Your chemistry high school teacher lied to you when they told

Adam Riess, the Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist, once revealed a startling truth: “Your chemistry high school teacher lied to you when they told you that there was such a thing as a vacuum, that you could take space and move every particle out of it.” At first, these words may sound like jest, but in them is a profound unveiling of the mysteries of the cosmos. What we once thought of as emptiness is not truly empty. Even in the deepest voids, there is energy, structure, and unseen presence. The so-called vacuum is not a hollow nothing, but a realm alive with quantum tremors, dark energy, and the unseen breath of creation.

The origin of this teaching lies in modern physics, in the discoveries of quantum field theory and cosmology. Riess, who helped prove that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, reminds us that science itself evolves. Where once men believed in a perfect void, science now whispers that no such void exists. Even space, stripped of matter, hums with unseen power. The ancients thought of the ether, a subtle substance filling all things; now physicists speak of the quantum field, dark energy, and fluctuations that cannot be erased. Thus, the teacher’s “lie” is not a betrayal, but the mark of knowledge unfolding, layer by layer, like petals of an endless flower.

This truth echoes in the stories of old. Recall the Greek philosopher Democritus, who declared that all things are made of atoms moving in the void. For centuries, men believed him, thinking the void to be nothingness itself. But now we see that even Democritus’s void was not the final word, for in the “nothing” there is always “something.” Or consider the great Isaac Newton, who spoke of absolute space and absolute time. Later, Einstein rose and revealed that time and space bend, ripple, and curve. So too now, Riess declares that the “vacuum” is not barren at all—it is the stage upon which the universe continually performs its hidden play.

The meaning is heroic and humbling. We learn that reality is deeper than appearances, and that emptiness is never truly empty. What seems void may conceal abundance. What seems silent may resound with hidden song. Even the cosmic “nothing” cradles energy enough to accelerate galaxies and stretch the very fabric of space-time. If the universe itself teaches us this paradox, should not our own lives reflect the same truth? For even in seasons where we feel hollow, abandoned, or stripped bare, there is hidden strength, unseen reserves, quiet power that sustains us.

We must take this as both science and parable. Science tells us there is no perfect vacuum; life teaches us there is no true despair. When you feel void of meaning, know that your soul still quivers with untapped energy. When the world declares your life empty, remember that the cosmos declares: even emptiness holds power. The vacuum is alive. So too, your stillness, your silence, your waiting, is filled with potential unseen.

A story from human history bears this out. Abraham Lincoln, before rising to lead a nation, endured long years of political defeat and personal sorrow. Many thought his life a void, a hollow vessel unfit for greatness. Yet within that silence, strength was gathering. At the appointed hour, it burst forth, as energy hidden in the vacuum of space drives the galaxies apart. What seemed empty was full of unseen destiny.

Thus the lesson stands clear: never mistake the unseen for nothingness. In the classroom, in the cosmos, and in your own soul, what appears empty is filled with mysteries not yet revealed. Do not despair of silence, nor of waiting, nor of hardship. Beneath them hums the same energy that carries stars through eternity.

Practically, this means: cultivate wonder. When faced with what seems barren—whether an unanswered prayer, a long struggle, or even the silent night sky—remember Riess’s teaching: there is no true vacuum. Look deeper, be patient, trust the hidden forces at work. For both in the universe and in your own heart, the void is never void. It is the cradle of possibility, the womb of creation, the stage upon which the future is even now preparing its entrance.