Leap of faith

10.01.39: THE ISLANDERS of the Seychelles have been shocked by the mass suicide of 832 members of an 'immortality cult' on the island of Silhouette.

Police believe that its members took to heart the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum theory preached by their cult leader, Q.

Investigators quoted from notes in which he said: "This reflects the schizophrenic nature of the micro-universe, where an atom can be in many places at once."

Q believed that there are "an infinity of parallel realities in which all possible histories are played out".

Members of the cult were taught that even if they died in one reality, they would continue to live in others.

"If they were right, they are still alive," said a prominent physicist. MC