A giant space explosion just hinted that if you zoom in far enough, space itself might look like foam or pixels.
March 20, 2026
Original Paper
Holographic Quantum Foam: Theoretical Underpinnings and Observational Evidence
arXiv · 2603.18277
The Takeaway
Theoretical models suggest that at the Planck scale, spacetime is not smooth but 'foamy.' By analyzing the light from the brightest gamma-ray burst ever recorded, researchers found a specific type of blurring in the signal that matches the predictions for light traveling through a universe made of tiny, discrete 'pixels.'
From the abstract
Spacetime is foamy due to quantum fluctuations. Various gedanken experiments show that distances fluctuate by amounts consistent with the holographic principle, hence the name "holographic quantum foam" (HQF). One important prediction of HQF is that necessarily there exists a dark sector in the universe. The resulting cosmology is found (at least qualitatively) to be consistent with observations. Interestingly the quanta of the dark sector are found not to obey the familiar (fermionic or bosonic