After a long day working on the particle accelerator, you and your friends head to the arcade to unwind. The lights go out for a second, and when they come back, there before you gleams a foosball table. Always game, you insert your coins. And quantum foosball begins— instead of a ball, you'll be playing with a giant electron. Matteo Fadel shows...

The classical physics that we encounter in our everyday, macroscopic world is very different from the quantum physics that governs systems on a much smaller scale (like atoms). One great example of quantum physics' weirdness can be shown in the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment. Josh Samani walks us through this experiment in quantum entangle...

Quantum computers could eventually outstrip the computational limits of classical computers. They rely on the behavior of atomic and subatomic particles, whose quantum states are incredibly fragile and easily destroyed— which is why this technology remains largely theoretical. How would quantum computers work, and are they really possible? Chiar...

Quantum computers obtain superpowers by tapping into parallel universes, says Hartmut Neven, the founder and lead of Google Quantum AI. He explains how this emerging tech can far surpass traditional computers by relying on quantum physics rather than binary logic, and shares a roadmap to build the ultimate quantum computer. Learn how this fascin...

How does a robin know to fly south? The answer might be weirder than you think: Quantum physics may be involved. Jim Al-Khalili rounds up the extremely new, extremely strange world of quantum biology, where something Einstein once called "spooky action at a distance" helps birds navigate, and quantum effects might explain the origin of life itself.

As quantum computing matures, it's going to bring unimaginable increases in computational power along with it -- and the systems we use to protect our data (and our democratic processes) will become even more vulnerable. But there's still time to plan against the impending data apocalypse, says encryption expert Vikram Sharma. Learn more about h...

A quantum computer isn't just a more powerful version of the computers we use today; it's something else entirely, based on emerging scientific understanding -- and more than a bit of uncertainty. Enter the quantum wonderland with TED Fellow Shohini Ghose and learn how this technology holds the potential to transform medicine, create unbreakable...

What if tiny microparticles could help us solve the world's biggest problems in a matter of minutes? That's the promise -- and magic -- of quantum computers, says Matt Langione. Speaking next to an actual IBM quantum computer, he explains how these machines solve complex challenges like developing vaccines and calculating financial risk in an en...

Today, one of the biggest paradoxes in the universe threatens to unravel modern science: the black hole information paradox. Every object in the universe is composed of particles with unique quantum properties and even if an object is destroyed, its quantum information is never permanently deleted. But what happens to that information when an ob...

You've probably heard that carbon dioxide is warming the Earth. But how exactly is it doing it? Lieven Scheire uses a rainbow, a light bulb and a bit of quantum physics to describe the science behind global warming. [Directed by STK Films, narrated Addison Anderson, music by Michael Dow].

Jerry Chow of IBM's Watson Research Center creates "qubits," the building blocks of quantum computing. Chow taps into the strange world of the smallest particles, where the rules of ordinary reality don't apply and shares how to harness their mind-boggling potential.

In this glimpse into our technological future, cryptographer Craig Costello discusses the world-altering potential of quantum computers, which could shatter the limits set by today's machines -- and give code breakers a master key to the digital world. See how Costello and his fellow cryptographers are racing to reinvent encryption and secure th...

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016 for discovering that even microscopic matter at the smallest scale can exhibit macroscopic properties and phases that are topological. But ... what does that mean? Fan Zhang helps decode some seriously tricky science. [Directed by Anton Trofimov, narrat...

Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, posed this famous question: If you put a cat in a sealed box with a device that has a 50% chance of killing the cat in the next hour, what will be the state of the cat when that time is up? Chad Orzel investigates this thought experiment. [Directed by Agota Vegso, na...

Physicists are used to the idea that subatomic particles behave according to the bizarre rules of quantum mechanics, completely different to human-scale objects. In a breakthrough experiment, Aaron O'Connell has blurred that distinction by creating an object that is visible to the unaided eye, but provably in two places at the same time. In this...

Boaz Almog uses quantum physics to levitate and trap objects in midair. Call it "quantum levitation."

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that you can never simultaneously know the exact position and the exact speed of an object. Why not? Because everything in the universe behaves like both a particle and a wave at the same time. Chad Orzel navigates this complex concept of quantum physics. [Directed by Henrik Malmgren, narrated by Addis...

For a long time, Amrou Al-Kadhi struggled to negotiate the intersections between their queer and Islamic heritage. These identities felt completely polarized, as if their identity were founded on a tectonic fault at constant risk of rupture. Yet, it was the unlikely world of quantum physics that allowed Al-Kadhi to find the magic of contradictio...

How can a super-thin 3-inch disk levitate something 70,000 times its own weight? In a riveting demonstration, Boaz Almog shows how a phenomenon known as quantum locking allows a superconductor disk to float over a magnetic rail -- completely frictionlessly and with zero energy loss. Experiment: Prof. Guy Deutscher, Mishael Azoulay, Boaz Almog, o...

If you were to take a coffee cup, and break it in half, then in half again, and keep carrying on, where would you end up? Could you keep on going forever? Or would you eventually find a set of indivisible building blocks out of which everything is made? Jonathan Butterworth explains the Standard Model theory and how it helps us understand the wo...

Is there life on Venus? Quantum astrochemist Clara Sousa-Silva makes the case for a new way to seek and possibly discover habitable planets -- and shares her research into a poisonous, smelly molecule that might signal life beyond Earth.

Elementary particles are the smallest known building blocks in the universe—and the neutrino is one of the smallest of the small. These tiny neutrinos can tell us about the furthest reaches and most extreme environments of the universe ... but only if we can catch them. Sílvia Bravo Gallart details how the IceCube telescope in Antarctica is work...

Moore’s Law states that every 1 to 2 years the number of transistors that can fit on a given size computer chip will double. Thanks to this law, chips have gotten smaller, faster, more efficient, and cheaper. But today, there are four key problems that trip up this trend, potentially ending Moore’s Law and fundamentally changing how computing pr...

The modern hard drive is an object that can likely hold more information than your local library. But how does it store so much information in such a small space? Kanawat Senanan details the generations of engineers, material scientists, and quantum physicists who influenced the creation of this incredibly powerful and precise tool. [Directed by...

A physicist turned writer, Michael Nielsen believes online communication and collaboration tools are revolutionizing the way we make scientific discoveries.

Leonard Susskind works on string theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and quantum cosmology at Stanford.

GPS location apps on a smartphone can be very handy when mapping a travel route or finding nearby events. But how does your smartphone know where you are? Wilton L. Virgo explains how the answer lies 12,000 miles over your head, in an orbiting satellite that keeps time to the beat of an atomic clock powered by quantum mechanics. [Directed by Nic...

Sometimes, when you take a closer look at life it gets a little weird. These talks explore some of the unusual, compelling and extraordinary aspects of the world around us.