Wanna watch a photon?
Light is a mysterious thing. Einstein embraced it as both a particle and a wave. Heisenberg devised an uncertainty principle that explains how it acts. Today, Dr. Serge Haroche and his colleagues in France have watched the life and death of a single discrete particle of light-a photon-in live action. How is this possible? Well, in a box with walls of mirrors at a few degrees above absolute zero, a photon can be held for 0.13 seconds. In the same amount of time, a free photon could travel a tenth of the distance to the moon. Next, the scientists set out to detect the photon’s presence without destroying it, a process known as the quantum non-demolition technique. Individual atoms of rubidium traverse the box, and in a process like that within atomic clocks, measures whether a photon is present or not. Analysis of the parade of rubidium atoms allows scientists to sense photons, and in the case of this experiment, they sensed a photon twice, at a state that signaled its birth and a second state that signaled its death. Until now, no one had been able to see a single photon twice.
Source: Nature
-Sandy Huen
Happiness ain’t just hoopla
Using data from two studies from Germany and Great Britain, researchers in Michigan and Germany are beginning to challenge the traditional theories of human happiness. Previously, many believed that a person’s happiness levels remained fairly consistent throughout life. For instance, studies have shown that, in the long run, getting a divorce might be upsetting, but it won’t make a person less happy overall, and neither will winning the lottery. However, using new data showing levels of “life satisfaction”-basically, happiness-before and after major life events such as marriage and serious illness, the researchers found happiness levels might not return to original levels. Although most people were found capable of adapting to marriage or the loss of a spouse, those who became divorced, unemployed or seriously ill did not, on average, return to previous levels of happiness. The scientists also found that getting married might not be a good idea unless you’re already happy with your life-the pre-marriage happiness levels of those whose marriages lasted were higher than those who eventually divorced, even as far as five years before marriage.
Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science
-Abigail Slinger
Forget Prozac-eat fish!
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have found that increasing your omega-3 fatty acid intake, commonly found in fish, might help regulate your behaviour and improve your mood. Previous studies have shown that people with higher blood levels of omega-3 are less likely to report mild or moderate symptoms of depression. Animal studies have also revealed that increasing omega-3 intake leads to structural changes of the brain. After interviewing 55 healthy adults to assess omega-3 intake, and conducting MRI scans of the subjects, researchers concluded that those who ate more omega-3 fatty acids had higher volumes of grey matter in brain areas associated with emotional arousal and regulation. Investigators stress, however, that more research must be conducted in order to determine whether or not eating fish actually causes these structural brain changes.
Source: University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre news release
-A.S.
