TELEPORTRTIOtt 59
teleportation event is impossible under Newtonian physics but is actually allowed under quantum mechanics. The answer, however, is that
one would have to wait longer than the lifetime of the universe for this
to occur. (If you used a computer to graph the Schrôdinger wave of
your own body, you would find that it very much resembles all the features of your body, except that the graph would be a bit fuzzy, with
some of your waves oozing out in all directions. Some of your waves
would extend even as far as the distant stars. So there is a very tiny
probability that one day you might wake up on a distant planet.)
The fact that electrons can seemingly be many places at the same
time forms the very basis of chemistry. We know that electrons circle
around the nucleus of an atom, like a miniature solar system. But
atoms and solar systems are quite different; if two solar systems collide in outer space, the solar systems break apart and planets are flung
into deep space. Yet when atoms collide they often form molecules that
are perfectly stable, sharing electrons between them. In high school
chemistry class the teacher often represents this with a "smeared electron," which resembles a football, connecting the two atoms together.
But what chemistry teachers rarely tell their students is that the
electron is not "smeared" between two atoms at all. This "football" actually represents the probability that the electron is in many places at
the same time within the football. In other words, all of chemistry,
which explains the molecules inside our bodies, is based on the idea
that electrons can be many places at the same time, and it is this sharing of electrons between two atoms that holds the molecules of our
body together. Without the quantum theory, our molecules and atoms
would dissolve instantly.
This peculiar but profound property of the quantum theory (that
there is a finite probability that even the most bizarre events may happen) was exploited by Douglas Adams in his hilarious novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He needed a convenient way to whiz
through the galaxy, so he invented the Infinite Improbability Drive, "a
wonderful new method of crossing vast interstellar distances in a mere
nothingth of a second, without all that tedious mucking around in hyperspace." His machine enables you to change the odds of any quan-
teleportation event is impossible under Newtonian physics but is actually allowed under quantum mechanics. The answer, however, is that
one would have to wait longer than the lifetime of the universe for this
to occur. (If you used a computer to graph the Schrôdinger wave of
your own body, you would find that it very much resembles all the features of your body, except that the graph would be a bit fuzzy, with
some of your waves oozing out in all directions. Some of your waves
would extend even as far as the distant stars. So there is a very tiny
probability that one day you might wake up on a distant planet.)
The fact that electrons can seemingly be many places at the same
time forms the very basis of chemistry. We know that electrons circle
around the nucleus of an atom, like a miniature solar system. But
atoms and solar systems are quite different; if two solar systems collide in outer space, the solar systems break apart and planets are flung
into deep space. Yet when atoms collide they often form molecules that
are perfectly stable, sharing electrons between them. In high school
chemistry class the teacher often represents this with a "smeared electron," which resembles a football, connecting the two atoms together.
But what chemistry teachers rarely tell their students is that the
electron is not "smeared" between two atoms at all. This "football" actually represents the probability that the electron is in many places at
the same time within the football. In other words, all of chemistry,
which explains the molecules inside our bodies, is based on the idea
that electrons can be many places at the same time, and it is this sharing of electrons between two atoms that holds the molecules of our
body together. Without the quantum theory, our molecules and atoms
would dissolve instantly.
This peculiar but profound property of the quantum theory (that
there is a finite probability that even the most bizarre events may happen) was exploited by Douglas Adams in his hilarious novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He needed a convenient way to whiz
through the galaxy, so he invented the Infinite Improbability Drive, "a
wonderful new method of crossing vast interstellar distances in a mere
nothingth of a second, without all that tedious mucking around in hyperspace." His machine enables you to change the odds of any quan-