What is Digg?85 Comments
- spoodigity, on 11/24/2007, -4/+34FIRE ZE LASER!
- Scynet, on 11/24/2007, -0/+29"If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics". -Richard Feynman
- TheRealTrypto, on 11/24/2007, -1/+24The trouble with this "magic show" is that you need to understand a bit of QM (and physics) before you can appreciate the profundity. Unfortunately, most Diggers seem not to. So bring on the kitten-in-a-tub videos. Me understandz dat.
Her accent isn't bad at all, and she is a superb explainer. Once you've experienced non-highschool explainers you'll know what a bad accent really is. Your first clue should be that both Harvard and Nature have given her a thumbs-up. - Tenetri, on 11/24/2007, -2/+22Heh... Magic and Quantum Mechanics shouldn't be used in the same sentence...
Seems kind of obscure to say something that follows a percise law is magic... maybe its just cause I'm an ***** or something - shattadeya, on 11/24/2007, -3/+23I wanted to see the light slow down. I guess it was too fast for me to see. phhh Some magic trick
- pimpbot1979, on 11/24/2007, -6/+18I finally cured my insomnia issues. Thanks quantum magician!
- sodoh, on 11/24/2007, -3/+13"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." : Carl Sagan
- sockpuppets, on 11/24/2007, -2/+10Quantum Mechanics hurts my head. I am envious of people that truly "get it."
- oz16, on 11/24/2007, -0/+8Speaking of Quantum mechanics
Werner Heisenberg was driving along the highway and noticed a cop car with its siren on. He pulled over and the cop asked him " buddy, do you have any idea how fast you were going?" he replied "no, but i know exactly where i am" - dgh1973, on 11/24/2007, -1/+8The implications of this are fascinating. I was always boggled with the idea that observation effected outcomes in quantum mechanics.
Dugg. - 97thfloor, on 11/24/2007, -1/+8Article in Wired about it,
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/ ... - Scynet, on 11/24/2007, -0/+7God damn comment system.
Another try at the link:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=ucberke ... - vertinox, on 11/24/2007, -0/+6;) Light always travels slower on earth because it isn't traveling through a vacuum. When people are talking about "the speed of light" or "c" they are talking about its speed in a vacuum. And more to the point, you can't really see light in a vacuum or actually light itself but rather its effects on matter.
Which is why you can't see most lasers with the naked eye unless of course you put some dust particles in the air for it to reflect/refract off of. - Scynet, on 11/24/2007, -0/+6Kind of hijacking this, but the university of Berkeley has a wonderful set of physics videos which cover some of the effects of quantum world too (lectures 70-20). I've watched them all, and I truly recommend them to anyone interested. Lots of material about gravity and other fascinating forces too.
On Youtube, btw:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=ucberke ... - canton7, on 11/24/2007, -0/+5You see light when, and only when, it hits your retina. If light interacts with matter, then there's a high probability some will be reflected (not so much refracted) in your direction and make it to your retina. Similarly, it's perfectly possible to see a laser without it interacting with matter - just shine it straight into your eye. Not recommended, though!
- muniak, on 11/24/2007, -1/+6I think it's stupid that the article calls it a magic trick; it's not magic.
- Scynet, on 11/24/2007, -1/+5Yeah but some of those laws seem to elude us, so...
Well, put it this way: if there's one thing in this world that scientists could consider as magic, then quantum mechanics would be a strong candidate. The idea of totally random reactions which weren't triggered by anything isn't exactly scientific, yet that's what is at the core of famous quantum "issues" such as the Schrödinger's cat. - sockpuppets, on 11/24/2007, -0/+4Freeze the second video at 2:18, you can see David Copperfield in th background with goggles on.
- theforrester, on 11/24/2007, -1/+5All I've got to say is "Beam me up Scottie". I can't believe it...it's the beginings of teleportation technology.
- juckman, on 11/24/2007, -4/+8What a let down! Misleading title, no magic trick shown, "magician" spoiled the secrets of the magic trick. So many rules of magicians broken... Did I mention, no trick shown?
- sprash, on 11/24/2007, -1/+5This is nothing too new. Two floors above me they have done Bose-Einstein-condensation almost 4 years ago. Now they are experimenting with ultra-cold crystals where the lattice constant aligns to the wavelength of the laser which you apply to it.
- jimmiss, on 11/25/2007, -0/+3Wave your hand. Your fingertip are aging slower than your shoulder. Booyah.
- carpespasm, on 11/24/2007, -2/+5I read a story a while back about a couple who drive into the countryside to a picture window "farm" where they expose windows made of these condensates to a pretty countryside for several years and then sell it for people to hang in their drab appartments for a nice picturesque view. it was a neat idea.
