On the centennial of modern quantum mechanics , the Nobel Committee awarded the year’s most prestigious physics prize to an experiment that demonstrated how quantum effects play out on large scales—including inside your smartphone.

In fact, the implications of this year’s winner—quantum tunneling—stretch way beyond the device in your pocket.

John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis conducted their initial experiments in 1984 and 1985, but their work has had a lasting impact, becoming “the foundation of all digital technology ,” Olle Eriksson, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said in a statement.

But what is quantum tunneling, and how has it brought this bizarre realm of physics into our everyday devices? Read on to discover why this quirk of quantum is so critical.

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