India, April 4 -- There's a lot of our world that wouldn't run, and certainly wouldn't run as well, without the involvement of quantum mechanics. Here are just a few key things that come from our enhanced understanding of how the universe works, at the sub-atomic level.

* Phones, computers, TVs

Quantum mechanics governs how electrons move through materials. That sounds like we can control it. We can't.

What we do instead is build mathematical frameworks that predict probable outcomes. Because every device that uses quantum mechanics involves trillions of particles, their combined effect allows us to ensure a certain set of outcomes, as energy races through circuits that have been given a specific function.

Put very simplistically, tha...