Parisian wave-particle duality
FEEDBACKās consideration of quantum instructions has, to date, focused on the spatial aspects ā as with the UK Royal Mailās request to āPlease Use Both Letterboxesā in Salisbury (12 July) and London Undergroundās exhortation to āuse all doorsā (16 June 2007).
France has ā as one might expect ā a different take on pedestriansā abilities to exhibit wave-particle duality. Visiting Paris recently, we were startled to see the centre of the city liberally scattered with signs demanding āPiĆ©tons ā Attention! Traversez en 2 tempsā.
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At first glance, we translated this as āPedestrians ā cross the street in two timesā and our response was āOooh, yes please.ā We would like to cross this particular road onā¦ letās seeā¦ 14 July 1789, mingling with the crowds about to sack the Bastille fortress and set off the interesting events that followed. And the other time? It has to be 7 May 1968, as the workers and students challenged the order of things on the streets once more. The intertwining of those two scenes would definitely make our trip one to remember.
There were other intriguing possibilities. āTempsā, we realised, can also be translated as āweatherā. What would it be like to āCross the street in two weathersā? Can we have hot snow, please?
How much more interesting that would be than merely crossing the road in two stages with a pause in the middle ā which, a French member of the Ā鶹“«Ć½ team tells us, is what the sign actually means.
RETURNING to the spatial aspect of things, Joe Geesin was intrigued to hear an announcement on London Undergroundās Central line that the train he was on, which was experiencing delays, would be proceeding āOne stop at a timeā.
āIs this as opposed to the quantum practice of proceeding two stops at a time?ā he asks.
SHOPPING for decorative lights, as people do at this time of year, Phil Knight found some in a supermarket. He assures us that the box is labelled thus: āGarland light; 144 plug-in bulbs for atmospheric lighting; with eight different lighting effects; for inside and outside; total length 12 metres; contents not included.ā
He asked a member of staff what it meant, and when the latter stopped laughing, he said he didnāt know. Has the manufacturer, Knight wonders, discovered the ultimate guarantee get-out clause?
THE Estonian Air flight that Simon Mollett travelled on had an unusual flight-shop offer for any geologists flying with them: the Love-stone. āLove-stone may seem at a glance like ordinary, lifeless 64 billion years old piece,ā the blurb about it stated. At around four times as old as the universe, this doesnāt seem ordinary to us at all.
WALKING in the grounds of Calshot Activities Centre, near Southampton on the English south coast, Chris and Angie Squire came across a sign saying: āDOGS ā Please place dirt in litter bins ā Keep on lead.ā
They were particularly impressed that the sign was placed 15 centimetres above ground level, so even short-legged dogs would be able to read it.
SEARCHING for information on treatments for haemorrhoids, Graham Nash clicked on a link to the and was presented with a login box and the following offer: āIf you do not have an account and wish to purchase Haemorrhoids click here.ā
Nash says that he wouldnāt want to get haemorrhoids for free. He certainly doesnāt want to pay for them.
ā Richard Hill found in the online version of the medical journal BMJ is headed, āThe first 100% of the full text of this article appears belowā. Where do the other 100 per cents appear?ā
FINALLY, now is your last chance to enter our end-of-year competition. Our theme this year is time travel. When the Large Hadron Collider at CERN was about to go into operation, some physicists speculated that it might attract visitors from the future (Ā鶹“«Ć½, 9 February, p 32, and Feedback, 5 April). For our competition, we ask you to imagine three such visitors arriving, each bearing glad tidings and a gift from the future. What would the gifts be?
Thanks to the generosity of Doubleday/Allen Lane, 10 lucky winners will each receive a copy of Physics of the Impossible: A scientific exploration of the world of phasers, force fields, teleportation and time travel by Michio Kaku (reviewed 1 March, p 52 and see authorās feature, 6 April, p 36). They will also receive a selection of Ā鶹“«Ć½ goodies ā including books from The Last Word series and a pen drive.
You may enter the competition by email ā with āCompetitionā in the subject field, please ā or by fax or post or by going to www.newscientist.com/article/dn15121.
The competition closes on Monday 1 December and no entries will be accepted after that date. The results will be published in the 20/27 December issue of Ā鶹“«Ć½. The editorās decision is final.
