[HN Gopher] Probing electron spin states at much higher resoluti...
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       Probing electron spin states at much higher resolution and
       efficiency
        
       Author : PaulHoule
       Score  : 20 points
       Date   : 2024-04-30 16:55 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (phys.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (phys.org)
        
       | triclops200 wrote:
       | Something I was told once by a particle physicist that really
       | resonated with me was that almost every revolution in science and
       | engineering has a direct cause that can be traced back to finally
       | being able to measure some new property or measure some property
       | in an much improved way (this jives with my understanding of most
       | things: as a random example, debugging is generally greatly
       | improved by understanding more of the space of the problem). This
       | seems to be one of those breakthroughs, so I'm cautiously
       | excited. Would be interested in an expert in the field to
       | confirm/temper my excitement.
        
         | hexane360 wrote:
         | There's a quote from Michelson that "the future truths of
         | physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of
         | decimals". Many misinterpret this to be a statement that
         | 'there's nothing new to be discovered', but his actual point
         | was that discovering new science requires rigorously searching
         | out and understanding even small deviations in measurements.
         | 
         | Here's the full quote:
         | 
         | "While it is never safe to affirm that the future of Physical
         | Science has no marvels in store even more astonishing than
         | those of the past, it seems probable that most of the grand
         | underlying principles have been firmly established and that
         | further advances are to be sought chiefly in the rigorous
         | application of these principles to all the phenomena which come
         | under our notice. It is here that the science of measurement
         | shows its importance -- where quantitative work is more to be
         | desired than qualitative work. An eminent physicist remarked
         | that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for
         | in the sixth place of decimals."
        
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       (page generated 2024-04-30 23:01 UTC)