[snarks_when_bored]

This article is full of mistakes.

They completely misrepresent Schrödinger. Having two atoms spinning in opposite directions is not the same as a single cat being both dead and alive.

You've not grasped the paradoxicality of the situation being described: each of the six ions is spinning both clockwise and counterclockwise simultaneously. So each ion is manifesting a superposition of classically incompatible states, which justifies the analogy to a cat being both alive and dead simultaneously.

[cgbg]

each of the six ions is spinning both clockwise and counterclockwise simultaneously

I wouldn't believe that even if I saw it--but if I saw it it couldn't be happening anyway. :-)

This stuff reminds me of the square root of -1--it shouldn't exist but it is a useful tool in the real world.

[Paul C. Jesup]

'Clockwise' and 'counterclockwise' is all dependent on point of view in that it depends on whether you are viewing the spinning ball from the top or the bottom of it's spinning axis.