Flexi Says: Imagine a sealed box with a cat and a flask of poison inside. The flask has an equal chance to either remain intact or break, which would save or kill the cat, respectively. Until we open the box, we won't actually know if the cat is dead or alive. At this point, the cat is both dead and alive. Only after opening the box will we find out for certain whether or not the cat survived. This thought experiment, known as Schroedinger's cat, was devised by Erwin Schroedinger to model the nature of quantum mechanics. Before opening the box, the cat is in what is called a superposition of states; it's both dead and alive. This concept of a dual state defines quantum mechanics. Only the act of observation reveals whether or not the cat is alive or dead.
