Paris, citizen-scientist of light
The modern version of the experiment looks like this. First, we need a researcher — let’s say, Paris Hilton, just to stretch your powers of imagination a little. Paris sets up a simple light source in front of a barrier with two small slits cut into it, with a light-sensitive screen on the other side to record the pattern of incoming light. Paris turns on the light source and
is hypnotized by the shiny beamssends a series of photons, one photon at a time, toward the two slits in the barrier….
So writes Jennifer Ouellette in the midst of her essay about the history of one of physics’s great triumphs — the double-slit experiment.
UPDATE: A few hours after we posted this item, the Associate Press issued this correction to a probably unrelated story:
CORRECTIVE: Paris Hilton Story
GAUHATI, India (AP) ? In a Nov. 13 story, The Associated Press incorrectly reported that Paris Hilton was praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. Lori Berk, a publicist for Hilton, said she never made any comments about helping drunken elephants in India.
The AP