Quantum Zeno effect

In the room, Eve put her cat in a "quantum stasis". This is a real technique that we can apply to small particles, but to nothing as complex as a cat: the quantum Zeno effect. For an analogy, have you ever heard the saying "a watched pot never boils"? That is, if we have a pot of water on the stove and lift the lid to see if it's already boiling... The more we look, the slower it heats up! This is because our measurement interferes with the experiment: when we open the lid to peek, we let in a bit of air, which cools the water. 

In quantum mechanics, when we measure small quantum particles, all measurements are interfering, and by measuring frequently we can slow down the evolution of quantum systems. For example, imagine that an electron would change its rotation direction in 24h (electrons can do this in some magnetic fields). If we measure it 20 times per second, which is possible with modern instruments, we can keep it rotating in one direction for a century with 95% probability! 

In our story, Eve used this method to keep her cat alive for a century, until you arrived.

Quantum Zeno effect: Wikipedia