Alex McColgan

speaker

29,301 appearances 104 recordings 1 series first heard Nov 2024 last heard 6d ago

Alex McColgan’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 68 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 11.

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Astrum Space · What We Detected in the Strangest Quantum Experiments on Earth · 7 Sep 2026 podcast

But any time a single photon of light was asked, it gave an answer that was 100% concrete. voice-verified

This is highlighted through something known as the 3-polariser paradox. voice-verified

Consider for a moment a pair of polarising sunglasses. voice-verified

Obviously, these reduce the amount of light that can pass through them, usually by about 50%, depending on the type of lens and the wavelength of light. voice-verified

They work by being formed of thin chains of molecules that run lengthways across the lens. voice-verified

Any light that oscillates in the same orientation as this lens gets absorbed. voice-verified

any that is perpendicular to the chains can pass through without trouble. voice-verified

The interesting case occurs when a single photon is passed through an orientation that's diagonal to the lens. voice-verified

In this case, you don't get half a photon going through. voice-verified

Apparently, you can't just absorb part of the oscillation that is parallel to the lines and let through the other part that is perpendicular. voice-verified

Instead, the photon snaps into either the one orientation or the other. voice-verified

It either is completely absorbed or passes through entirely, but now with a new perpendicular polarisation to match what it would have to have had to have been able to pass through easily. voice-verified

How do we know that the photon wasn't this orientation all along? voice-verified

Because of what happens when you start adding more lenses. voice-verified

When you place a second lens behind the first, you can block out the light entirely, provided the two polarisations are perpendicular to each other. voice-verified

Let's say we rotate the second lens 90 degrees compared to the first one. voice-verified

Any light that gets through the first lens has a 0% chance of getting through the second, like trying to post a letter through a chain-linked fence. voice-verified

As a result, we see only black. voice-verified

But add a third lens and place it at a 45 degree angle between the other two and bizarrely light starts making it through all three lenses again. voice-verified

This may seem counterintuitive. voice-verified

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