June 2021Talk
Doctrine & Covenants 88:118
And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
This morning I would share with you how thankful I am for the opportunity to seek.
When I was in school, I read about an experiment about how we came to know that small units of matter acted, not as particles or waves—but as both particles, and as waves. A beam of electrons was directed at a screen. In between the two was a panel with two open, vertical slits.
When the experiment was left to run unobserved, then they acted as waves, then one vertical area would appear on the screen. The electrons had passed through the slits and then joined the single stream again.
However, if an experimenter was watching the beam and screen, the screen showed two vertical areas. The electrons were passing through each slit and continuing on straight—as a particle would.
REHOVOT, Israel, February 26, 1998--One of the most bizarre premises of quantum theory, states that by the very act of watching, the observer affects the observed reality.
researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science conducted a highly controlled experiment demonstrating how A beam of electrons is affected by the act of being observed. The experiment revealed that the greater the amount of "watching," the greater the observer's influence on what actually takes place.
The research team headed by Prof. Mordehai Heiblum, included Ph.D. student Eyal Buks, Dr. Ralph Schuster, Dr. Diana Mahalu and Dr. Vladimir Umansky. The scientists, members of the Condensed Matter Physics Department, work at the Institute's Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Center for Submicron Research.
When a quantum "observer" is watching Quantum mechanics states that particles can also behave as waves. This can be true for electrons at the submicron level, i.e., at distances measuring less than one micron, or one thousandth of a millimeter. When behaving as waves, they can simultaneously pass through several openings in a barrier and then meet again at the other side of the barrier. This "meeting" is known as interference.
Strange as it may sound, interference can only occur when no one is watching. Once an observer begins to watch the particles going through the openings, the picture changes dramatically: if a particle can be seen going through one opening, then it's clear it didn't go through another. In other words,when under observation, electrons are being "forced" to behave like particles and not like waves. Thus the mere act of observation affects the experimental findings.
To demonstrate this, Weizmann Institute researchers built a tiny device measuring less than one micron in size, which had a barrier with two openings. They then sent a current of electrons towards the barrier. The "observer" in this experiment wasn't human. Institute scientists used for this purpose a tiny but sophisticated electronic detector that can spot passing electrons. The quantum "observer's" capacity to detect electrons could be altered by changing its electrical conductivity, or the strength of the current passing through it.
Apart from "observing," or detecting, the electrons, the detector had no effect on the current. Yet the scientists found that the very presence of the detector-"observer" near one of the openings caused changes in the interference pattern of the electron waves passing through the openings of the barrier. In fact, this effect was dependent on the "amount" of the observation: when the "observer's" capacity to detect electrons increased, in other words, when the level of the observation went up, the interference weakened; in contrast, when its capacity to detect electrons was reduced, in other words, when the observation slackened, the interference increased.
Thus, by controlling the properties of the quantum observer the scientists managed to control the extent of its influence on the electrons' behavior. The theoretical basis for this phenomenon was developed several years ago by a number of physicists, including Dr. Adi Stern and Prof. Yoseph Imry of the Weizmann Institute of Science, together with Prof. Yakir Aharonov of Tel Aviv University. The new experimental work was initiated following discussions with Weizmann Institute's Prof. Shmuel Gurvitz, and its results have already attracted the interest of theoretical physicists around the world and are being studied, among others, by Prof. Yehoshua Levinson of the Weizmann Institute.
Tomorrow's Technology
The experiment's finding that observation tends to kill interference may be used in tomorrow's technology to ensure the secrecy of information transfer. This can be accomplished if information is encoded in such a way that the interference of multiple electron paths is needed to decipher it. "The presence of an eavesdropper, who is an observer, although an unwanted one, would kill the interference," says Prof. Heiblum. "This would let the recipient know that the message has been intercepted."
On a broader scale, the Weizmann Institute experiment is an important contribution to the scientific community's efforts aimed at developing quantum electronic machines, which may become a reality in the next century. This radically new type of electronic equipment may exploit both the particle and wave nature of electrons at the same time and a greater understanding of the interplay between these two characteristics are needed for the development of this equipment. Such future technology may, for example, open the way to the development of new computers whose capacity will vastly exceed that of today's most advanced machines.
This research was funded in part by the Minerva Foundation, Munich, Germany. Prof. Imry holds the Max Planck Chair of Quantum Physics and heads the Albert Einstein Minerva Center for Theoretical Physics.
The Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's foremost centers of scientific research and graduate study. Its 2,400 scientists, students, technicians, and engineers pursue basic research in the quest for knowledge and the enhancement of the human condition. New ways of fighting disease and hunger, protecting the environment, and harnessing alternative sources of energy are high priorities.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Weizmann Institute Of Science. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
This [fact] . . . may be used in safe-keeping our future internet information transfers--like emails and texts.
