From detecting the ripples of colliding black holes to imaging individual chemical bonds, mechanical transducers have repeatedly transformed our understanding of the universe. So far, however, the sensitivity of these devices has been intrinsically limited by the laws of quantum mechanics itself.

Through new research published in Physical Review Letters, researchers led by Lukas Novotny at ETH Zurich have found a way to push past that ceiling using a quantum trick called squeezing, opening a new chapter in precision measurement.