ktlight
23rd November 2011, 14:41
FYI:
"Quantum theory predicts that observation alters reality. While many other quantum phenomena, such as spooky action at a distance, have been tested and found to be true, it has never before been possible to test whether or not the observer has any effect of what is being observed. That's about to change.
In the quantum world, an unobserved event has neither happened nor NOT happened: it exists as a possibility, which only turns into one or other when we make an observation. Until that time, a molecule may exist in a state of "superposition," which is a contradiction, because it means being in no place or every place.
In the Telegraph, Roger Highfield writes, " If we're honest, most scientists simply ignore this issue--first, because they're as baffled as the rest of us, and second, because however you interpret it, the current mathematics of quantum theory gives the right answer, and it has long been assumed that there is no experiment (that can prove it)."
But Nobel prize-winning quantum physicist Steven Weinberg has proposed an explanation of why molecules never let us witness a superposition, but instead "collapse" into the reality we're familiar with as soon as we observe them. Using ultra-precise instruments known as matter wave interferometers, Weinberg and fellow researchers Markus Arndt and Klaus Hornberger think they'll be able to spot tell-tale signs that indicate the moment of collapse. In other words, the future is going to be even more amazing than we thought."
source
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/future-will-be-stranger-today
"Quantum theory predicts that observation alters reality. While many other quantum phenomena, such as spooky action at a distance, have been tested and found to be true, it has never before been possible to test whether or not the observer has any effect of what is being observed. That's about to change.
In the quantum world, an unobserved event has neither happened nor NOT happened: it exists as a possibility, which only turns into one or other when we make an observation. Until that time, a molecule may exist in a state of "superposition," which is a contradiction, because it means being in no place or every place.
In the Telegraph, Roger Highfield writes, " If we're honest, most scientists simply ignore this issue--first, because they're as baffled as the rest of us, and second, because however you interpret it, the current mathematics of quantum theory gives the right answer, and it has long been assumed that there is no experiment (that can prove it)."
But Nobel prize-winning quantum physicist Steven Weinberg has proposed an explanation of why molecules never let us witness a superposition, but instead "collapse" into the reality we're familiar with as soon as we observe them. Using ultra-precise instruments known as matter wave interferometers, Weinberg and fellow researchers Markus Arndt and Klaus Hornberger think they'll be able to spot tell-tale signs that indicate the moment of collapse. In other words, the future is going to be even more amazing than we thought."
source
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/future-will-be-stranger-today