Why exactly is the quantum world so weird?

The following is an extract from our Lost in Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we hand over the keyboard to a physicist or mathematician to tell you about fascinating ideas from their corner of the universe. You can sign up for Lost in Space-Time here.

Before I entered university, I learned quantum physics is the most mysterious type of physics, full of particles that exist in two places at once, waves that don’t actually wave and objects whose behaviour can depend on things happening on the other side of our universe. I…