Navigating with Quantum Entanglement

December 22, 2020
17 min
Season 2020 - Episode 41: Navigating with Quantum Entanglement

Season 2020 - Episode 41: Navigating with Quantum Entanglement

PBS Space Time - Backdrop

Overview

We often think of quantum mechanics as only affecting only the smallest scales of reality, with classical reality taking over at some intermediate level. But in his 1944 book, What is Life?, the quantum physicist Erwin Schrödinger suggested that “incredibly small groups of atoms, much too small to display exact statistical laws, do play a dominating role in the very orderly and lawful events within a living organism.” Schrodinger was a visionary - and perhaps very specifically in this case. Because it turns out we might need all the weirdness of quantum mechanics to explain birds.

Episode Information

TV Show

PBS Space Time

Season

Season 2020

Episode Number

41

Air Date

December 22, 2020

Runtime

17 minutes