A different way of looking at Schr枚dinger's cat (1)
Before Christmas, I was trying to explain quantum theory to the grandchildren and mentioned Schr枚dinger’s cat, where the cat is both alive and dead before the box is opened. The children were sceptical. “Surely,” they said, “if you carefully observe the box from the outside, sooner or later the ‘cat’ will interact with one or more walls of the box and you would be able to infer its state without having to directly observe it.” So, I pointed to the Christmas tree, and said: “Under the tree is a carefully wrapped present for each of you. The present may be the gift of your dreams, or a pair of Grandma’s knitted socks. But you won’t know until you take off the wrapping and look inside.” Now that got their attention (29 November, p 36).
A different way of looking at Schr枚dinger's cat (2)
I have always found it strange when physicists say that they repeat quantum experiments. They repeat only certain parameters 鈥� they cannot ever repeat precisely the total physical environment. All they can do is repeat part of that physical environment. And that being the case, how can they be sure that aspects of the overall changing environment don’t affect the outcome?
If the total environment does affect the outcomes of such partial tests, then it could be that quantum outcomes aren’t random, but determined by the environment. And if that is the case, then all the mystery surrounding quantum theory simply disappears. There is no need for a many-worlds theory, there is no need for Schr枚dinger’s cat. What is measured doesn’t depend on an observer; the observer simply observes what is the case.
The sweet spot between indifference and apathy
Regarding why climate action is stalling while Earth gets hotter: perhaps the disaster takes too long to hit. We have been hearing about it for years now, and while it is getting worse, it doesn’t have the urgency that, say, covid-19 had. Most people believe there is still time to act, so they stall (29 November, p 7). On the other hand, saying it’s five past midnight might drive people to apathy: “We’re doomed, so nothing helps now.” Is there a sweet spot between indifference and apathy?
In defence of the trend towards SUVs
The trend towards SUVs that Anthony Laverty writes about is also evident here in Australia. But is it really bad for the planet? These SUVs tend to be diesel and therefore much more economical on fuel. I drive such a vehicle, a 15-year-old Audi Q5 SUV, and it delivers around 60 miles per gallon. That is as good as a Toyota Prius hybrid. (The Prius would do better in the city, the Q5 on the motorway.) In comparison, I have had, in my younger days, two original Minis, which couldn’t remotely approach this figure (22 November, p 19).
Let's say a big hooray for the hoverfly
Oh, how we all too often underestimate the amazing abilities of insects. So, thank you for the excellent and informative article, “Heroes in disguise”, on the fabulous hoverfly (29 November, p 42).
Delving into the search for dark matter
In response to Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s article on the research into dark matter: dark matter seems to me to be “aether with mass”. It can’t have any viscosity, for example, because if it did, normal matter passing through it would lose energy, which we would be able to detect. This applies at the cosmic scale even if dark mass particles are very loosely distributed (29 November, p 24).
To help the climate, it's better to look down not up
While John Tons’s idea of painting every roof white is effective at cooling the home and reducing the urban heat island effect, it has a negligible effect on a global scale, because the total area of roofs of buildings is minute compared with Earth’s surface area (Letters, 29 November).
Antarctica’s surface area alone is equivalent to the roofs of about 100 billion medium-sized homes, far more than the number of roofs that can potentially be painted white. That is why the drawback of photovoltaic solar panels’ dark colour is dwarfed by their benefit in reducing fossil fuel consumption. On the other hand, road surfaces cover a much larger area than roofs, and trials of light-coloured road surfaces are happening around the world.
Giving mosquitoes their proboscis back
I was fascinated to read that a mosquito’s proboscis can act as a surprisingly hardy 3D printer nozzle (29 November, p 18). I wonder if they can also manufacture a replacement mosquito proboscis?
Mice and heavy metal don't get along
With regard to Feedback’s musings on what kind of music mice like, I was once party to an accidental experiment on this when I worked in Newcastle. Our education department shared a wall with an adjacent lab’s mouse facility, where the animals were suffering from unexpectedly poor fertility (29 November, p 56).
Suspecting noise to be behind the problem, the lab was engaged in lengthy negotiations with a nightclub that shared the building. However, during the Newcastle Science Festival that year, we held a 24-hour hackathon in the education department and came to realise that the mouse lab’s night shift technician, who worked alone, livened up the lonely hours by playing thrash metal at ear-splitting volume. A word was had, the metal music ceased and fertility was restored.
Cats are the ones calling the shots
Your article on when our feline friends spread around the world was very strange in repeating the long-debunked theory that cats have ever been domesticated. As every scientist, and indeed individual, who has ever met a cat with its servant knows, it is humans who were domesticated (6 December, p 9).