SCIENCE - Causing collapse: Can one affect an atom's spin just by adjusting the way it is measured?

One of the most basic laws of quantum mechanics is that a system can be in more than one state -- it can exist in multiple realities -- at once. This phenomenon, known as the superposition principle, exists only so long as the system is not observed or measured in any way. As soon as such a system is measured, its superposition collapses into a single state. Thus, we, who are constantly observing and measuring, experience the world around us as existing in a single reality. Researchers now suggest one can affect an atom's spin just by adjusting the way it is measured.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130318133026.ht