Did you see that?!?!

[swood1000]

The present can change the past, or Schrodinger’s cat brought back to life.

Light exhibits the characteristics of both a wave and a particle, and this changes depending on whether or not it is measured.

Shine a beam of photons against a barrier with two slit openings. Left to their own devices, the photons take on a wave behavior, spreading through both slits and interfering with themselves to create a rippled pattern of light and dark on a more distant screen.



In this case, there is no way to tell which slit the "particle" photon went through. But since photons are quantum objects, that doesn't matter. They aren't constrained to acting like a particle. But if you put a detector by each slit and measure which one each photon goes through, then the photons do have to behave like particles. When you do that, the rippled interference pattern goes away, and you just get two bright spots on the distant screen, as if the photons were particles all along.



But suppose you ran the experiment, measured which slit each photon passed through, and measured where each photon struck the distant screen, but before you look at the results, you destroy the data on which slit each photon passes through. In other words, you make a delayed choice about the experiment. What would happen? On the one hand, the measurements were made, so the photons should act like particles.

What we found was that the delayed choice really does determine the outcome of the earlier experiment. In our double slit experiment, that would mean destroying the data about the photons going through the slit would give the "wave" interference pattern, even though the "particle" data was collected at the time.

[rsvman]

Mind.blown.

[BD80]

Why does this send a chill down my spine?

[IrishDevil]

Go home, causality, you're drunk.

[BD80]

This is exactly like a thermos: "How do it know?"

[left_hook_lacey]

confused.jpg

[jacone21]

confused.jpg

The cat is dead.

[BD80]

The cat is dead.

Not if its vitals were being measured … unless the records are destroyed before opening the box.

[swood1000]

The present can change the past, or Schrodinger’s cat brought back to life.

Light exhibits the characteristics of both a wave and a particle, and this changes depending on whether or not it is measured.

The natural way to think about this is that once the light goes through the slits it has taken on the characteristics that will give either the wave or the particle result when it hits the screen. Therefore, to change something after the light goes through and have it alter the result seems to affect something that happened in the past (going through the slits).

The current scientific thinking, however, is that this would require faster-than-light communication and would be impossible. The explanation, therefore, is that a photon in flight is in a "superposition of states," meaning that while in flight it has the potential to manifest either as a wave or as a particle but during its flight time it is neither, and therefore there is no time paradox.

Hope that clears things up.

Edit: On the other hand John Wheeler, who originated the delayed choice experiment, pointed out that when this is applied to a device of interstellar dimensions, a last-minute decision made on Earth on how to observe a photon could alter a decision made millions or even billions of years ago.

[OldPhiKap]

The cat is dead.

0C70F986-9507-4493-B691-DB1A2BDB4B1E.jpg

[94duke]

[JasonEvans]

[gus]

The present can change the past, or Schrodinger’s cat brought back to life.

Light exhibits the characteristics of both a wave and a particle, and this changes depending on whether or not it is measured.

And what's the story behind the clock used in the article? The masons run the governments, but rotarians run the universe as we know it?

[JasonEvans]

If I told you a blown strike call got two umpires suspended for an entire season you would think I was crazy...

...but once you see this blown call, it kinda makes sense to give these guys an extended break.

https://content.jwplatform.com/previ...f9fa92e4366fef

--Jason "Mexican baseball... its FAAAAANtasic" Evans

[OldPhiKap]

If I told you a blown strike call got two umpires suspended for an entire season you would think I was crazy...

...but once you see this blown call, it kinda makes sense to give these guys an extended break.

https://content.jwplatform.com/previ...f9fa92e4366fef

--Jason "Mexican baseball... its FAAAAANtasic" Evans

Sports in the post-truth era . . . .

Reminds me of a Word that Stephen Colbert coined years ago -- "Wikiality." It doesn't matter what is objectively true, it matters what we collectively agree is true. Or in this case, what two umpires agreed was true.

Don't feel bad for the umps though -- this did not cost them their jobs as futbol umpires with FIFA.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Want to see something fun?
Go here https://www.liveleak.com/ and look at the top video.
The video I posted will prob be moved by time you click, but the top ones last a bit, so who knows.
(For those that are too slow to click, this is the link. https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=uiA78_1532018329 )
So this was a cool story. And I will tell all about how viral videos actually get made! Tomorrow...when I'm awake. (I had no idea)

Spiders are cool.

[JasonEvans]

Want to see something fun?
Go here https://www.liveleak.com/ and look at the top video.
The video I posted will prob be moved by time you click, but the top ones last a bit, so who knows.
(For those that are too slow to click, this is the link. https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=uiA78_1532018329 )
So this was a cool story. And I will tell all about how viral videos actually get made! Tomorrow...when I'm awake. (I had no idea)

Spiders are cool.

What kind of spider is that? It appeared to be genus Hauntus MyNightmaresae.

How much did you speed up the film? I would not mind watching her wrap him up in real time to see how long it took. Amazing video!

[CameronBornAndBred]

What kind of spider is that? It appeared to be genus Hauntus MyNightmaresae.

How much did you speed up the film? I would not mind watching her wrap him up in real time to see how long it took. Amazing video!

That is in real time! It is a garden spider (orb weaver). I got super lucky and just happened to catch her with company.
As far as the viral marketing goes, learning about how it works was pretty neat. I posted the video, and later that day a rep from ViralHog emailed me about licensing it. I filled out a contract online, and they market it to other media outlets. I get a majority cut of what they make. (Which will probably be like $1.13)
Fun to discover the back end of how viral videos work.

Here is a photo of the spider and her boyfriend I took just before deciding to record the video. Good thing I didn't waste time! She sure didn't.

Spider.jpg

[JasonEvans]

the internet is buzzing about a truly incredible photo that a man named Brent Cizek took a few days ago. He was on Lake Bemidji in Minnesota when he spotted a Duck leading her babies out into the water, the way all mamma ducks do. But, it was a few more ducklings than you typically see in a duck family.

How many baby ducks was she caring for? 76

76!!!!

Are you kidding me?!?! Apparently, it is not uncommon for ducks to lay their eggs in another mamma’s nest and she just adopts them when it happens. It is also possible that she is serving as a Duck Day Care for other moms who are busy doing something else. In any event, 76 ducklings is a lot and the photo is simply incredible.

Audubon magazine and the NY Times both have excellent articles with details if you want to read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/s...ngs-photo.html
https://www.audubon.org/news/heres-w...e-50-ducklings

Oh, and you know you want to see the amazing picture too…

[swood1000]

In baseball, a curveball creates a physical effect and a perceptual puzzle. The physical effect (the curve) arises because the ball’s rotation leads to a deflection in the ball’s path. The perceptual puzzle arises because the deflection is actually gradual but is often perceived as an abrupt change in direction (the break). Our illusions suggest that the perceived “break” may be caused by the transition from the central visual system to the peripheral visual system. Like a curveball, the spinning disks in the illusions appear to abruptly change direction when an observer switches from foveal to peripheral viewing.

Look at the spinning disk. It will appear to fall vertically. Look at the fixation point. The disk will appear to fall at an angle. Shift your gaze during the disk’s descent. The flight of the oval will shift direction. The shift is analogous to the “break” of the curveball.