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.

Memorializing the Only Cat That's Been to Space

Be honest, did you even know that a cat had been to outer space? And that the French were responsible? I didn't. Frankly, I and most other people probably hadn't given it any thought. But someone out there has, and they want to set up a memorial in Paris to Felicette, a stray cat found in Paris who was launched into space on October 18, 1963, and returned home safely.

You may think that a memorial to a cat may be a bit silly, even for one that went into outer space. But consider this, Laika the dog has a bronze memorial at the site where Russia trains its astronauts as well as a spot on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow. Ham the chimpanzee (the first hominid to fly in space) is buried at the International Space Hall of Fame. A nice little memorial in Paris for the first and only cat to fly in space probably isn't too much to ask for. There's a donation page for it, which runs until November 17th.