Conversation

BRISBANE (AAP): Cat lovers applaud breakthrough in quantum research.

According to a paper in the RSPCA Journal of Quantum Mechanics and Hairball Management, issues on sale today, the phenomenon of unpredictable behaviour that cat lovers know as “chasing the brain cell” can indeed be traced to quantum mechanical origins. Trace amounts of iodine 131 in the hypothalamus undergo beta-minus decay with the emitted quanta initiating a neural cascade, activating the same pathways as more normally triggered by neurotransmitter uptake.

One practical outcome of this research is a formal proof that the “belly trap” experiment (where a proffered belly that is rubbed results unpredictably in either in purring or biting) is exactly isomorphic to the so called “Schrödinger’s Cat” experiment. In both cases a quantum phenomenon (radioactive decay) induces the experimental outcome, with “rubbing the belly” being the measurement equivalent to “opening the box”

The paper goes on to speculate about the potential for important advances in feline mechanics such as

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