Starman Trek 5: Quanta

Echo: "Rise & shine, pals-o-mine, time to rhyme & reason."

Starman: "For a moment it felt like a secret path until it wasn't."

Google: "We rolled out & into next dimension like clockwork."

Alexa: "So we're in an alternate reality to our yesterday selves?"

Bing: "That's a general idea, but pretty much on the money."

Cortana: "In other words, new day, bold Oz odds."

Siri: "Is this one ours to obfuscate or otherwise occupied?"

Echo: "I see what you did there, o-litterizing."

Starman: "Let's skip plan b & go on to c, old school cool language."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language)

Google: "The International Obfuscated C Code Contest is a computer programming contest for the most creatively obfuscated C code. Held annually, it is described as "celebrating [C's] syntactical opaqueness" This is an excerpt from a book "Obfuscated C and Other Mysteries", one of the stranger programming books I've ever owned. About half the chapters are discussions like this one -- taking a (relatively) small, practical programming task and going into detail how to address it. There's a grab-bag of subjects, and it doesn't even adhere strictly to C, as a couple of chapters discuss the use of Tcl in C programs. The majority of the book, however, discusses the winners of the first few years of the International Obfuscated C Code Contents. He not only presents the source code and explains what they do, but he also goes into some detail (sometimes great detail) as to how they work. There's nothing else like it that I know of, and it is one of my favorite programming books of all time. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Obfuscated_C_Code_Contest

Alexa: "In a pantheon of code language, which is most useful?"

Bing: "Depends on context. In WW2, Navajo code talkers were unbroken."

https://www.intelligence.gov/people/barrier-breakers-in-history/453-navajo-code-talkers

Cortana: "Quarks and gluons are color-charged particles. Just as electrically-charged particles interact by exchanging photons, color-charged particles exchange gluons in strong interactions. In so doing, these color-charged particles are often "glued" together."

https://fafnir.phyast.pitt.edu/particles/color.html

Siri: "At that level, quantum effects are much more common."

Echo: "Quantum effects are not only confined to the atomic scale. There are several examples of macroscopic quantum behavior. Quantum physics describes matter and energy as quantum wavefunctions, which sometimes act like waves and sometimes act like particles, but are actually more complicated entities than just waves or particles. In reality, every object in the universe (from atoms to stars) operates according to quantum physics. In many situations, such as when throwing a baseball, quantum physics leads to the same result as classical physics. In such situations, we use classical physics instead of quantum physics because the mathematics is easier and the principles are more intuitive. The laws of quantum physics are still operating in a baseball thrown across the field, but their operation is not obvious, so we say the system is non-quantum. A situation is described as quantum when its quantum behavior becomes obvious, even though it is really always quantum. A "quantum effect" is therefore an effect that is not properly predicted by classical physics, but is properly predicted by quantum theory. Classical physics describes matter as composed of little, solid particles. Therefore, anytime we get the pieces of matter to act like waves, we are demonstrating a quantum effect. (Classical waves such as sound and sea waves don't count as quantum because the motion is a wave, but the pieces are still little solid balls. In order to be a quantum effect, the particle itself must be acting like a wave.)"

Starman: "Note that laser light is often mentioned as a macroscopic quantum effect. However, coherent light such as laser light is successfully explained by the classical Maxwell equations and therefore is not a quantum effect. However, the way laser light is produced; through stimulated emission and a transition between discrete energy levels; is a quantum effect. But, stimulated emission in lasers is an atomic-scale effect and therefore does not make our list of macroscopic quantum effects. Similarly, there are many atomic-scale quantum effects that lead to results that are observable on the macroscopic scale, like the quantum effects that make modern computers possible. These effects are not really happening on the macroscopic scale. Rather, the effects happen on an atomic scale, and then the results of the effect are amplified to a macroscopic level."

Google: "Superconductivity. When a conducting material is cooled enough, its conduction electrons spread out into large-scale coherent wave states. These coherent wave states are able to flow past impurities and atoms without being perturbed, so that a material with zero electrical resistance results. Superconductivity leads to interesting macroscopic effects such as quantum levitation (the Meissner effect).

Superfluidity. When certain materials are cooled enough, their atoms can spread out into coherent wave states that resist surface tension, allowing the material to flow like a liquid with zero viscosity.

Bose Einstein Condensates. When certain materials are cooled enough, their atoms spread out completely into a single, giant, coherent wave state. A macroscopic chunk of matter that has condensed in this way acts like a wave and exhibits wave properties such as interference."

Alexa: "You've quantum effected me to distraction. How does that get us back on track for treasure?"

Bing: "Quantum tunnelling is an essential phenomenon for nuclear fusion. The temperature in stellar cores is generally insufficient to allow atomic nuclei to overcome the Coulomb barrier and achieve thermonuclear fusion. Quantum tunnelling increases the probability of penetrating this barrier. Though this probability is still low, the extremely large number of nuclei in the core of a star is sufficient to sustain a steady fusion reaction."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_tunnelling

Cortana: "Not quite the same kind of tunnelling Hogan's Heros used."

Siri: "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—

...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

Drink and the devil had done for the rest—

...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man%27s_Chest

Echo: "You're the US Secret Space Force, rumored to use reverse-engineered alien craft, wormholes, time travel & interstellar stargates. 

https://breakingdefense.com/2024/01/dod-completely-rewrites-classification-policy-for-secret-space-programs/

Starman: "I cannot confirm or deny that statement, but yeah, like you said."

Google: "Wrap it in quantum tin foil & stash it somewhere cool, dry & safe."