Off the Wall Humor

The Entropy of Quantum Entanglement

Bartosz Regula from the RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing and Ludovico Lami from the University of Amsterdam have shown, through probabilistic calculations, that there is indeed, as had been hypothesized, a rule of entropy for the phenomenon of quantum entanglement.


This finding could help drive a better understanding of quantum entanglement, which is a key resource that underlies much of the power of future quantum computers. Little is currently understood about the optimal ways to make effective use of it, despite it being the focus of research in quantum information science for decades.


The second law of thermodynamics, which says that a system can never move to a state with lower entropy, or order, is one of the most fundamental laws of nature, and lies at the very heart of physics. It is what creates the "arrow of time," and tells us the remarkable fact that the dynamics of general physical systems, even extremely complex ones such as gases or black holes, are encapsulated by a single function, its entropy.     READ MORE...

Two Accordions

 

Buddy Holly Tribute

 

Google Lays Off Hundreds of Employees

Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., during Stanford’s 2024 Business, Government, and Society forum in Stanford, California, US, on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images




Just ahead of its blowout first-quarter earnings report on April 25, Google laid off at least 200 employees from its “Core” teams, in a reorganization that will include moving some roles to India and Mexico, CNBC has learned.

The Core unit is responsible for building the technical foundation behind the company’s flagship products and for protecting users’ online safety, according to Google’s website. Core teams include key technical units from information technology, its Python developer team, technical infrastructure, security foundation, app platforms, core developers, and various engineering roles.


At least 50 of the positions eliminated were in engineering at the company’s offices in Sunnyvale, California, filings show. Many Core teams will hire corresponding roles in Mexico and India, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC.    READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with Quince

> Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt relinquishes crown, citing her mental health; Miss USA organization to name a successor soon (More)

> Statues of civil rights leader Daisy Bates and musician Johnny Cash to replace existing 100-year-old statues representing Arkansas at the US Capitol (More)

> San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama becomes NBA's sixth-ever unanimous Rookie of the Year (More) | NBA postseason continues; see latest playoff bracket (More)


Science & Technology
> Groundbreaking Alzheimer's study links some cases of the disease with duplicate copies of the APOE4 gene; marks the most conclusive evidence of genetic causes for Alzheimer's, may represent 15% to 20% of cases (More) | Alzheimer's explained (More, w/video)

> New ultrasound imaging technique allows high-resolution of microscopic blood vessels in the heart, may lead to better diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (More)

> Boeing delays first crewed launch of Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station due to issue with an oxygen valve; a new launch date hasn't been announced as of this writing (More) | See previous write-up (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.0%, Dow +0.5%, Nasdaq +1.2%), with investors fueled by a greater chance of interest rate cuts this year (More)

> Free stock trading giant Robinhood announces it has received an enforcement action notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged violations of securities laws related to its cryptocurrency unit (More)

> Boeing faces new probe from the Federal Aviation Administration over 787 Dreamliner model; investigation comes after the jet maker revealed its employees may have skipped some inspections and falsified records (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to run for fourth term; Sanders, 82, is second-oldest US senator behind 90-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (R, IA) (More) | Former President Donald Trump fined additional $1K for violating gag order in hush money trial, was previously fined $9K; trial judge warns of jail time for future violations (More)

> Russia detains American soldier on charges of theft, US officials say; soldier, whose identity hasn't been revealed, traveled to Russia on his own while between deployments (More) | Russia announces nuclear weapons drills (More)

> Great Plains, central US brace for supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds (More) | Supercell thunderstorms 101 (More)

SOURCE:   1440 News

Retirement Goals

If you are 18 and plan to retire at 67 then you have 49 years to plan for your retirement...  and by the time you get to 67 the retirement age will be moved out to 70 or maybe even 75.

After high school, you have several directions you can take:

1. College
2. Community College, then college
3. Military
4. Trade School
5. Just start working somewhere

Each one of those directions has consequences but since you have a good fifty years to work, you could look at that time as TWO TWENTY-FIVE YEAR CAREERS...   that way, if you don't like one direction, you can move into another direction.

Each of these directions is going to require different amounts of money - some may require no money at all, like the military.

BUT REGARDLESS OF THE DIRECTION, at the end of your career is RETIREMENT and your retirement income will no doubt be substantially less than your working income.

What kinds of things should you be thinking about?