- lordsteve, on 11/24/2007, -0/+3Or Mr. Freeze....
- elsagacious, on 11/24/2007, -0/+3SHE'S A MAN, BABY!!!
- MadEnvoy, on 11/24/2007, -0/+3Wrong. This is a quote from Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Any_sufficiently_adva ...
http://duff.geology.washington.edu/mdbrg/staff_pag ...
"1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - HenkPoley, on 11/24/2007, -0/+3Not so much a clone. A clone is a copy, so two of the same thing exist. This is more like stretching a single object in a way that whenever you look, it looks unstretched. If you stretch the object from one bose-einstein condensate in the direction of the other condensate. And then look there, it will show up in the second condensate. Maybe a natural way of thinking about it is as an out of body experience, except somebody can "grab your mind" and force your body to show up there.
- jimmiss, on 11/25/2007, -0/+2Jokes aren't allowed.
- elsagacious, on 11/24/2007, -1/+3SHE'S A MAN, BABY!!!
- compulsive1, on 11/24/2007, -0/+2This is just an experiment that shows a tangible effect of quantum mechanics - a proof of theory. The slowing down of information takes place so that a measurement with normal instrumentation can take place- one can differenciate the control signal (observed therefore existing in only one form and in one place- remember that quantum mechanics work depending on measurement methods) from the quantum signal- not directly observed. Only after you shine a laser at the second cloud you can make an observation of what happened to the information while you were not observing therefore contaminating the experiment.
Also, keep in mind that those two atom clouds don't have to be close to each other- they can be separated by light years, yet the transfer of information will be instantanious- if they are quantum locked (and you don't look).
So now just like with quantum computers, the challenge is to measure and utilize a side effect of a process, but not the process itself- because if you do, you break it.
This woman showed us how she can observe quantum mechanics at work without messing up the process through observation. - tetsuwan, on 11/24/2007, -1/+3No, you're right BEC was achieved in 1995. But the video wasn't really about BEC, was it?
- 1tb0y, on 11/25/2007, -0/+2The ability to manipulate light in this manner could potentially lead to using it for computer processing, using photons instead of electrons for the "bits".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photonic_computing
Also, having said that, there doesn't need to be any immediate practical uses for all research. I know statements like this gets bandied about a lot, but doing basic research is justified for its own sake - there's no telling what might be useful down the road. What many people don't seem to appreciate, is the fact that what we perceive as "cutting edge science" doesn't just appear out of now where - for a lot of the disciplines and fields that are at the forefront of industry today, there's decades and decades of basic science which, when done, few people had any idea where they would lead.
I was initially going to bury your comment even further since I thought you might be trolling, but I'll go ahead and digg it since you might be on the level. - anath47, on 11/24/2007, -1/+3wtf kinda apartment complex do you live in?
- sprash, on 11/24/2007, -1/+3There are students that sit around at the academic library even Saturdays. Especially those like me who should learn something instead of surfing digg...
- glinsvad, on 11/24/2007, -0/+2Physics... do you speak it m.f.?
- phenolholic, on 11/25/2007, -0/+2he got that from niels bohr. the true father of quantum mechanics
- sodoh, on 11/24/2007, -1/+3I heard Carl say it. ;-) But dugg you up for the correct quote.
- jimmiss, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1"People think I'm smart because I talk in a robot voice"
- jimmiss, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1It's thick, but I didn't miss a word.
/canadian - N4S74, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1To understand the last two videos you have to take a hit of acid every time she says quantum mechanics in the first
- CCoe, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1SHE'S A MAN, BABY!
- jimmiss, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1groan:-)
- inactive, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1HAHA, I got it.
- glinsvad, on 11/24/2007, -0/+1She's danish... so am I... and I'm embarrassed on her behalf. Her accent is so thick I guess even danes that don't understand english would still understand her version of it.
- bananaspiders, on 11/24/2007, -0/+1MAH-NEE-POO-LATE!
- nizzy1115, on 11/24/2007, -0/+1wait until you go to college and take some physics courses, specifically quantum mechanics ;) this is nothing compared to most of my professors.
- hollyminkowski, on 11/24/2007, -0/+1Quantum effects are cool!
I have been playing around with the random quantum noise from a simple low-noise zener diode.
I read the state of the diode noise 100,000/second using an AVR microcontroller.
This is pretty much the same simple device used by the PEAR group at Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab.
It is interesting to watch the variations in the random noise. - elsagacious, on 11/24/2007, -1/+2SHE'S A MAN, BABY!!!
- elsagacious, on 11/24/2007, -1/+2SHE'S A MAN, BABY!!!
- dzagama, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1Holy crap! The speed of a bicycle?!! I, too, can travel at the speed of light* !!!
* In a BEC -
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