Comments on: The Universe is Like a Windows Media Player Visualization

The Universe is Like a Windows Media Player Visualization

tehloki — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:21:48 -0800

The observable universe just got a bit smaller. Johan Mauritsson and his colleagues at Lund University in Sweden have released what appears to be a video of an electron oscillating on a wave of light.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:29:48 -0800

Video wouldn't play for me, but this appears to be a YouTube version. Having read the article 3 times and not understood the original meaning behind the journalism babble, I think the net effect here is that we all just got goatsed.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:33:31 -0800

(Rather, I understand what the journalist is saying, but they can't really be saying that because Heisenberg.)

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:34:38 -0800

.... so that blue thing, that's the electron right? And it's going up and down because it's riding on said wave of light, correct?

By: the_very_hungry_caterpillar

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:38:32 -0800

I don't really understand what I just saw (or read!), but I get the feeling it's really important.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:39:34 -0800

I think this is fake or very poorly explained.

By: munchingzombie

munchingzombie — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:40:47 -0800

I am not sure CitrusFreak, but no matter what we are looking at it is BLOWING MY freakin' MIND!

By: spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:42:10 -0800

That there's some Science. Or something.

By: chococat

chococat — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:45:47 -0800

It's a good thing they put that spacey music on there so I know I'm seeing something wonderful and breathtaking, instead of just a bad computer graphics assignment.

By: fusinski

fusinski — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:47:48 -0800

That spacey music is pretty awesome, though. Way better than *ping!* The Electron and YOU.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:49:43 -0800

Much better explanation here. Turns out they are imaging the quantum state of the electron, not taking a movie of it moving around like some race car. The picture shows all the places the electron is hitting the detector. key paragraph: The researchers synchronized the pulse train with the oscillations of a relatively weak infrared laser, so that their cloud of helium atoms received a strong, ionizing "kick" at a precise time during each laser cycle. Each attosecond pulse released a few electrons, some of which were thrown back against their atoms before being pushed sideways and detected. Accumulating data from many ionization events, the team created clean images of the quantum state of electrons ionized at a single moment in the laser oscillation cycle. The images are the first of their kind that show such controlled electron-atom scattering. The team calls their system a stroboscope, after another device that uses periodic flashes of light to capture a still image of a hummingbird's wings, for example. Each experiment generated a "bullseye" pattern showing the locations in which electrons struck the detector plate. To demonstrate that each image represented precisely one moment during the laser cycle--rather than a range of ionization times--the team shifted the timing of the attosecond pulses with respect to the laser field cycle. If electrons were ionized at a time when the laser field gave them an extra boost upward, the pattern shifted upward; if the ionizing pulse came a half-cycle later, the bullseye shifted downward. This pattern shifting wouldn't have been possible with longer-lasting ionization periods. The article fails to explain why an electron gives off cheesy Yanni-like music when put through the detector.

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:49:55 -0800

totally photoshopped

By: Rumple

Rumple — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:53:55 -0800

The length of the film Mauritsson and his colleagues made corresponds to a single oscillation of a wave of light . The speed of the event has been slowed down for human eyes. Typical patronizing scientists, always dumbing down for their audience.

By: Avenger

Avenger — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:02:40 -0800

I agree with caterpillar. This is obviously very important but I have no idea why.

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:04:05 -0800

I can't get my mind around an attosecond being to a second as a second is to the age of the universe. *head explodes*

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:04:35 -0800

That music is really scientfic. Scientifical. Sciencey. Whatever.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:07:49 -0800

The observable universe just got a bit smaller If we are seeing these for the first time, didn't it just get bigger?

By: parmanparman

parmanparman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:12:48 -0800

I think I died against that in Dungeon Master.

