tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post3040923468128798628..comments2023-04-29T11:00:08.353+01:00Comments on WASTED by NICOLA MORGAN: QUANTUM PHYSICS FOR SCAREDY CATS!Nicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-55415407871990020842010-04-29T10:12:45.087+01:002010-04-29T10:12:45.087+01:00As a physicist, I feel I must correct what is perh...As a physicist, I feel I must correct what is perhaps the most misleading error in your explanation, which was otherwise a reasonable one. There is no such particle named "quantum". The word quantum is used because there are many properties of elementary particles that are only "allowed" to have discrete values, according to the theory. It is the property values (such as energy or momentum) that are quantised.<br /><br />I won't attempt to nit-pick any of the rest, nor the video.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-17367675500747230112010-04-28T10:30:56.281+01:002010-04-28T10:30:56.281+01:00Well I fell asleep last night thinking about proba...Well I fell asleep last night thinking about probability waves. You can't observe a probability, you can only observe an event, therefore the particle HAS to resolve itself to be observed. I think. <br />: -/Kath McGurlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02526923882402757423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-36293019459011023022010-04-27T23:14:58.587+01:002010-04-27T23:14:58.587+01:00Yeah, I think that worked! I believe my book has b...Yeah, I think that worked! I believe my book has been dispatched.Colette Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11685539849318739675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-91436540854650041372010-04-27T22:45:15.237+01:002010-04-27T22:45:15.237+01:00SueG - mmm, sounds interesting. Must investigate.
...SueG - mmm, sounds interesting. Must investigate.<br /><br />jj - many thanks for that - always annoying for the experts when people (incl me) take soundbites, and misunderstand them. But I wonder why scientists (and they do) DO use this expression every time. Isn't it also fair to say that "bashing one object with another object" paints a similarly simplistic and unhelpful (to lay people)description of the act of measuring a particle's position? Just wondering. We all do want to understand, really! So, I would really love you to squawk as loudly as you like as long as you can help me understand exactly what's happening that's so weird - because if it wasn't weird scientists wouldn't be so exercised by it (eg Einstein refusing to accept it). help!<br /><br />Colette - who knows?! Re Wasted being available in the US: my UK publishers have US rights and will be trying to sell them in the US. Until then, we are tied. But you can (I think) get it from the Book Depository and I think postage is free anywhere in the world. <br /><br />Womag - I agree! But i also hope jj can make it seem less mind-blowing.Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-656888686965405212010-04-27T20:53:49.543+01:002010-04-27T20:53:49.543+01:00That video has left me both curious and confused!That video has left me both curious and confused!Nik Perringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426321804560400335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-30922537847638365042010-04-27T17:31:21.309+01:002010-04-27T17:31:21.309+01:00FairyHedgehog: Probably the populizers, but it'...<b>FairyHedgehog:</b> Probably the populizers, but it's been going on so long I really think (we) scientists should have squawked loudly to correct that perception by now.<br /><br />Hence, I am a lone voice squawking in the wilderness.jjdebenedictishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16950592240599703771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-29705814688568902662010-04-27T17:16:18.181+01:002010-04-27T17:16:18.181+01:00Yay, go jj! That annoys me too. Is it the scientis...Yay, go jj! That annoys me too. Is it the scientists who say this though, or the popularisers?fairyhedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141089706966852951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-30126732128495072592010-04-27T17:14:07.731+01:002010-04-27T17:14:07.731+01:00It annoys me scientists never explain what is mean...It annoys me scientists never explain what is meant by "observing" in this context; it's like they're trying to play up the ooky-spooky magical-seeming phenomenon of the quantum world.<br /><br />At the quantum level, observing something means bouncing another particle off it. It's not a passive activity.<br /><br />Of course bashing one object with another object will change the first object's behaviour. The path of the marbles would also change if you were "observing" them by smashing them with a hammer.jjdebenedictishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16950592240599703771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-81879901601767990132010-04-27T13:46:52.083+01:002010-04-27T13:46:52.083+01:00Very cool video. So, are we to take from this that...Very cool video. So, are we to take from this that in Wasted something happens differently than expected because someone (or something) is observing? (just guessing as I still unable to get my hands on this surely wonderful book in the US).Colette Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11685539849318739675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-53001030725241455842010-04-27T11:43:26.900+01:002010-04-27T11:43:26.900+01:00Oh I love quantum physics! Completely and deliciou...Oh I love quantum physics! Completely and deliciously mind-blowing.Kath McGurlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02526923882402757423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-16409231882585459852010-04-27T09:56:02.743+01:002010-04-27T09:56:02.743+01:00Oh, I do love this stuff - so much that I wrote my...Oh, I do love this stuff - so much that I wrote my own novel, "Tangled Roots," all about it and the life of a physicist. But the research was incredibly hard. Every time I thought I understood something, I'd have to go back and relearn it minutes later. It led to my including a glossary in the back.Sue Guineyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556228394020314560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-74512097287957203512010-04-27T08:56:46.222+01:002010-04-27T08:56:46.222+01:00cat - don't worry, i won't! And, to reassu...cat - don't worry, i won't! And, to reassure you and Spike, only humans are scaredy cats.Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-47569467425980305512010-04-27T08:56:01.038+01:002010-04-27T08:56:01.038+01:00India - phew!India - phew!Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-46914471243234157572010-04-27T08:55:50.469+01:002010-04-27T08:55:50.469+01:00Fairyhedgehog - agreed. I get annoyed by anthropom...Fairyhedgehog - agreed. I get annoyed by anthropomorphic interpretations of the selfish gene theory, which is something I read a lot about (or did) - the idea that genes are trying to do anything at all, implying that they have will. Sometimes, in scientists' explanations, the simplification preys too much on our natural inclination towards finding pattern, sense and a human dimension. We're not very good at thinking outside the box that is our head, are we?Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-35313387481604261612010-04-27T08:55:09.085+01:002010-04-27T08:55:09.085+01:00Nicola you promised me you would not do anything n...Nicola you promised me you would not do anything nasty to a cat, any cat and especially to Spike!!!<br />Cats are not scaredy cats...they are brave and bold and intelligent and highly intuitive and look after humans in ways the humans know nothing about. (It is why they need nine lives.)catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-83912147056434986292010-04-27T08:49:55.701+01:002010-04-27T08:49:55.701+01:00Wow, for someone non-sciency, that was a pretty sc...Wow, for someone non-sciency, that was a pretty sciency post! Hee... good stuff.India Drummondhttp://www.indiadrummond.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539436145942646560.post-77693193008932496462010-04-27T08:47:27.297+01:002010-04-27T08:47:27.297+01:00I love the first part of that video, which I hadn&...I love the first part of that video, which I hadn't seen before.<br /><br />I always get a bit irritated by the implication that matter "knows" it's being "watched". The experimental results may be difficult to understand but they don't mean that matter can think!fairyhedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141089706966852951noreply@blogger.com