What If Quantum Mechanics Went On Strike?

My nine-year-old son liked the NOVA episode on the quantum realm so much that he watched it twice, but when I told him that we are surrounded by quantum-powered technology, he was skeptical. “Point to any machine you can see,” I challenged him, as we stood in our family room.

His first selection was a glowing ornament hanging on our Christmas tree. “Aha,” I said, feeling vindicated. “See those little green lights? Those are LEDs—light-emitting diodes—that make light by passing electrons through a semiconductor material that has some extra ingredients mixed into it. As the electrons move from one side of the semiconductor to the other, they drop into a lower energy level and spit out a photon of light. The color of the light corresponds to the amount of energy the electrons lose.”