Wednesday, March 26
Quantum Breakthrough: Scientists Create Schrödinger-Cat State With Record-Long Lifetime
USTC researchers created a long-lived Schrödinger-cat state, boosting quantum metrology and precision measurements. Their findings open new possibilities for quantum computing and fundamental physics.
A research team led by Prof. Zhengtian Lu and Researcher Tian Xia from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) has successfully created a quantum state with a lifetime on the scale of minutes using optically trapped cold atoms. This breakthrough significantly improves the sensitivity of quantum metrology measurements. Their findings were published in Nature Photonics.
In quantum metrology, particle spin serves as a powerful tool for measuring magnetic fields, inertia, and various physical phenomena. It also has the potential to uncover new physics beyond the Standard Model. A high-spin Schrödinger-cat state, a superposition of two maximally opposed spin states, offers unique advantages for precision spin measurements.
Tuesday, March 25
Robert Reich
The Big Chill
Friends,
I was talking yesterday to a friend who’s a professor at Columbia University about what’s been happening there. He had a lot to say. When he needed to run off to an appointment, I asked him if he’d text or email me the rest of his thoughts. His response floored me. “No,” he said. “I better not. They may be reviewing it.”
“Who’s ‘they’?” I asked, suddenly worried.
“They! The university! The government! Gotta go!” He was off.
My friend has never before shown signs of paranoia.
I relate this to you because the Trump regime is starting to have a chilling effect on what and how Americans communicate with each another. It is beginning to create mass paranoia, which is exactly what Trump intends.
The chill affects the four pillars of civil society — universities, science, the media, and the law.
Start with America’s major universities. Columbia’s capitulation to Trump’s demands that the university identify every demonstrator and put its department of Middle Eastern studies under “receivership” — or else lose $400 million in government funding — is chilling communications there.
The Trump regime also “detained” a Columbia University graduate student and green card holder without criminal charges merely for participating in protests at the school. The regime’s agents have also entered dorms with search warrants and announced the “removal” of two other students who participated in such protests.
Other major universities are on Trump’s target list.
Now, consider science. Trump has mounted a direct attack on the three biggest funders of American science — the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, and National Science Foundation.
At A Glance
A visual explainer of how Medicaid works.
See cherry blossom trees begin to bloom in Washington, DC.
Beware of the highway toll text message scam.
Cleaning products you should never mix—and why.
How often you should wash your feet.
Colorful birds you may not know existed.
Bundled-up cat enjoys snowy sled ride. (w/video)
YouTubers attempt to walk the UK in a straight line.
Clickbait: Goat helps kangaroo escape from owner.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Sweet 16 set for NCAA men's basketball tournament; see complete bracket (More) | ... and women's Round of 32 wraps today; see latest schedule (More)
> George Foreman, two-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Olympic gold medalist, and entrepreneur, dies at 76 (More) | Sports world reacts to Foreman's death (More)
> Conan O'Brien, comedian and five-time Emmy winner, becomes 26th recipient of prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (More)
Science & Technology
> Joint studies from OpenAI and MIT Media Lab find higher use of ChatGPT may correspond with increased loneliness and higher emotional dependence on the chatbot (More) | Everything you need to know about OpenAI (1440 Topics)
> Archaeologists discover over 3,000-year-old Egyptian tomb believed to belong to a pharaoh during the less-known Abydos Dynasty; discovery is second of its kind this year (More) | Learn more about ancient Egypt (1440 Topics)
> Study finds carbon absorbed by the land—about one-third of all carbon emissions—is mainly stored in nonliving pools like soils and sediments, allowing the carbon to remain sequestered 10 to 100 times longer than in living plants (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher Friday (S&P 500 +0.1%, Dow +0.1%, Nasdaq +0.5%); S&P 500 and Nasdaq snap four consecutive weeks of declines (More)
> Ticket reseller StubHub files for initial public offering; reports net loss of $2.8M on revenue of roughly $1.8B for 2024, compared with a $405M profit on $1.4B in revenue for 2023 (More) | What are IPOs? (1440 Topics)
> Tesla vehicles from model year 2017 or newer accounted for record 1.4% of all vehicles traded in this month through March 15, up from 0.4% in the same period last year, per analysis from national car shopping site Edmunds (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him as acting president (More) | Turkish court formally arrests and orders jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu—President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rival—pending outcome of corruption trial (More)
> Department of Defense personnel may be subjected to polygraph tests amid new investigation into alleged leaks at the Pentagon, according to internal memo (More) | President Donald Trump announces $20B contract with Boeing for new F-47 fighter jet (More) | IRS reportedly nearing agreement to verify whether ICE officials have correct address for people expected to be deported (More)
> Israeli airstrike in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis kills Hamas political leader Salah Bardawil; Gaza death toll passes 50,000, per Hamas-run Health Ministry (More) | Israel strikes Lebanon after Hezbollah fires rockets into Israel; exchange considered worst violence since November (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Education
Throughout my entire life, I have always heard that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER...
But how does KNOWLEGE relate to EDUCATION?
Does KNOWLEGE = EDUCATION?
It is true that the education that you learn in high school and how well you learn it, gets you into higher education. The more you know the better high education school you can enter.
What happens after college?
During my 45-year career, NOT ONE EMPLOYER looked at the grades that I earned in college - all they wanted was a copy of my transcript for their files. Several times my employer was HIGHER EDUCATION.
So... in my instance, can I say that knowledge is power from an educational standpoint?
Not really.
However, if we say that KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT EQUAL EDUCATION and then that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER... then, that phrase just might be more accurate.
Knowledge is one's understanding of how to use education to achieve power through that knowledge.
In other words, RESULTS...
KNOWLEDGE = POWER = RESULTS
Gravity is the spawn of entropy
For centuries, scientists have been trying to unify two fundamental theories – Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which describes gravity and cosmic scales, and quantum mechanics, which governs the world of particles. But their incompatibility remains one of the unsolved problems of modern physics. The breakthrough may come from a new concept of quantum gravity, which arises from entropy – chaos in a system. This idea not only brings us closer to a “Theory of Everything” but also offers a solution to the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, which make up 95% of the Universe. The study is published in the journal Physical Review D.
Monday, March 24
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