podcast project - Vankirk

Quantum Query is a podcast discussing quantum mechanics. Quantum theory is a study of matter and energy at the smallest level, including space-time and their relationships. The Marvel movie "Quantumania" depicts the quantum realm as a different world, but in reality, it is just trillions of times smaller than our world. The movie's portrayal of the quantum realm is not accurate compared to scientific discoveries. The filmmakers used electron microscope images for inspiration, but the chaos in the quantum realm was not executed well. Despite the inaccuracies, the movie was interesting and gave artistic license to explore quantum science. Quantum theory raises many questions about the universe and inspires further exploration. Welcome to our podcast, Quantum Query, where we'll be discussing the realities of quantum mechanics. I, Amani, am joined here today with Ellie and Shania. For today's episode, we will be discussing what quantum theory is compared to how it's depicted in the media. Just a disclaimer, we will be using the terms quantum physics and quantum mechanics interchangeably because physics and mechanics study the same thing. Great. Let's jump right in. Quantum mechanics is the study of matter and energy and everything that makes up our world at the smallest level. However, it also includes the study of space-time, energy, and their relationships. One formula for quantum is E equals HV, V being the frequency and H being the constant, which is a universal constant used to show calculated energy. Many people have depicted quantum physics and mechanics differently through the media. However, we are focusing on the Marvel movie, Quantumania. Quantumania is centered around quantum physics and the idea that at quantum size, the world becomes different, a different realm, per se, the quantum realm. In reality, the quantum realm isn't different from our world. Quantum is everything around us, just trillions of times smaller. The quantum realm is so small, we would need a microscope the size of a planet to see it. But there is no separate quantum realm that we know of. In the movie, Ant-Man and his crew shrink down, presumably to the size of protons and neutrons. After his daughter's technology malfunctions, they enter into a crazy world where up is down and right is left. Now let's break down the movie and see how accurate the world is compared to what scientists have discovered. The filmmakers created the quantum realm designed with inspiration from electron microscope photography. However, those images are of cells at the microscopic level, not the quantum level. With that being said, they didn't execute chaos well in the quantum realm. It came up with stunning CGI to create a glowy, colorful, vaguely threatening landscape with a lot of movement, reminiscent of Mars. This is a huge part of the movie because the quantum realm was supposed to be fantastical. One thing we can bring away from this is just how many factors go into visualizing quantum reality, starting with what is being examined. I think it's worth mentioning that quantum mania wasn't meant to be factual, well-restricted film on the inner workings of quantum science. You know, what we've been talking about reminded me that the world at a quantum level is likely many things all at once, and that kind of is the question. How can that be possible and how can we represent that? And at the same time, we can't really know what it looks like. That gives the Marvel developers a lot of artistic license, which we think was implemented well to create such an interesting movie. I guess this means that because of quantum science, everything we know about the universe, including the laws of physics, could become trivial with this new field of study. In conclusion, we were impressed with the movie and its pseudo-scientific plot. You know, a teacher once told me you should end physics class with more questions than you began. Well, looks like we succeeded. This podcast has led me to so many questions about quantum theory, and we hope it also led you to inspiration to keep questioning and maybe find an answer. Anyways, that's three minutes on quantum theory with Quantum Theory. Bye!