If you’re into science or science fiction, you need to see this video.

I am not a scientist and have never claimed to be.  I’m just a science enthusiast, so I can’t explain why this works.  It has something to do with quantum mechanics, the science of very small things, like atoms and mesons and other unbelievably tiny particles.  The behavior of these particles has always been a bit weird, but that’s okay because this weirdness is on such a small scale.

Lately, however, scientists have found more and more examples of quantum weirdness on the scale of objects we can see and touch.  They’ve built a quantum microphone which can vibrate and not vibrate at the same time, they’ve found quantum entanglement among the atoms of magnetic salts, and they’ve even found evidence of quantum physics at work in the human brain.

Click here for more on those stories.

Somehow liquid nitrogen, superconductors, and sponges have combined to create quantum levitation.  I’m not sure if there’s any practical purpose to this yet, but it would surely explain those hovering mountains from Avatar.

If you’re willing to watch a slightly longer video, this one gives a more detailed explanation of how quantum levitation works.