Prof. Heiblum. "[Programing could be written that] would let the recipient know . . . the message has been intercepted..
Just by having someone watch what you have written and sent, you can know if someone else is watching..
When we were watching, seeking, we were able to detect the truel nature of electrons.
During the past 15 years, I have spent years, on and off, studying Florida’s plants, environments, and landscaping. At one point I was compiling an album of plant samples, with photos and a description of the plant.
I wanted to do a page on silver buttonwood trees. There was one in our front yard that was almost dead, and I wanted to find healthy samples for my album.
I was worried because I couldn’t remember seeing one anywhere in the city.
I began to focus on finding the distinct, silvery leaves and small pine-cone-like seeds.
Suddenly, I was paying attention to the trees around me—and I began to see silver buttonwood trees everywhere.
They were planted along community streets, in the middle of two-way avenues, in office complex parking lots.
They were everywhere! I just had not been paying attention.
When I began to look for them, they appeared.
It seems that there are a myriad of things that only appear when we—when I—open my eyes to see.
Doctrine & Covenants 88:118
And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
If we are not “seeking” then we will not be able to see faith, teach others [for in teaching we ourselves learn the most], know which are the best books. We will not be able to learn what we need to return to Heavenly Father.
Laman and Lemuel could not see the truth even after witnessing an angel, after being forced to the ground by Nephi’s mere putting his hand out toward them, after nearly being drowned at sea. They could not learn faith, could not understand the sweet affirmation of the Spirit that only appears after we seek for it.
On June 1, 1978, President Kimball announced: we have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance.
He has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood,
Enos received a remission of his sins only after wrestling all day and all night until his voice reached the Heavens.
Centuries of scientists sought to know the truth about how electrons traveled.
I watched every tree I could find until I discovered the truth—silver buttonwood trees are all around me.
President Kimball “plead long and earnestly.”
There is no end to that which we can find by seeking.
I am able to volunteer at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary—working in the hospital, caring for the animals, and going out with education to teach others about the Florida’s endangered creatures.
There are animals that stay at Busch because they have are habituated to humans and cannot be released into the wild.
Recently, I began looking around for animals that were not receiving any enrichment time—did not have anyone who paid attention to them on a daily basis.
Earl lives in a large cage in the busy hall of the hospital. He can see everyone coming and going and everyone stops for a moment to say “Hello!”
Earl is a flying squirrel, though, and so is nocturnal. His body has learned to wake during the day to get the best parts of his food. Most of the time, he sleeps.
I was inspired to ask if I could take Earl to a specially prepared room and let him run and jump and fly.
Every day that I can, even if I am not scheduled to volunteer, I go to Busch and prepare the bathroom—covering dangers and putting towels along the rails. Then I get this flying squirrel and take him with me.
His first three times he hesitantly explored the rails and made small jumps. It was more than he had ever had in his life. But it was not enough. On the fourth day, I was prompted to TURN OFF THE LIGHT.
He seemed to bloom. He ran along the rails and jumped from me to the blanket-covered toilet and back to my shoulder. He took laps around my middle and then jumped up onto the rails again. It was a lot more than he had before. But it was not enough.
He kept looking for something higher to jump on to.
Another prompting: get a ladder!
The next day I placed the four --step ladder in the center of the room and covered it with a blanket. I went to get Earl, sat down and turned off the light. His tiny face peered out of his carry sac.
He took a moment to assess the environment, and then he morphed into a small streak of energy.
He jumped onto the ladder tower and then ran down the back and scampered behind the cover on the ladder and came up on the other side. He zipped up to the top again and then balanced on his toes—jump to the sink? Jump to the railing? No! Jump onto my shoulder and then to the railing behind me and back up to the ladder. He was like an electron—passing through space and weaving from rail to rail, from my shoulder down my back and around—flinging himself up to the top of the ladder and then scrambling behind the blanket and back up to the top and then to my shoulder. After about 45 minutes of this, he secreted himself at my back, under my shirt, suddenly still and quiet and round.
I reached around and cradled his tiny body, rubbing down and around his soft, curled body—no heavier than a large marshmallow.
I put him back in his cage and gave him a bit of peanut—which he carried back to his sleeping place. By the time I had put the bathroom back to rights—he was asleep again.
I reached into his soft cubby and held him with my fingers around him—a last time body rub.
In consciously looking and paying attention, we can discover the truth. We can see the dual nature of electrons, the abundance of buttonwood trees in Palm Beach, reveal new revelations from God, and find the pure joy that the Lord created in tiny flying squirrels.
Doctrine & Covenants 88:118
And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
