On a fundamental level, even purely empty space is still filled with quantum fields, which affect the value of the zero-point energy of space. Until we know how to perform this calculation, we must either make an assumption about the value we arrive at or admit that we do not know how to perform this calculation. (NASA/CXC/M.WEISS)

10 Myths About The Quantum Universe

Even physicists sometimes fall for these.

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.

By creating a track where the outside magnetic rails point in one direction and the inside magnetic rails point in the other, a Type II superconducting object will levitate, remained pinned above-or-below the track, and will move along it. This could, in principle, be scaled up to allow resistance-free motion on large scales if room-temperature superconductors are achieved. (HENRY MÜHLPFORDT / TU DRESDEN)

1.) Quantum effects only happen on small scales. When we think of quantum effects, we typically think about individual particles (or…