shy particles

Here is something from an interesting article I just read and would like to share with you:

You probably all know something about quantum physics, the one that says, basically, when in sub-atomic world, the act of observing affects the behavior of the observed. Therefore one can only describe the where-about of a sub-atomic particle in terms of probability, no longer a definitude.

This is interesting enough, and has been proven by many experiments, but here is another even interesting thing scientists found lately with other experiments:

In these experiments they try to observe particles of light (photons) flying toward a screen, one at a time. The screen has two slits. If each photon goes through one slit, they form two bright spots on Venetian blinds beyond the screen. If each photon somehow goes through both slits, however, they form black-and-white stripes when they land on the blinds. Physicists have long known that if a device observes the slits, no zebra pattern forms; it's as if quantum phenomena are too shy to display their magic--one particle going through two slit--when watched.

Now, scientists put detectors on the far side of the blinds. If the blinds are open and the detectors peek at the slits, photons fly through only one slit and no zebra stripes form. If the blinds are closed so the detectors cannot see the slits, photons fly through both and form the stripes. Here's the twist: if the blinds open only after photons have passed the slits but before they reach the blinds, the stripes fail to form even though the photons have seemingly done what they must to form stripes--namely, fly through two slits, as they always do when unobserved. The act of observing alters what the photons did earlier, somehow changing things so they passed through one slit and not two.

There seem to be "many histories" a photon could have, then, such as passing through one slit or two. Or "something that happens now is affected by something that happens in the future", says physicist Jeff Tollaksen of George Mason University. "It suggests that the universe has a destiny--a destiny that is out there and coming back to us from the future".

Amazing, isn't it? Does this also ring a bell, or bring back that image of "a supertrain, shuttling between the past, the present, and the future, all at the same time, whenever we do the communion together," as said in the little book "The Meal Jesus Gave Us" by N. T. Wright that we read a while back ago, Ed, Dave, and Ken?

Back to the present, or the pretty near future, this coming Saturday, the 1st week of the month, date for our men's group meeting. Feel free to come over and have quality fellowship time together 9 AM at my home, like we did last time, if you can. Let me know if you are coming, so I can have my fancy, programmable coffee maker brew 10, 9, 8, 7..., or just one cup of coffee for you and myself.