The Common Thread

The past few newsletters we have opined on the evolution of space, quantum, and time - from a technology development perspective. As a company that touches all three, it is fun to consider the differences and similarities, and pick out the common threads that connect them.

The Differences

Space is vast; so vast that it is hard for our brain to comprehend. The grandeur of space has forever inspired humans (probably not as much as most people can't even see the Milky Way), but mysteries remain that may never be answered. But our understanding is getting better as we peer even farther out into the stars - and the past.

Quantum is small; and, in the world of the small, quantum effects seem strange and counter-intuitive to how things work in the world of the large. Just as it is hard to study a universe that spans 92,000,000,000 light-years (maybe more), it is actually just as difficult to observe the quantum properties of small objects. This is known as the measurement problem, the idea that quantum states are irreversibly broken by observation/measurement.

Time seems easy; it is something we all think we understand: that we are trapped in time that is absolute and only goes one direction, towards the future. But Einstein proved that time is not absolute, but relative depending on how fast you move. And some scientists think it is not linear, may have three dimensions, or that it may not even exist at all!

The Similarities

The relationship between space and time are well-known, thanks to Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity that explains that spacetime is curved by mass and energy.The relationship between space and quantum is more challenging; indeed, the relationship between gravity and quantum has so vexed scientists that it is called the "theory of everything."The relationship between quantum and time also isn't well understood or a subject of interest; we just assume small particles experience time as normal, not that they care! But recent studies suggest that time goes both forwards and backwards at the quantum level.

But, even as we struggle to comprehend the foundations of space, quantum, and time, there is a similarity they share with our physical world: we have harnessed them for the benefit of society (see The More You Know section below). Space is now the domain of over 2000 companies that use satellites and other space systems for exploration, communications, tourism, and information. Quantum properties that were unknown a mere century ago are being used for new forms of computers, sensors, and communications. Time cannot be harnessed (not yet, anyway!), but it can be measured and distributed in ever more sophisticated ways to serve their new users: electronics, networks, power grids, and distributed arrays of sensors, antennas and communications.This is the sublime magic of modern life, that we use technology that nobody fully understands, based on foundations that may always remain a mystery.

Last Newsletter Theme: The Evolution of Time