{"id":3356,"date":"2012-09-30T22:03:46","date_gmt":"2012-10-01T04:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/?p=3356"},"modified":"2012-09-30T22:10:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T04:10:00","slug":"zombie-cats-some-pretty-scenery-and-a-red-dawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/?p=3356","title":{"rendered":"Zombie Cats, Some Pretty Scenery, and a Red Dawn"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been researching quantum theory recently, and by “research” I mean that I’m trying to wrap my math-challenged head around something that is even more amazing, disturbing, and shocking than I thought it was. Things (very small things) really can be in two places at once. The observation of something writes the history of that thing before you observed it.\u00a0Schrodinger’s cat<\/span><\/a> can be both alive and dead. Two electrons can affect one another across vast distances, instantaneously. The quantum behavior of very small things defies our intuitive understanding of the world around us, supplanting the Newtonian “approximation” that we take for granted. Quantum physics is where it’s at, and it’s pretty mind-blowing. I mean, it’s arguably the most proven theory in all of science, and a third of the world’s economy is comprised of industries based on quantum mechanics (things like lasers and the microprocessor in your computer and your phone).<\/p>\n

I’m researching all of this for The Quantum League<\/em>, and it’s got me really excited to write the series. If you’re interested, Brian Greene, a physicist with a gift for being able to describe very complex concepts in understandable ways, took on the quantum realm for the PBS show Nova<\/em>. You can watch it below, if you’d like.
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