• Will you get married?
• How many children?
• Will you pay for their education?
• How many homes will you own?
• How many cars will you own?
• How much debt are you willing to live with?
• At what age would you like to be debt free?
• Are you willing to relocate to different cities?
• Are you willing to relocate to different states?
• How much money would you like to save each year?
• How will you invest your extra money?
• What type of quality of life do you want?
• What is your current lifestyle?  Will it change?
• How healthy do you want to be?
• Do you smoke cigarettes?
• Do you use recreational drugs?
• How much alcohol do you drink?
• Are you willing to bag your lunch?
• Do you have to purchase a new car?
• What level of income do you need for retirement?

The answers to many of the questions, if not all of these questions will change as you get older.  Therefore, if you are thoughtful enough to answer these questions at age 18 or 20, hold onto your work because it will change at ages: 30-40-50-60 and you will not have to start from scratch.

What I am suggesting is a retirement plan - one that is fluid and changes as you change, as you needs change.  A plan is not something that you have to follow perfectly - it is a suggestion, a guide, perhaps even a goal to reach.  Just don't push that goal out so far it is impossible to reach.

BUT FIRST,

You must know yourself.  Who are you and what do you want?  In what do you believe?  Is there something that you would like to be the best at?  If so, are you willing to sacrifice doing other things in order to reach that goal?

You will need to know yourself before you can develop a plan but once you do, your plan will be a natural extension of who you are?  Or, who you want to be?

 

It's so Meaningful

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Quantum Challenge Solved Underground

Radiation from space is a challenge for quantum computers as their computation time becomes limited by cosmic rays. Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and University of Waterloo in Canada are now going deep underground in the search for a solution to this problem—in a two-kilometer-deep mine.

A recently discovered cause of errors in quantum computers is cosmic radiation. Highly charged particles from space disturb the sensitive qubits and cause them to lose their quantum state, as well as the ability to continue a calculation. 

But now quantum researchers from Sweden and Canada will join forces to find a solution to the problem—in the world's deepest located clean room, two kilometers underground.  READ MORE...

Dirty Laundry

 

The Devil Went Down to Georgia

 

China's Newest Aircraft Carrier

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — China’s newest, largest and most-advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, took a big step to joining the world’s largest naval fleet on Wednesday as it set out from Shanghai for its first sea trials.

The naval assessment is expected to take place in the East China Sea, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the Jiangnan Shipyard where the carrier has been under construction for more than six years, according to Shanghai’s Maritime Safety Administration.

“The sea trials will primarily test the reliability and stability of the aircraft carrier’s propulsion and electrical systems,” read an announcement from the state-run Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.

The warship was launched in 2022 and has “completed its mooring trials, outfitting work and equipment adjustments” working up to the latest sea trials, Xinhua said.

With a displacement of 80,000 metric tons, the Fujian dwarfs the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) two active carriers, the 66,000-ton Shandong and the 60,000-ton Liaoning. Only the United States Navy operates bigger aircraft carriers than Fujian.   READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Mystik Dan edges Sierra Leone and Forever Young to win 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish; see complete results (More)

> Frank Stella, pioneering minimalist American painter, dies at 87 (More) | Bernard Hill, actor known for role as Captain Smith in "Titanic," dies at 79 (More)

> Madonna attracts a record-breaking crowd of 1.6 million to her free concert at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach (More)


Science & Technology
> US Air Force announces plans for a fleet of 1,000 AI-controlled fighter jets, with the first reportedly scheduled to begin operating in 2028; follows a recent successful test flight of an AI-controlled F-16 with a human passenger (More)

> Study suggests beluga whales may communicate by changing the shape of the large fat deposit on their foreheads (More) | Researchers find bumblebees can collaborate to perform tasks, a trait usually observed in large-brained animals (More)

> Urinary tract infection vaccine shows success in preliminary trials; around half of women who took the oral treatment reported no infections during nine-year study (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher Friday (S&P 500 +1.3%, Dow +1.2%, Nasdaq +2.0%) on the news of weaker-than-expected wage and job data in April, raising expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts (More)

> Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, informally known as the "Woodstock of capitalism," held over the weekend in Omaha, Nebraska; Buffett reveals Berkshire has sold entire Paramount stake at a loss as well as 13% of its Apple stock as Berkshire's first-quarter profit plunged 64% from last year (More)

