Posted on 04/25/2016 8:48:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Well, "near" is a relative term. We may note that molecules can exist only in a state "near" absolute zero, i.e. temperatures much less than the surface of the sun. The physicist relishes this sliding scale, which appears in all things.
“This means that the oxygen and hydrogen atoms of the water molecule are delocalized and therefore simultaneously present in all six symmetrically equivalent positions in the channel at the same time,” lead study author Alexander Kolesnikov, of ORNL’s Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, said in news release. “It’s one of those phenomena that only occur in quantum mechanics and has no parallel in our everyday experience.”
Translation: this can only happen because the particles are, in fact, simply waves. There is no wave-particle duality, there are only waves that sometimes appear to us to behave as particles. What the scientists are describing is two symmetrically opposite standing waves superimposed on each other.
“Of course, this implies the molecule can ‘think’, and alters it’s own structure for survival.”
No it doesn’t, any more than water turning to ice implies it can “think”. It is simply responding to the environmental conditions, according to the same laws that molecules always follow, which can basically be summed up as “assume the most efficient configuration to minimize energy loss”, aka, take the path of least resistance.
"The average kinetic energy of the water protons directly obtained from the neutron experiment is a measure of their motion at almost absolute zero temperature and is about 30 percent less than it is in bulk liquid or solid water," Kolesnikov said.
I suppose "almost", as used in the UPI article, is more scientifically precise than "near".
I would just like to know what this new physical state of matter is like without personally approaching absolute zero.
By the way, I don't believe in plasma.
Well I say, there are only particles which sometimes appear to us to behave as waves! How about that!
This phenomenon might be similar in origin.
That's rich! Luv ta hear it. Link, whatever.
It’s an untenable proposition.
I can easily posit a physical model to explain how a wave can appear to be a particle (in fact, those models already exist), but there is no sensible way for you to posit a model to explain how a true particle could appear to be a wave. The best and brightest minds for over a century have tried, and the best they came up with was “well, it changes into a particle if we happen to be looking at it, then it stops when we look away”, and that is not behavior that would be compatible with these things actually being particles.
“I don’t believe in plasma.”
So, what is your hypothesis for how fluorescent light bulbs work?
I believe in the big three- solid, liquid, gas. This article hasn’t changed my beliefs.
“So, what is your hypothesis for how fluorescent light bulbs work?”
I haven’t thought about it until you mentioned it. Is a fourth state of matter the only possible explanation? I will look into it.
Quantum Information & the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
Evidently soon after the discovery/creation of quantum mechanics Bohr and Einstein started having arguments about what physics was all about.
Einstein said it was about finding out what actually exists.
Bohr held that it was about finding out what can be said.
We may be forever denied the ability to actually know what the universe is made of, but even Zeilinger who seemed to lean toward Bohr's answer held out hope that Einstein might ultimately be found to be right.
Ylem is a proposed fifth state of matter that occured in and around the time of the Big Bang.
“...well, it changes into a particle if we happen to be looking at it, then it stops when we look away”, and that is not behavior that would be compatible with these things actually being particles.”
Did you teach HS physics in 1963? You are quoting the same source as a well respected teacher I knew.
Do you really believe there is a distinct fourth state of matter? I haven’t thought about the possibility in many decades. How is plasma different from a gas? Enough so to be a new “species”?
And as for Ylem- big bang... really?
"Plasma (from Greek πλάσμα, "anything formed"[1]) is one of the four fundamental states of matter, the others being solid, liquid, and gas. A plasma has properties unlike those of the other states."
“Einstein said it was about finding out what actually exists.”
I’ll go with Einstein.
I just checked the Wikipedia entry. It mentions fusion, neon signs and intergalactic matter.
The three states of matter we know and love seem to apply to most elements and compounds and are determined by temperature. This plasma business seems to be determined by electrical charges. Plasma doesn’t seem to fit into the same category as the big three. It’s a stretch.
Relative to quantum mechanics Einstein said, “God does not play dice with the universe.” This is one of the few occasions that Einstein was wrong.
Unfortunately none of our greatest physicist understand the game of quantum dice. They know the results but do not understand why. Quantum mechanics is a strange universe.
Did you ever try to clean the inside of a nanotube?
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