Nature Podcast The biggest 'Schrödinger's cat' yet — physicists put 7,000 atoms in superposition
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Jan 21, 2026 Lizzie Gibney, a science reporter for Nature, interviews physicist Sebastian Pedalino about groundbreaking research on quantum superposition, where 7,000 atoms were put into a state of superposition. They explore the implications of testing quantum mechanics on larger objects and the innovative methods involving sodium nanoparticle clusters. The conversation touches on the macroscopicity of this experiment, its significance in advancing quantum physics, and the playful contemplation of what might happen if a real cat were involved. They also briefly highlight the impact of political shifts on US science and research funding.
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Quantum Laws Extend To Protein Scale
- Quantum mechanics may hold for objects at protein scales, not just atoms and light.
- Pedalino's team demonstrated a center-of-mass superposition of metal nanoparticles separated by ~100 nm.
Years Of Flat Lines Before A Breakthrough
- Pedalino recounts staring at flat data for two years before seeing interference fringes.
- The sudden appearance of fringes confirmed the nanoparticles behaved as waves through the interferometer.
Macroscopicity Beats Single Metrics
- 'Macroscopicity' combines mass, separation and coherence time to compare Schrödinger-cat experiments.
- Their experiment scores ~15.5, about an order of magnitude larger than prior matter-wave tests.