Living in a Quantum World

Abstract

The article discusses quantum mechanics. According to the author, quantum mechanics applies to things of all sizes, including birds, plants, and perhaps human beings. He notes that quantum mechanics is commonly referred to as a theory of microscopic things, such as subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules, but that physicists believe it applies to everything and that the distinctive, but often hidden features, of quantum mechanics are not a matter of scale. Topics include an overview of a quantum effect, called entanglement, which can occur in both large and warm systems, and the growing number of macroscopic systems discovered by experimentalists that exhibit quantum effects. INSETS: Observing the Observer;Quantum Salt;Entanglement Heats Up.