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Article: Zero-Point Energy
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- Space Sciences
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Zero-Point Energy
Quantum physics
predicts the existence of an underlying sea of zero-point energy at every spot in the universe. This is different from the
cosmic microwave background
and is also referred to as the electromagnetic
quantum vacuum
, since it is the lowest energy state of otherwise empty space. This energy is so enormous that most physicists believe that even though zero-point energy seems to be an inescapable consequence of elementary quantum theory, it cannot be physically real. However, a minority of physicists accept it as real energy that we cannot directly sense because it is the same everywhere, even inside our bodies and measuring devices. From this ...