By: francesca too

francesca too — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:13:08 -0800

Read the article, watched the clip four times and I'm still far from understanding what is going on.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:15:43 -0800

I am pretty well versed in this area and will try to explain this in a way that makes it a little more intelligible to the layman. The thing that you have to realize is that before this experiment, it was believed that the ionization of an electron making waves through the laser field cycle would result in a scattering of the zero-field particles. This video, and the data that it represents, proves that team shifted attosecond pulses can hyper-inflate the perceptible field of light in a way that phase-shifts the surrounding waves of Klepman particles in the elnonispheric conditions. I think that you can see that this has profound implications to our understanding of how electrons interact with light in wave bending laser shifting attofields. So, it is pretty exciting stuff.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:19:39 -0800

I think NDcent has a very liberal definition of the term "layman".

By: CheeseburgerBrown

CheeseburgerBrown — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:24:40 -0800

ND¢, I don't know what kind of laymen you hang out with, but I think they're keeping a deep knowledge of physics secret from you. "This video, and the data that it represents, proves that team shifted attosecond pulses can hyper-inflate the perceptible field of light in a way that phase-shifts the surrounding waves of Klepman particles in the elnonispheric conditions." Oh yeah -- my brother totally overheard that exact same thing at Starbucks from this smoking hot Turkish girl who puts salt in her coffee.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:27:27 -0800

Sorry. I am just passionate about this stuff, and so I get caught up in technical speak sometimes. Imagine if you will that a laser field cycle is the sheet on your bed. You and three of your friends each hold a corner of the sheet and pull it taught. The zero-field particles are the dust motes floating around the blanket and the hyper accelerated light wave electrons are the light waves coming from the lamps in your bedroom, but these lamps would be moving around your room at the speed of light! So not only would you be interacting with the laser field cycle, but each attosecond would cause particles of light to interact with the field shifted nonotrons within each of the "dust motes" or zero-field particles, so your interaction, as the forces pulling the blanket, would be affecting not only the blanket and the dust motes, but would actually be affecting the speed of the light traveling through the room. It is quite amazing.

By: starman

starman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:29:57 -0800

This electron... it oscillates?

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:34:16 -0800

You can pull a sheet to the light, but you can't make it taught.

By: Dr. Curare

Dr. Curare — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:45:34 -0800

Wow, around the 20 second mark in the video, one can see the faint ghost of a little girl in the background.

By: AwkwardPause

AwkwardPause — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:51:04 -0800

Right on, StickyCarpet -- I almost posted the same point. (Thank g*d for preview)

By: naju

naju — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:58:18 -0800

Dude. I bet the Higgs boson looks like my screensaver.

By: StrikeTheViol

StrikeTheViol — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:03:18 -0800

Wave bending laser shifting attofields. Welcome to the next generation of technical terms ripe for science fiction. "Ensign, red alert! Engage the attofields!"

By: The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:09:08 -0800

Follow the bouncing blue ball and sing along!

By: ben242

ben242 — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:13:22 -0800

Dear Single Guys, Next time you're picking up a girl at a bar, mention this story and tell her you can explain it pretty easily if she's willing to bring two friends to your house to see the dust motes on your bedsheet. Two hot friends. Yeeeaaaah, boyieeeeeee.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:19:40 -0800

A friend in my Warcraft guild points out that it's not music, it's the actual sound of the electron. And it turns out electrons sound exactly like the Naaru. Which makes sense, when you think about it.

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:39:00 -0800

Nelson, I not only think your friend thought about it way too much, I also think I've spent far too much time on World of Warcraft because I both understood and agreed with the reference. I need to get out more.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:55:31 -0800

have released what appears to be a video of an electron oscillating on a wave of light. That may be what it 'appears to be' but what it actually is, is very small aliens having crazy borderline-illegal sex. Beyond that, I'd rather not get any more specific.

By: JKevinKing

JKevinKing — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:58:10 -0800

ND, I was wondering what an "attofield" is, so I tried to google it, find it in Wiklepedia, physics web sites, etc., and I couldn't find it anwhere. Just what is an attofield? Where you refering to the pulses of light that were some attoseconds long? And I didn't really follow your second example regarding the bedsheet. What, in plain English, are you trying to get at? How in the hell do you affect the speed of light in your bedroom with a sheet? I'm sorry I'm slow about these things!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:13:04 -0800

I think they just found the sampo.

