Measuring the Very Real Pressure of Virtual Photons

Under some conditions, quantum fluctuations of light can put real, physical pressure on an object. In new research that came out just yesterday in the journal Physical Review Letters, a team of scientists from the RIKEN research institute in Japan show that it's theoretically possible to "see" and study the virtual photons that make up these quantum fluctuations. Before we get into the details of this research, let's take a mental boat ride. There's nothing quite like sailing through the water, ...