> Tesla's decision to lay off at least 500 staff from its Supercharger business puts pressure on other electric vehicle companies to expand charger stations; Tesla operates almost two-thirds of the 42,000 fast-charging ports in the US (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Russia's interior ministry adds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's name to its list of wanted criminals without specifying charges (More) | See updates on war (More)

> Flooding in Houston and East Texas leaves one child dead, while more than 400 people have been rescued from their homes, roads, and rooftops, after the region receives more than 20 inches of rain in less than a week (More)

> Panama holds general election days after frontrunner was convicted of money laundering and disqualified from running for president; early results show former security minister Jose Raul Mulino on track to win presidency (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Lesser of Two Evils

 

When thinking about the 2024 Presidential election, we are presented with two candidates, neither of which, in my opinion, is suitable to hold the office of President of the USA...

SO...

What do we do?

For me, it is simple.

I will select the lesser of the two evils and then hope that congress can balance the ensuing issues that may potentially arise.

I am neither Democrat nor Republican, totally against the Progressives and the Socialist since neither of those types of government will work for our country.

I am a LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE.  Briefly, I believe in abortion and a person's right to choose but I want a balanced budget, no debt, and a strong military because I do not trust the CHINESE, RUSSIANS, or the American Hating Arabs, or the IDIOT in charge of North Korea.

Biden is showing us that he wants the following:

1. Higher Taxes
2. Higher National Debt
3. Increased Government Spending
4. Increased Inflation
5. Global Disrespect of USA
6. Unlimited Illegal Immigration
7. Unlimited Illegal Drugs
8. No law and order in our cities
9. A Weak Military
10. More Social Programs

I don't really care if Biden is corrupt because recently ALL POLITICANS are corrupt to some degree or another, primarily because of all the lobbying groups in Washington, DC.

In addition to the 8 points above, I am also deeply concerned about Kamala Harris taking over if something should happen to the aging Biden.  In my opinion, Kamala is TOTALLY UNFIT to be President.  THAT SCARES ME...

I am also concerned that Biden is ANTI-ISRAEL especially since Israel's strategic location in the middle east can help us unite with other Arab countries that are against what IRAN is doing.

While Russia and China are our enemies, I am more worried about the potential of China than Russia.  And with that said, Biden IS NOT TOUGH with either Russia or China and that could be problematic in the near future.

TRUMP, who may have more issues than Biden when it comes to managing style and leadership qualities, is completely OPPOSITE when it comes to the 10+ concerns listed above.  It is this OPPOSITE position that I believe will be better for the USA in both the short and long run.

Obviously, Capitalism has its PROBLEMS especially creating such a wide divide between management and labor and the wealthy versus the poor...  BUT it is capitalism not socialism that will make our country STRONG and respected throughout the world.

Biden and the Democrats want Americans to be no better than anyone else in the world.  That means Biden wants us to be poor, uneducated, and dependent upon someone else to make all of our decisions for us.

While I am NOT WEALTHY, I am also NOT POOR, and after working for 45 years, 12-15 hours a day, I paid my dues, saved my money, and have what I have and don't need anyone to take care of me or make decisions for me.

The education I experienced in the 60s through the 80s has been watered down to the point that it is no longer robust.  I spent TWO YEARS getting my Graduate Degree and today a student can get the same graduate degree in LESS THAN 12 MONTHS...

Education is not getting better, it is getting worse.

America is not getting better, it is getting worse.

I don't want to be like everyone else in the world.

I want to be physically, mentally, and morally better than anyone else in the world.

I want people to be more like me than me being more like them.

VOTE FOR THE LESSER OF THE TWO EVILS AND TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE - YOU DON'T NEED THE GOVERNMENT TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO AND WHEN TO DO IT...   FIGHT TO KEEP THE FREEDOMS THAT NO ONE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD ENJOYS BUT AMERICANS.

Lots of Highways

 

280.000 Horsepower Submarine

The US Navy has accepted the delivery of its latest Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine from Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) subsidiary Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS).

USS New Jersey (SSN 796) is the 11th Virginia-class submarine delivered by NNS and the 23rd built under the teaming agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat.

The nuclear-powered submarine’s name, New Jersey, was given to it in November 2021 at NNS by the ship’s sponsor, Susan DiMarco, a New Jersey resident, retired dentist, and wife of former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson.

