
INTRO: For centuries, the laws of physics seemed completely deterministic. If you knew where every particle was, how fast it was moving, and what the forces were between them at any one instant, you could know exactly where they’d be and what they’d be doing at any point in the future. From Newton to Maxwell, the rules that governed the Universe had no built-in, inherent uncertainty to them in any form. Your only limits arose from your limited knowledge, measurements, and calculational power.
All of that changed a little over 100 years ago. From radioactivity to the photoelectric effect to the behavior of light when you passed it through a double slit, we began realizing that under many circumstances, we could only predict the probability that various outcomes would arise as a consequence of the quantum nature of our Universe. But along with this new, counterintuitive picture of reality, many myths and misconceptions have arisen. Here’s the true science behind 10 of them... (MORE - details)
COVERED:
1.) Quantum effects only happen on small scales.
2.) Quantum always means “discrete.”
3.) Quantum entanglement allows information to travel faster-than-light.
4.) Superposition is fundamental to quantum physics.
5.) There’s nothing wrong with us all choosing our favorite quantum interpretation
6.) Teleportation is possible, thanks to quantum mechanics.
7.) Everything is uncertain in a quantum Universe.
8.) Every particle of the same type has the same mass.
9.) Einstein himself denied quantum mechanics.
10.) Exchanges of particles in quantum field theory completely describe our Universe.
INTRO: For centuries, the laws of physics seemed completely deterministic. If you knew where every particle was, how fast it was moving, and what the forces were between them at any one instant, you could know exactly where they’d be and what they’d be doing at any point in the future. From Newton to Maxwell, the rules that governed the Universe had no built-in, inherent uncertainty to them in any form. Your only limits arose from your limited knowledge, measurements, and calculational power.
All of that changed a little over 100 years ago. From radioactivity to the photoelectric effect to the behavior of light when you passed it through a double slit, we began realizing that under many circumstances, we could only predict the probability that various outcomes would arise as a consequence of the quantum nature of our Universe. But along with this new, counterintuitive picture of reality, many myths and misconceptions have arisen. Here’s the true science behind 10 of them... (MORE - details)
COVERED:
1.) Quantum effects only happen on small scales.
2.) Quantum always means “discrete.”
3.) Quantum entanglement allows information to travel faster-than-light.
4.) Superposition is fundamental to quantum physics.
5.) There’s nothing wrong with us all choosing our favorite quantum interpretation
6.) Teleportation is possible, thanks to quantum mechanics.
7.) Everything is uncertain in a quantum Universe.
8.) Every particle of the same type has the same mass.
9.) Einstein himself denied quantum mechanics.
10.) Exchanges of particles in quantum field theory completely describe our Universe.