For bringing physicist John Cramer on to their talk show to discuss Cramer's efforts to test one of the stranger ideas from quantum physics, time travel.
The Seattle scientist who wants to test a controversial prediction from quantum theory that says light particles can go backward in time is, himself, running out of time.
. . .
It's a project that aims to do a conceptually simple bench-top test for evidence of something Albert Einstein called "spooky action at a distance." The test involves using a crystal to split a photon, a light particle, into two reduced-energy photons that -- through careful manipulation -- Cramer thinks could reveal a flash of time traveling backward.
Kudos because this is not an easy subject; Einstein famously refused to accept parts of quantum mechanics all his life, and even devised the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment to challenge parts of quantum mechanics. (Years later, with some modifications, the experiment was run — and gave the absurd result that Einstein thought impossible.) But Sytman and Boze did a good job, anyway. I didn't hear any mistakes, and that happens less often than I would like when difficult scientific subjects are discussed on the radio.
And kudos because, though a difficult subject, the experiment that Professor Kramer wants to do is both fascinating and, potentially, extraordinarily important. And if you happen to have the small amount he needs for his experiment, $12,000, you might consider helping him out.
(And kudos to the PI's Tom Paulson, who wrote what appears to be a reasonably accurate explanation of Kramer's proposed experiment. Paulson's article looks even better, of course, in contrast to the disgraceful interviews Mark Rahner of the Seattle Times did with physicists Brian Greene and Steven Hawking.)
Posted by Jim Miller at April 11, 2007 01:42 PM | Email ThisAll matter has been around from the beginning of time, and that includes us.
Posted by: Libertarian on April 11, 2007 02:25 PMSo which came first, time or motion?
Posted by: diedre on April 11, 2007 03:50 PM