The Quanta Podcast

How the Physics of Nothing Underlies Everything

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Dec 7, 2022
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INSIGHT

First High-Quality Vacuum Created

  • Otto Fongerica invented a pump to create the first high-quality air vacuum.
  • His dramatic demonstration showed horses couldn't break the vacuum's suction, proving vacuums can exist.
INSIGHT

Many Varieties of Vacuum Exist

  • Physicists now see many varieties of vacuum, behaving like different phases of a substance.
  • Understanding these diverse vacuums is key to explaining the universe's origin and fate.
INSIGHT

Universe's Metastable Vacuum Risk

  • Our universe may reside in a metastable vacuum that could collapse into another state, destroying everything.
  • Quantum fields can shift to lower energy states, creating expanding bubbles that rewrite physics and dissolve matter.
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