The submarine is expected to be commissioned in late 2024. A commissioning ceremony for the future New Jersey is planned for September 14.

Strengths and capabilities
Designed to meet the Navy’s requirements in a post-Cold War era, Virginia-class submarines have enhanced stealth, sophisticated surveillance capabilities, and special warfare enhancements that enable them to meet multi-mission requirements.

The submarines can reach submerged speeds of more than 25 knots (29 miles per hour or 46 kilometers per hour) and can stay submerged for up to three months at a time.  READ MORE...

Life After Death

 

Tobacco Road

 

7,000-Year-Old Settlement

Together with cooperation partners from the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad (Serbia), the National Museum Zrenjanin and the National Museum Pančevo, a team from the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence has discovered a previously unknown Late Neolithic settlement near the Tamiš River in Northeast Serbia.

"This discovery is of outstanding importance, as hardly any larger Late Neolithic settlements are known in the Serbian Banat region," says team leader Professor Dr. Martin Furholt from the Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University.

Geophysics reveals a 13-hectare settlement structure
The newly discovered settlement is located near the modern village of Jarkovac in the province of Vojvodina. With the help of geophysical methods, the team was able to fully map its extent in March of this year. It covers an area of 11 to 13 hectares and is surrounded by four to six ditches.     READ MORE...

Train

 

Finding Your Way Economically

 

There have been numerous times during my FORTY-FIVE-year career that I have been without a job for one reason or another.

During those times, I worked at least THREE part-time jobs until I found full time work.  One of these part-time jobs was consulting based upon the skills that I had learned in my previous job.

What helped me more than anything else, was being very careful about spending money and doing without EXTRAS so that I could pay off my DEBT.  Once my debt was gone by flexibility and mobility increased.

The other issue was I was never TOO PROUD not to do certain types of work like manual labor or work that I felt insulted my intelligence.

The last issue was that I was not going to let what other people thought of me bother me.

I stopped EVERTHING that I need not really need, like:

• smoking cigarettes
• drinking alcohol
• buying unnecessary clothes
• buying new cars
• eating lunch out
• going out to dinner
• staying at the beach only five days

My vehicles are ONE YEAR OLD when purchased that have been LEASED with low mileage.  I saved $12-$15,000.  

I stopped going into debt beyond a MONTH.  If I could not pay off the debt in one month, I would not buy it.

Instead of buying canned beans, I purchased dried beans that took a little longer to cook and required planning.

I went to a technical school and learned how to build and repair computers.  Technical school also gave me the skills to sit for the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer exam.

After my debt was gone, I gradually got more and more technical training to help me acquire part-time or full time jobs.

All of this was done after earning my master's in business administration from Wake Forest University, after earning my bachelor's from Elon University.  Bear in mind, I had no LOAN DEBT because my two years in the NAVY paid for all of my education via the GI Bill.

Hardly anybody wants to go into the military anymore and that is a mistake.

When I was 60 years old, my college degrees were not finding me work so I had to use my technical education to secure employment.

What helped me the most was convincing myself that it did not matter what my parents thought of me, my siblings, my relatives, my friends, or strangers...  

I WAS GOING TO DO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS BEST FOR ME AND IF I FAILED, I WOULD CONTINUE TRYING UNTIL I GOT IT RIGHT.

Tornado

 

TWELVE TON Electric Robot Tank

The official YouTube channel for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) unveiled a new phase of testing of its 12-ton autonomous RACER Heavy Platform (RHP) diesel hybrid. 

The new testing included an autonomous route, which was tested for mobility and demonstration, including sensor point cloud visualizations.

The agile and fast tank utilizes the Textron M5 base platform, which was previously developed and used in US Army campaigns of learning for robotic combat vehicle requirements and acquisition. 

The fourth experiment of RACER was performed by teams from the University of Washington and from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). DARPA remarked that RACER is on track to continue its autonomy development and experiment spirals with a new round of testing roughly every six months.     READ MORE...

Canned Heat

 

Sunday Misc

Heavy rains in Houston area cause flooding, trigger evacuations.
Officials of Harris County, where Houston is located, have ordered residents who live along the East Fork of the San Jacinto River to evacuate due to ongoing flooding and heavy rainfall. More than 9 inches of rain have fallen in the area since Thursday. The river was expected to rise to 77 feet above sea level Friday; the river is typically 45 to 50 feet above sea level. See photos and videos here.



