Monday, January 30, 2023

Quantumania

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1/30/23

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Coming Soon

In the upcoming Marvel movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the film’s heroes venture into the quantum realm — the universe on scales smaller than atoms. Here, the normal rules of physics don’t apply. And though we may not have the tech to shrink people down to this size in real life, Marvel does get one thing right: demonstrating the quantum realm is truly bizarre.

For example, quantum-sized objects sometimes act like bits of matter, other times like waves. They can exist in more than one place at a time. And specially linked particles — entangled ones — can mirror each other perfectly, even when they’re a universe apart. (This finding led to the 2022 Nobel prize in physics.) Researchers have observed the effects of such bizarre quantum physics in the lab. But the question of why matter and energy at the tiniest scales act so strangely remains one of the biggest mysteries in the cosmos.

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Opportunity

Applications are now open for the Society for Science’s Advocate Program. This program provides a stipend, training and year-round support to teachers and mentors who help students from traditionally underrepresented groups and low-income households to enter STEM research competitions. Applications are due March 5.

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