Content about “

FQXi2016

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When it comes to the entire cosmos, we humans are incredibly small and insignificant. But that's precisely why we need to take ourselves into account when thinking about the Universe. Find out why.

One way of making quantum mechanics independent of observers is to accept that we live in many parallel worlds.

Since quantum mechanics predicts such strange things about the world, should we replace it by a better theory, or perhaps extend it?

If observers can influence the outcomes of measurements, then do these observes need to be conscious? Does consciousness play a special role in physics at all?

Cutting spacetime into patches could help explain the size of the universe—and provide the first ”experimental” evidence that string theory is on the right track.

A brief introduction to the strange theory of quantum mechanics and how it appears to afford a special role to observers.

Traditionally, observers play no special role in physics. Like bird watchers in a perfect hide, we observe the outcome of experiments, or gaze at the stars through our telescopes, taking no part in the action. Modern physics, however, tells a different story ... find out more with these articles and videos.

Can the very act of observing something change what's being observed? This series of articles and videos explores some basic questions about the role of the observers in physics.

We all know what we mean when we say that something has happened — well, all except for theoretical physicists. That's because the notion of a "happening" becomes fuzzy when you go down to the foundations of the science. Find out more with these articles and videos.

With all the trouble caused by quantum mechanics and people's attempt to construct a theory of everything, we might be better off defining an event without reference to time and space. It's easier than you might think!

The strange theory of quantum mechanics has turned our conception of reality on its head. This article explores how things become fuzzy in the microscopic world and what this means for our understanding of events.

Time and space form the stage on which events unfold. But what if the stage itself becomes part of the action? We take a brief tour through the history of space and time and see how ideas have changed since the time of Isaac Newton.