/sci/ - Science & Math

Not really. If you're referring to quantum mechanics, "observation" in QM means interaction with another particle. A particle is 'observed' when it interacts.

I guess you could call it the scaling of observer effects: A microscope doesn't affect the sample except heating it ever so slightly because of the light source, an electron microscope can punch holes through the sample and an atomic force microscope can literally move atoms. At the quantum scale every interaction is an observation.

Animooted.