Which world is this?

Some fascinating articles have been written about friction at the nano-scale recently.  I know this area has received intense coverage, almost to the point of overkill, but it represents one of the next realms of scientific experimentation. Its not that the laws of physics are different at this level, but the way that atoms respond to laws can appear to be very different, when friction and gravity no longer dominate in the way that they usually do.

News about friction

I am always interested to hear more about quantum physics and how new ideas may lead to better understandings of different interpretations.  I hardly even knew about these interpretations until confronting some of them at CERN last summer.  The Copenhagen interpretation is the most common, but by no means the only one.  The "Many Worlds' interpretation is the most popular among science fiction enthusiasts. (Think of the 90's TV show 'Sliders'). The 'Pilot Wave' interpretation claims that particles are influenced by invisible waves, and the 'Collapse' interpretation claims that the act of observing makes the quantum waves of probability collapse at a certain point, due to the observation itself. Cool stuff.

Quantum weirdness and what is actually real?

Nano friction

Here are some updates on new developments:

Putting friction to the test.

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/jun/05/ultracold-ions-put-friction-to-the-test

New insight on the double slit experiment.

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/may/26/do-atoms-going-through-a-double-slit-know-if-they-are-being-observed