Minuscule drums push the limits of quantum weirdness

By playing two tiny drums, physicists have provided the most direct demonstration yet of quantum entanglement on larger scales. The aluminium drums are each around 10 micrometres long — barely visible to the naked eye, but enormous by quantum standards. Physicists hit the drums with microwave photons and observed that the membranes moved with such a high degree of correlation that they could no longer be described separately: they were in a quantum-entangled state. In another tiny drum experiment, physicists linked the drums’ properties — although not in perfect sync — to get around some of the measurement restrictions defined by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The findings provide evidence that quantum laws still apply in the big world and open the door to future technology built with entangled macroscopic parts.