Pinning Electron Theories is Like Trying to Nail Jelly to the Wall

Image via WikipediaScienceDaily (May 15, 2008) — When atoms form molecules, they share their outer electrons and this creates a negatively charged cloud. Here, electrons buzz around between the two positively charged nuclei, making it impossible to tell which nucleus they belong to. They are delocalized. But is this also true for the electrons located closer to the nucleus? And are those electrons spread out too, or do they belong to just one nucleus, i.e. are they localized? These questions, that scientists have hotly disputed over the last 50 years, have now been answered by an international team of scientists, led by Frankfurt University's atomic physics group. Their discoveries are reconciliatory. As is so often the case in quantum theory, there is no single 'right' answer -- one solution is just as valid as the other.

Don't you just love quantum 'stuff' (technical word), whenever a scientist tries to pin it down, we find that "there is no single right answer", more proof indeed that life is what we make it. Yes, they can measure to a point, but just when they (the scientists) think they have a definitive answer, it slips away again. I love it!

Scientists will go on trying to prove their theories and all of them will up until.... the jelly slips back off the pin and all the while they are proving that life responds to our thoughts, expectations and beliefs.

Gratitude Paves the Way to Happiness and Success

We have all been told that happiness is about wanting what you have, however that has always created more questions in me than it solved. If I want only what I already have how will I get more? How will I change my life? Perhaps it is more about being grateful for what you have while have a vision for how your life could be even better? "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." - Marcus Cicero Now it seems even science is getting in on the act! This article at Physorg.com, (and yes it's true, for those of you who do not know I am a science geek), is proving the point. Read on for more insight: " It turns out it can be tested. Texas Tech University psychologist Jeff Larsen and Amie McKibban of Wichita State University asked undergraduates to indicate whether they possessed 52 different material items, such as a car, a stereo or a bed.

Their results, which appear in the April issue of the Association for Psychological Science’s journal, Psychological Science, suggest that people can grow accustomed to their possessions and thereby derive less happiness from them.

They also suggest, however, that people can continue to want the things they have and that those who do so can achieve greater happiness.

“Simply having a bunch of things is not the key to happiness,” Larsen said. “Our data show that you also need to appreciate those things you have. It’s also important to keep your desire for things you don’t own in check.”

If the students owned a car, the researchers asked them to rate how much they wanted the car they had. If they didn’t have a car, they were asked to rate how much they wanted one.

Larsen and McKibban then calculated the extent to which people want what they have and have what they want. Their findings show that wanting what you have is not the same as having what you want. While people who have what they want tend to desire those items, the correlation between the two was far from perfect.

The researchers found that people who want more of what they have tend to be happier than those who want less of what they have. However, people who have more of what they want tend to be happier than those who have less of what they want. " Source: Association for Psychological Science I have said it before, if you want to be happy, if you want to achieve a goal in life you must look forward and want it. It all starts with desire, the desire for something achievable. However, while wanting to get away from your current life pattern, while can give you the impetus to get out of the rut, will not sustain your forward motion in life. Get some goals and move ahead toward happiness and success, all the while being truly grateful for what you already have. Gratitude is key, being grateful can at times be difficult, however you can create a new habit of gratitude by allowing yourself to list at least 5 things everyday that you can be truly grateful for and allow those feelings of gratitude to grow and once you have done that continue on to your goals visualisation, it can make an incredible difference to your success and happiness.

Quantum Tunneling Seen At Last

Image via WikipediaI have to apologise for this blog being quiet for a bit, but as you know life can get in the way of a good time. I am back again for now and let's talk about quantum tunneling, I must say it would shorten my day's work if I could just get these little guys to tell me their secret.

Isn't is amazing and affirming that some of the greatest theories of quantum science are finally being explained or observed? Quantum Tunneling, the act of electrons taking the shortest route between two points by 'tunneling' their way through the quantum field has been observed. We might have to climb all the way over that mountain but electrons, simply tunnel on through.

"The electrons overcome the attraction of the atomic nucleus by tunnelling through a potential wall. The scientists used ultra-short laser pulses to show discrete stages of ionization in this process, each of which lasts 100 attoseconds - a fraction of a billionth of a second. The results make a significant contribution to understanding how electrons move around in atoms and molecules.

In the same way as gravity brings a body to a halt on the floor of a valley, the nuclear force (which binds protons and neutrons to form the atomic nucleus) and the electrical force (which combines negatively charged electrons with the positively charged atomic nucleus to make an atom) hold these particles within a tiny space. This binding effect can also be depicted as a type of valley, which is also called a potential by physicists. In the world of quantum particles, it is, to a certain extent, a normal event to tunnel through the wall surrounding the potential well.

An international team of researchers working with Ferenc Krausz has now caught the electrons in the act of tunnelling through the binding potential of the atom nucleus under the influence of laser light. The physicists used the new tools provided by attosecond metrology. "For the first time, our findings confirmed in real time observation the theoretical predictions of quantum mechanics," says Ferenc Krausz, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and head of the team of scientists.

The tunnelling effect can be explained by the wave behaviour of each particle. Macroscopic objects are extremely unlikely to tunnel, which is why the phenomenon has never been observed in them. In contrast, there is a significant probability that particles from the microcosmos will tunnel through areas where, according to the rules of traditional physics, they are not even supposed to be. The tunnelling effect is considered to be responsible for processes as varied as atomic nuclei decay and the switching process in electronic components. However, since it only lasts for an extremely short time, it has not yet been observed in real time."

Adapted from materials provided by Max Planck Society.