Huh?

So, I'm experimenting with WordPress. I installed it on my domain and have been messing with it. One feature is an import from blogger. When I try to do it, I get this error:

Huh?

Schrodinger's Cat

I was watching some Science channel this morning. Particularly, I was watching a show about atoms and quantum theories. It was mostly a historical account of how physics has gotten to where it is today.

One of the cool things they talked about was the "Schrodinger's Cat Thought Experiment". I had read about this a few years ago in some cosmology book, maybe one by Brian Greene.

Anyway, it's a really cool thought experiment, so I thought I would share. Due to my laziness, I found a summary of it on some website:

Schrodinger's cat

Schrödinger's cat is a famous illustration of the principle in quantum theory ofsuperposition , proposed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. Schrödinger's cat serves to demonstrate the apparent conflict between what quantum theory tells us is true about the nature and behavior of matter on the microscopic level and what we observe to be true about the nature and behavior of matter on the macroscopic level.

Here's Schrödinger's (theoretical) experiment: We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat. The observer cannot know whether or not an atom of the substance has decayed, and consequently, cannot know whether the vial has been broken, the hydrocyanic acid released, and the cat killed. Since we cannot know, the cat is both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer's paradox : the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. (That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.)

We know that superposition actually occurs at the subatomic level, because there are observable effects of interference, in which a single particle is demonstrated to be in multiple locations simultaneously. What that fact implies about the nature of reality on the observable level (cats, for example, as opposed to electrons) is one of the stickiest areas of quantum physics. Schrödinger himself is rumored to have said, later in life, that he wished he had never met that cat.

So, the cat's in the box, but, we don't know if it's dead or alive, so we assume both when the box is closed. Interesting, huh? What do you think?

When you apply the thought experiment above to particles in space, it gets more interesting. Basically, until we look at an atom, its everywhere. It only "somewhere" when we actually try to measure it. Interestingly enough, I can't help but think of all of the metaphysical books I read when I was younger that say that our reality is created by, you guess it... US.

Stoopid chart...

I don't get it. Can anyone explain this to me?!? Does the bracket mean that that shit is 4.6 and the LDAP connector is 6.10?!? What?

Quantum Lock

Holy crap. I remember reading about this as possibility a few years ago. To see an article about it in Popular Science is just crazy. To think that we can now encrypt data using random bits generated by light particles... whoa... this is directly from Popular Science's web site. Link here.

An Uncrackable Lock

A quantum cryptographic chip using light particles to encrypt data during electronic transfer could throw off hackers for good

By Jaya Jiwatram Posted 08.05.2008 at 12:23 pm 0 Comments

So Long, Hackers: An unhackable chip could make breaches a thing of the past. Photo by iStockphoto

Imagine an encrypted data chip so secure that even the greatest hackers in history would find impossible to crack. That chip is very much a reality thanks to the combined efforts of Siemens, Austrian Research Centers (ARC) and Graz University of Technology who have teamed up to create the first quantum cryptology chip for commercial use to ensure securer electronic communication.

The lock protects data using a random sequence of numbers from light particles. At the moment, data is protected using a key distribution system based on mathematical algorithms. But, with enough time and effort, those algorithms can be cracked. The quantum cryptographic light lock, on the other hand, takes advantage of the laws of nature by using photons—individual light particles—to create completely random codes through an optical array. When these codes are transferred to the receiving end through fiber-optic cables, it waits till it is verified through communication partners before creating a fail-safe key. The chip has also been designed in such a way that it can detect anyone trying to tap into the information while its generating a key and if it does register someone, the photons are changed or destroyed and the entire process is repeated until its sure nobody is listening. It sounds almost like magic, but the developers expect the technology to be in serious use two years from now.

Whoa... cool...

I want this:

Holy crap...

Scary? Awesome? Scary-awesome? You decide. I don't know yet...

Windows Vista Rocks!!

So, with my day off, I have installed Windows Vista. I am very impressed so far. It is really easy to use and really nice looking. Formatting and reinstalling is always a somewhat tedious task, but… sometimes it’s needed… this can correlate to many things in life I suppose.