From Lab to Life: A Quantum Leap Into the Future

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The top encryption method used everywhere is based on prime numbers. It is commonly known as RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman). [Adi Shamir is a Weizmann Institute professor, in Rehovot, Israel].

It is the most widely used encryption algorithm – and secures everyday internet activities. It is based on prime number theory, an obscure, abstract branch of mathematics that seemingly never had any practical use whatsoever.

Lesson? Turn curious scientists loose to follow their passion – even into seemingly obscure regions – and good things happen.

Quantum physics is a prime example. It began as a highly controversial idea – as a fundamental branch of physics that describes the behavior of matter and energy at the smallest scales, such as atoms and subatomic particles. At quantum scale, physical laws are different than at normal scale. Einstein initially rejected many of Nils Bohr’s concepts [the Bohr model of the atom in 1913 was the first to merge Ernest Rutherford’s nuclear model with emerging quantum concepts].

Fast forward. ScienceDaily, July 5, 2026, recounts how quantum mechanics is changing the world – citing research at Texas A&M.*

*Marian O. Scully, William G. Unruh. One Hundred Years of Quantum Mechanics.  Science, 2025: 390.

Here are five ways quantum mechanics is affecting (and improving) everyday life, according to ScienceDaily:

1. All lasers depend crucially on quantum principles that amplify light.
2. Secure communications. Quantum cryptography (encryption methods) creates highly secure codes that help protect our sensitive data.
3. Faster computing: Quantum computers exist and already are solving difficult problems, in seconds, that classical computers take thousands of years to crack.
4. Better measurements: Gravitational wave observatories use quantum techniques to detect tiny distortions in spacetime, revealing new facts about our universe.
5. Medical breakthroughs: Quantum imaging help scientists study viruses, molecules, and other biologies, at the atomic scale.

Co-author of the above cited article, Scully, notes, “It’s striking…how quantum principles can rewrite the rules of classical physics.”

One of the most puzzling, amazing principles of quantum mechanics is ‘entanglement’ – the ability of two particles to become ‘entangled’ (basically one and the same), even when separated by huge distances. Here is a wild science fiction idea: Maybe one day, entanglement will enable us to move a whole person from, say, Austin Texas, to Timbuktu, without a plane or rocket. Teleporting…

Einstein famously ridiculed Nils Bohr, saying that “God does not play dice with the universe”, a reaction to the principle that “Quantum theory says a particle’s location is only known with probability because particles do not have definitive positions while unmeasured”. Turns out – the dice are being rolled every millisecond!