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THE lifetime of radioactive waste could be dramatically reduced by zapping it
with electromagnetic radiation, claim researchers from the Weizmann Institute of
Science in Rehovot, Israel. Gershon Kurizki and Abraham Kofman have shown that
quantum systems may decay faster if they are constantly perturbed—by an
electromagnetic pulse, for example—a phenomenon known as the quantum
anti-Zeno effect (Nature, vol 405, p 546). By “observing” the decay
process, the pulses hasten the transition to the decayed state. Kurizki says the
technique could also be used to make lasers more efficient by increasing the
rate at which atoms emit photons.…