We Can Save Schrodinger's Cat

Now nothing can keep Schrodinger's cat out of the box.

It's perhaps the most well-known thought experiment in the world. You stick a cat in a box beyond direct observation with a bit of poison that will kill the cat should the radioactive isotope on the trigger decay. Until you open the box, you don't know if the cat is alive or dead, and so it's both at the same time. This is the basic extent of the average person's knowledge of quantum mechanics, even though Schrodinger was intentionally being ridiculous, setting up an absurd thought experiment to criticize the idea of quantum blurriness.

Anyway, the whole issue is now a moot point, because scientists have found a way to predict whether or not that radioactive atom will decay. And that's not all; they can stop it too. Their process involves observing a superconducting atom through doubly indirect means, giving them a view with unprecedented accuracy. Using microwave radiation, the atom can be monitored in real time, and the scientists noticed that, when the atom stopped emitting detection photons, it made a quantum jump. This quantum jump is what would cause the atom to decay. And not only can we detect the jump, we can reverse it, so the atom would not decay. This prediction isn't possible in the long term, but we can catch the atom just before it decays, thus saving our cat. Which is good, I quite like cats, and this thought experiment always made me feel a bit sad.