The Universe May Have Just Revealed the True Nature of Empty Space

Displate’s offering up to up to for 33% off at: https://displate.com/l/spacetime when you use the code: SPACETIME Nothing is complicated. By which I mean, everything is complicated, because in physics even completely empty space is described as being full of quantum fields doing complicated things even when nothing else is there. So if empty space has these exotic properties, what sort of crazy stuff can we make it do? One prediction that’s been around for a while is that under extreme conditions, empty space can be sort of crystalized. And there’s good evidence that we’ve observed this for the first time. Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: Mike Martin Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2026 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By: Big Bang Alexander Tamas Filip Rolenec Juan Benet Kenneth See Mark Rosenthal MATTHEW OCKO Morgan Hough Peter Barrett Vinnie Falco Supernova Ethan Cohen Glenn Sugden Grace Biaelcki Justin Lloyd Mark Heising Rad Antonov Shaun Williams Stephen Wilcox Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke Hypernova Daniel Muzquiz Alex Kern Ben Delo Chuck Zegar