US job growth slows in April, economy adds 175,000 jobs.
The nonfarm payroll growth for April is below the 240,000 jobs economists had expected and down from 315,000 in March. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% month-over-month and 3.9% year-over-year, both below economist estimates. Analysts say the data show the labor market is cooling, potentially paving the way for interest rate cuts in late summer.



Canadian police arrest three suspects in killing of Sikh activist.
The three men face charges of first-degree murder for allegedly being involved in last year's killing of Sikh Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot outside a Sikh cultural center in British Columbia. Canadian officials previously accused India of being linked to the alleged assassination, which India denies. Nijjar was involved in a movement to establish an independent Sikh homeland in India. See our previous write-up here.



President Joe Biden presents Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest honor given to civilians. This year's recipients include NASA astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who was the first Hispanic woman in space; Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, who is the most decorated women's swimmer; and actress Michelle Yeoh, who in 2023 became the first Asian to win an Academy Award for best actress. See the full list here.



Trump's former senior aide Hope Hicks testifies in hush money trial.
Friday concluded the 11th day of former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan. Hick's testimony revolved around the Trump campaign's response to allegations about Trump and women, including a 2016 Wall Street Journal article on a hush money deal involving former Playboy model Karen McDougal.



China successfully launches mission to the far side of the moon.
China, which aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030, launched its Chang'e-6 lunar probe (named after a Chinese mythical moon goddess) Friday to collect samples from the moon's less-explored region. The 53-day mission, if successful, would make China the first nation in the world to retrieve samples from the side of the moon that faces away from Earth.

SOURCE:  1440 News

Increasing the Minimum Wage Revisited

For those of you who have visited this blog more than once and those of you who have read my postings more than once, you will no doubt remember this one.

It is about the minimum wage and why increasing it willy nilly is a bad thing to do, no matter how much workers piss and moan that they need more money.

First of all, as soon as the minimum wage is increased, other items like health insurance and taxes increase as well.  There have been times where I have turned down a salary increase because it put me into a higher tax bracket and the increase was not enough to offset the increase in taxes.

However, something worse also happens and that is that employers are faced with a few choices when the minimum wage increases:

1. employers lay off workers
2. employers raise their prices
3. employers relocate their plants
4. employers hire older workers
5. employers reduce their profits

This last one will hardly ever happen, but some firms have been known to do this.

More than likely, employers will raise prices and in so doing this has a ripple effect on the economy and within about 90 days to 6 months, other companies have raised their prices and we have INFLATION.

THREE PERCENT inflation is good economic growth, TWO PERCENT is better...  ONE PERCENT is not so good.

Increases in wages and salaries should take place when the economy is growing a 2-3 percent because the increase can be easily absorbed into the normal growth cycle.

BUT...  it is during these times that the workers don't need money so no one is bitching and complaining about not earning enough.   AND...  employers are hesitant to pay workers more with just meager growth opportunities.

CURRENTLY, the worker is hurting and needs more money but if that happens, they will probably be no better off after the increase than before and there is a good possibility, they could be worse off.

SO....

what can the worker do?

First - the worker can cut back on their current lifestyle and/or quality of life.  That is to say, stop buying alcohol and cigarettes.  Drink more water.  Exercise to reduce stress.  Keep the car instead of buying a new one.  Take cheaper vacations. Don't spend as much money at Christmas or for birthdays and other holidays.

Second - the worker can look for another job at a different company in the same area or outside of the area or even outside of the state.  The wages are higher up north but so is the cost of living...  and this point goes back to NUMBER ONE.

Third - the worker can work a second job or the worker can return to school for more education or training that would qualify s/he for a better paying job.

There are other things that workers could do but I am saving those items for another posting.

Somewhat Political

 

The Cat's Paw Nebula

An illustration of 2-Methoxyethanol found in space for the first time using radio telescope observations of the star-forming region NGC 6334I. (Image credit: Fried, et al)





Scientists have discovered a hitherto unknown space molecule while investigating a relatively nearby region of intense star birth, a cosmic spot about 5,550 light-years away. It's part of the Cat's Paw Nebula, also known as NGC 6334.


The team, led by Zachary Fried, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), examined a section of the nebula known as NGC 6334I with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This revealed the presence of a complex molecule known as 2-methoxyethanol, which had never been seen before in the natural world, though its properties had been simulated in labs on Earth.     READ MORE...