By: johnjoe

johnjoe — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:13:07 -0800

JKevinKing, ND¢ was making fun of the way some scientist-types "explain" things without conveying any information. I couldn't tell if I thought the joke was funny, b/c I wasn't sure how many people would get it, and I was dismayed to see noone pushing him for details. I'm glad to see that at least one person who didn't get the joke actually asked good questions rather than just shrugging their shoulders, believing the world was incomprehensible. (c.f reverse Sokal, ala Bogdanoff brothers.) I have to say ND¢, the genius bit was the "clarifying" metaphor involving the sheet, starting intelligibly but wandering rapidly into the incomprehensible. Excellent recognition of conversational patterns. So much so that it reminds me (uncomfortably!) of failed attempts to describe my research to non-experts.

By: fatllama

fatllama — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:14:53 -0800

JKevinKing, ND¢ thinks he's funny.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:24:11 -0800

"Previously it was impossible to photograph electrons because of their extreme speediness," Damn you and your technical jargon! How much fast particles did the electron contain? (Intriguing, thanks Ironmouth and ND¢)

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:30:50 -0800

Yeah sorry JKevinKing. I was an English major and took Biology 101, which I made a D in, to satisfy my college's requirement that I take at least one science. I didn't look at any of the links in the FPP and I don't even know what type of science is being described here (physics?). I just wanted to try spouting off about the subject and see if people would think that I was making sense. I pulled all the terms that I didn't make up (like attofields and Klepman particles) from Ironmouth's comment. Sorry to pull your leg.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:34:07 -0800

ND¢: Imagine if you will that a laser field cycle is the sheet on your bed. You and three of your friends each hold a corner of the sheet and pull it taught.
LOL YOU MISSPELLED "TAUT" YOU ARE SO STUPID LOLOLOLOLOOL Okay I'm just making myself feel better for not knowing what the hell you're talking about.

By: slogger

slogger — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:38:36 -0800

It's SCIENCE!

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:39:36 -0800

I meant Ironmouth's comment.

By: moonbiter

moonbiter — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:46:21 -0800

I am pretty well versed in this area and will try to explain this in a way that makes it a little more intelligible to the layman. [speaks in tongues] I think that you can see that this has profound implications to our understanding of how electrons interact with light in wave bending laser shifting attofields. Bravo, sir.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:56:08 -0800

Also "elnonispheric" I made up the hell out of that one. I thought that would get me caught.

By: dr. moot

dr. moot — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:56:26 -0800

NDc, that was funny.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:01:21 -0800

Oh "nonotrons" too. I don't think those are real.

By: Skorgu

Skorgu — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:08:28 -0800

They're real and they're spectacular.

By: b1ff

b1ff — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:10:06 -0800

Nice ND¢. as I read it I imagined it all being rattled off by Howard Ramis.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:49:25 -0800

"This video, and the data that it represents, proves that team shifted attosecond pulses can hyper-inflate the perceptible field of light in a way that phase-shifts the surrounding waves of Klepman particles in the elnonispheric conditions." Oh yeah -- my brother totally overheard that exact same thing at Starbucks from this smoking hot Turkish girl who puts salt in her coffee. Turkish or not; sugar, salt or plain coffee; that kind of eavesdropped comment would automatically make the girl in question smokin' hot, at least for me. Your teamshifted attosecond pulses may hyperinflate varyingly.

By: sevenyearlurk

sevenyearlurk — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:11:19 -0800

ND¢ totally deserves a sidebar. And I deserve a sidecar. Maybe after work.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:13:41 -0800

I thought the joke was "For my non-physics geek Mefite friends, here's a simplified explanation: [INSERT ABSURDLY TECHNICAL YET FACTUALLY CORRECT TREATISE]". So yeah, I totally fell for it.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:50:23 -0800

Metafilter: a very liberal definition of the term 'layman'