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Scientists supersize quantum mechanics
Nature ^ | 3/17/10 | Geoff Brumfiel

Posted on 03/18/2010 9:10:58 PM PDT by LibWhacker

Largest ever object put into quantum state.

A team of scientists has succeeded in putting an object large enough to be visible to the naked eye into a mixed quantum state of moving and not moving.

Andrew Cleland at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his team cooled a tiny metal paddle until it reached its quantum mechanical 'ground state' — the lowest-energy state permitted by quantum mechanics. They then used the weird rules of quantum mechanics to simultaneously set the paddle moving while leaving it standing still. The experiment shows that the principles of quantum mechanics can apply to everyday objects as well as as atomic-scale particles.

(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: mechanics; physics; quantum; quantummechanics; quantumphysics; science; stringtheory; supersize
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1 posted on 03/18/2010 9:10:59 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker
A team of scientists has succeeded in putting an object large enough to be visible to the naked eye into a mixed quantum state of moving and not moving.

A Nancy Pelosi face lift?
2 posted on 03/18/2010 9:14:35 PM PDT by BigEdLB (Now there ARE 1,000,000 regrets - but it may be too late.)
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To: LibWhacker

Someone notify the US Olympic Ping Pong team! Thanks to science, we can now put those smug Chinese bastards in their place.


3 posted on 03/18/2010 9:16:12 PM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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To: LibWhacker

Comments after were the best.


4 posted on 03/18/2010 9:16:18 PM PDT by Pavegunner72
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To: BigEdLB

Very, very witty.


5 posted on 03/18/2010 9:16:32 PM PDT by bjc (Check the data!!ma)
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To: LibWhacker

6 posted on 03/18/2010 9:22:34 PM PDT by mnehring
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To: Pavegunner72

I both understood and did not understand this article at the same time.


7 posted on 03/18/2010 9:23:56 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: LibWhacker
"There might be some interesting application," he says. "But frankly, I don't have one now."

Apparently, his mind is in a quantum state. Someone should check to see if it was cooled to a tenth Kelvin.

8 posted on 03/18/2010 9:33:54 PM PDT by Rocky (Obama's policy: A thousand points of lies.)
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To: LibWhacker
Hmmmmm.......
Hey. This ain't no big trick......
I can be sitting still and moving both at the same time.....
In fact I do it almost everyday.......
It's called driving a car....
LOL
9 posted on 03/18/2010 9:39:22 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: LibWhacker; Alamo-Girl; betty boop

PING TO OP


10 posted on 03/18/2010 9:43:07 PM PDT by Quix (BLOKES who got us where we R: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81)
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To: LibWhacker

I tried to explain this very simple concept to my boss that I was both snoozing and working at the same time but he’s not real big on quantum physics or rules for special relativity.


11 posted on 03/18/2010 9:46:48 PM PDT by BipolarBob (I don't have a drinking problem, I have a sobriety problem.)
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To: Moonman62
I both understood and did not understand this article at the same time.

I observed your answer. Turns out that you understood the article.

12 posted on 03/18/2010 9:47:59 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: Quix

Thanks for the ping!


13 posted on 03/18/2010 9:48:58 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: LibWhacker
“Schrödinger’s cat”
Ah-ha! So that explains the horked up hairballs in the hall while the cat is sleeping in the window sill. It all makes sense now.
14 posted on 03/18/2010 9:52:38 PM PDT by 50cal Smokepole (Effective gun control involves effective recoil management)
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To: LibWhacker
Finally, we know that size does matter.
15 posted on 03/18/2010 10:03:44 PM PDT by smokingfrog (You can't ignore your boss and expect to keep your job... WWW.filipthishouse2010.com)
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To: LibWhacker

I wnnder how they measured the paddle? And did the superposition
quantum circuit change the situation? Again, it seems we
are at the near limit of our observational abilities such that
we cannot determine the exact state of matter, and need to
use invented mathematical modeling with concommittant
counterintuitive notions such as moving and not moving
simultaneously....If nature makes our logic and semantics seem
incapable of describing our observations how much faith can we place
in logic?

But it does explain John Kerrys positon or positions on
Iraq. I knew he thought he was cool, but not 1/10 of a Kelvin degree
cool.


16 posted on 03/18/2010 10:09:39 PM PDT by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and diamonds, and harder to find.)
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To: Getready

LOL.

Well put.


17 posted on 03/18/2010 10:10:56 PM PDT by Quix (BLOKES who got us where we R: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81)
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To: LibWhacker

Very enlightening...”The thing did something to the gadget which caused unusual stuff to just happen somehow, maybe..”


18 posted on 03/18/2010 10:19:56 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: LibWhacker

If I understood this correctly, I didn’t . . .


19 posted on 03/18/2010 10:21:30 PM PDT by BraveMan
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To: LibWhacker
Next, the researchers put the quantum circuit into a superposition of 'push' and 'don't push', and connected it to the paddle. Through a series of careful measurements, they were able to show that the paddle was both vibrating and not vibrating simultaneously.

That's the part I would like to see a lot more information on, especially the second sentence.

20 posted on 03/18/2010 10:22:53 PM PDT by The Cajun (Mind numbed robot , ditto-head, Hannitized, Levinite)
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