Quantum physics is often described as the most successful scientific framework in history. In its 100 years of existence, it has explained everything from the periodic table of the elements to how ...

Alyssa Ney is professor and chair of metaphysics at the Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, and Religious Studies at Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Germany. This week, physicists are ...

A survey of Scientific American’s century of quantum coverage helps explain the enduring popularity of strange physics ...

"We have found a surprisingly simple solution to an important problem in physics," says Prof. Jens Eisert, a theoretical physicist at Freie Universität Berlin and HZB. "Our results provide a solid ...

At long last, a unified theory combining gravity with the other fundamental forces—electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces—is within reach. Bringing gravity into the fold has been the ...

Physicists construct theories to describe nature. Let us explain it through an analogy with something that we can do in our everyday life, like going on a hike in the mountains. To avoid getting lost, ...

Imagine a physicist observing a quantum system whose behavior is akin to a coin toss: it could come up heads or tails. They perform the quantum coin toss and see heads. Could they be certain that ...

A method known as quantum key distribution has long held the promise of communication security unattainable in conventional cryptography. An international team of scientists has now demonstrated ...

This is what fun looks like for a particular set of theoretical chemists driven to solve extremely difficult problems: ...

Every now and then, it is worth pausing for a second and giving thanks to the many, ever so slightly different versions of you that exist in parallel realities. It is these alternative selves that ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Say you want to send a private message, cast a secret vote, or sign a document securely. If you do any of these tasks on a computer, you ...