Physicists from Cornell University have demonstrated experimentally that matter can be “quantum locked,” or frozen in place, with repetitive, rapid measurements. In their paper, recently published in the Physical Review Letters, the team explains how the quantum Zeno effect can restrict the quantum tunneling of confined particles.
The team’s research does not show us that weeping angels exist (what a scary thought that would be), but that the principle behind their movement can be demonstrated in the lab. According to Physics Central, “In the television show, though, there’s something about conscious observation that makes this work; the photons bouncing off the angels have to land in someone’s eye to freeze them in place. In reality however, (extrapolating generously from this experiment), such a creature could only move in complete darkness, or perhaps only under certain wavelengths of light. For these atoms, it’s not the photo that freezes them in place, it’s the camera’s flash.”