23 Apr 2007
Quantum Physics Parts Ways With Reality

Drat, there goes Life, imitating Art again!

"The principle of generating small amounts of finite improbability by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 Sub-Meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) were of course well understood-and such generators were often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess' undergarments leap one foot simultaneously to the left in accordance with the theory of indeterminacy. Many respectable physicists said they wouldn't stand for that sort of thing, partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties."
  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

PhysicsWeb has news guaranteed to induce headache in those wedded to the reality of, well, reality. Researchers from the University of Vienna have shown the violation of a stronger form of Bell's inequality known as Leggett's inequality. The result means that we must not only give up Einstein's hope of "no spooky action at a distance," we must also give up (some of) the idea that the world exists when we are not looking. From the article: "[Studies] have ruled out all hidden-variables theories based on joint assumptions of realism, meaning that reality exists when we are not observing it; and locality, meaning that separated events cannot influence one another instantaneously. But a violation of Bell's inequality does not tell specifically which assumption — realism, locality, or both — is discordant with quantum mechanics." From the Nature abstract: "Our result suggests that giving up the concept of locality is not sufficient to be consistent with quantum experiments, unless certain intuitive features of realism are abandoned." Only subscribers to Nature, alas, can know what features those are, as PhysicsWeb doesn't tell us.

(link) [Slashdot]

22:22 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Study: Fat workers cost employers more

Move over, smokers, here comes the Fat Brigade! How long before the FDA seeks regulatory authority over portion sizes, on the grounds that doing so would help control health care costs?

Far-fetched? We'll see.

AP - Overweight workers cost their bosses more in injury claims than their lean colleagues, suggests a study that found the heaviest employees had twice the rate of workers' compensation claims as their fit co-workers.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

22:07 /Politics | 2 comments | permanent link

Iraqi Yazidis targeted in Mosul

Anybody out there still think the current run of Islamic fundamentalism is about Muslim vs. Christian,. or Muslim sect vs. Muslim sect?

The ultimate goal here is to convert people to the worship of their god - and they consider Christians and jews (to some extent) to worship that god. They're "People of the Book". Us heathens ain't. For us the choice is simple, and stark - convert or die.

Attackers kill 23 people - all members of a religious minority - in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police say.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

22:01 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Many Pols Ignore 'Click It or Ticket'

There was a proposal floated a few years back to invalidate medical insurance in cases of auto accident where a seat belt was not worn. Now I understand why it failed ...

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine isn't the only politician who shuns seat belts. He's just the unlucky one who got caught violating his state's seat belt law when he suffered severe injuries as his SUV crashed while doing 91 MPH. We're told that seat belts aren't a priority even at the top, though President Bush tries to click in. Few aides recall former President Clinton using them often. And it's typical for top lawmakers to ride unstrapped. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert didn't use them. One top aide explained the leadership's poor habits this way: "They trust their security." But we're told that Speaker Nancy Pelosi does "75 percent of the time" and that Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean is religious about strapping in.

(link) [U.S. News & World Report]

06:22 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link