There is no such thing as emptiness. There is only quantum foam.

[n2doc]

by ESTHER INGLIS-ARKELL

According to some scientists, there is no such thing as empty space. What we have instead is called “quantum foam.” We can’t see it, but we just might be able to sense it.

The guy who came up with the term "quantum foam" is John Wheeler. In the “shut up and calculate” era of post-World War II era, he pushed both students and the world at large to keep thinking about Einstein’s theory of relativity and its consequences – so you know he was cool. He also had the middle name of Archibald – so you know he knew a thing or two about cool names. And so it’s natural that he used term “quantum foam” to describe one of the more perplexing ideas of physics.

The idea comes from the attempts to merge relativistic gravity with quantum mechanics. Gravity, Einstein proved, was a bending of the fabric of spacetime. It also behaves like a field. Place a point far away from the Earth, and it still will be part of the Earth’s gravitational field, but it will be out where the tug of gravity is weak. Place it close to the Earth, and the tug is stronger, and it will fall. Other planets warp spacetime and create their own gravitational tugs. So space isn't gravity-free, but a vast array of different gravitational tugs through which particles move. Pretty much everywhere that anything is placed, there is a gravitational field that it moves through.

Quantum mechanics doesn't work quite the same way. It is looked at as more point particles and waves, without fields. Quantum field theory attempts to look at space as another field that point particles move through. This is significant because it allows space to also be a field that point particles spring from. Although the idea of particles suddenly appearing seems nonsensical, it is not an unheard-of idea. And it's backed up by experimental evidence.

more

http://io9.com/there-is-no-such-thing-as-emptiness-there-is-only-quan-453814024

[longship]

2. AKA Zero Point Energy. It's Woo Woo!

Anybody who thinks otherwise needs to study more quantum physics until they understand that it is woo woo.

Those pitching it are merely bilking people out of their money.

Here's the Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy

[longship]

4. No problem.

[mindwalker_i]

5. The conclusion is obvious: the universe is made of beer

And it's really great beer because of the specially lined universe.

[Thor_MN]

6. Don't forget the cold. It's cold in space and heat is the enemy of great beer.

[snagglepuss]

7. .

[cstanleytech]

8. I can disprove the entire header with one word.

Republicans.

Need I say more?

[Orsino]

9. I didn't accept that excuse at Starbuck's.

Not going to accept it here.

[Phillip McCleod]

10. of course..

quantum foam particles popping in and out of existence is one way of representing probability waves whose wavelength is shorter than planck scale and there are multiple approaches to modeling that can 'smooth' the foamy spacetime providing the requisite manifold for relativity. string theory springs to mind.. it's solution is conceptually elegant.. points of spacetime have extent (i.e., no infinite regress). that's where the geometry gets hairy.