The world is a spooky place and the older you get and the more you learn, the weirder it seems. If you have ever asked yourself “what’s it all about”, don’t expect to get a really clear answer. One of the reasons religions arose and have remained popular throughout human history is the difficulty of building a rational understanding of why there is a universe, what is our place in it, and whether there is some great purpose in life having arisen that has a self-awareness, a self-direction ability. And while science is fascinating, some of its discoveries only add to the puzzle. Quantum mechanics is a good example, an at least partial explanation of reality that seems to be true but is hard to fathom, at its smallest levels the universe seems to lack certainty. For our everyday lives doesn’t matter much, as at macroscopic levels everything seems pretty “solid” and to follow well-understood rules.
Quantum mechanics has some very odd phenomenon, one of which is the notion that matter or energy in very tiny quantities lacks certainty in various measurements, it can be in multiple potential states. And those small particles can be “entangled” even over large distances; the behavior or measurement of one can affect or be related to the behavior or measurement of its entangled partner. Well, the latest advancement in the science appears to be showing entanglement and uncertainty of even larger sets of particles, which is really scary. I actually don’t want my cat to be in two possible places or states at once.
The paper is here and describes how scientists are continuing to explore the quantum phenomenon of superposition with ever larger aggregations of particles. As I said very spooky, and it will be interesting to see if there is indeed some boundary at which various quantum phenomenon disappear. (Nature Article)
