While quantum physicists struggle to get quantum computers to function at cryogenic temperatures, other researchers are saying that humble algae and bacteria may have been performing quantum calculations at life-friendly temperatures for billions of years. The evidence comes from a study of how energy travels across the light-harvesting molecules involved in photosynthesis. The work has culminated this week in the extraordinary announcement that these molecules in a marine alga may exploit quantum processes at room temperature to transfer energy without loss. Physicists had previously ruled out quantum processes, arguing that they could not persist for long enough at such temperatures to achieve anything useful. Photosynthesis starts when large light-harvesting structures called antennas capture photons. In the alga called Chroomonas CCMP270, these antennas have eight pigment molecules woven into a larger protein structure, with different pigments absorbing light from different parts of the spectrum. The energy of the photons then travels across the antenna to a part of the cell where it is used to make chemical fuel. The route the energy takes as it jumps across these large molecules is important because longer journeys could lead to losses. In classical physics, the energy can only work its […]
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court suggested Tuesday it will strike down U.S. cities’ outright bans on handguns, a ruling that could establish a nationwide ownership right fervently sought by gun advocates. But the justices indicated less severe limits could survive, continuing disputes over the ‘right to keep and bear arms.’ Chicago area residents who want handguns for protection in their homes are asking the court to extend its 2008 decision in support of gun rights in Washington, D.C., to state and local laws. Such a ruling would firmly establish a right that has been the subject of politically charged and often fierce debate for decades. But it also would ensure years of legal challenges to sort out exactly which restrictions may stand and which must fall. Indeed, the outcome of the Washington lawsuit in 2008 already has spawned hundreds of court challenges, including one in Massachusetts over a state law requiring gun owners to lock weapons in their homes. Two years ago, the court announced that the Constitution’s Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess guns, at least for self-defense in the home. That ruling applied only to federal laws and struck down a […]
A clique of powerful hedge fund managers meets at a ritzy Manhattan townhouse. There, over a meal of honey-roasted chicken and steak, they hatch a plot to bring the world’s second-biggest currency to its knees. This Oliver Stone-worthy story is, in essence, what’s implied by a Department of Justice probe into the short-euro bets of hedge funds that include SAC Capital Advisors LP, Greenlight Capital Inc., Soros Fund Management LLC and Paulson & Co., according to The Wall Street Journal. But regardless of its Hollywood appeal, the Justice Department’s suggestion that these funds may have colluded to drive down the euro is flimsy at best and absurd at worst, raising the suspicion that Washington regulators are focused in the main on improving a public image severely damaged by their failings during the financial crisis. The chief argument against the collusion charge is that of size: according to the latest survey from the Bank for International Settlements, daily volumes in global currency markets totaled $3.2 trillion. For sure, not all of that is in euros. But the common currency is part of an estimated 37% of all transactions, or about $1.2 trillion, and that’s per day. How […]
Republican strategist Karl Rove says in a new memoir that the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq badly damaged the Bush administration’s credibility and led to dwindling public support for the war. The former White House political adviser blames himself for not pushing back against claims that President George W. Bush had taken the country to war under false pretenses, calling it one of the worst mistakes he made during the Bush presidency. The president, he adds, did not knowingly mislead the American public about the existence of such weapons. In ‘Courage and Consequence,’ Rove argues that history will look favorably on Bush’s two-term presidency, particularly his decision to invade Iraq. He calls the 2003 invasion the most consequential act of the Bush presidency and a justifiable response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, even though al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, not Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, were responsible. In the run-up to the war, Bush and his national security team, including Vice President Dick Cheney, attempted to link Saddam to the attacks as a way to build support for the invasion. ‘Having seen how much carnage four airplanes could cause, Bush was […]
The service said that without drastic changes, it would run deficits of $238 billion over the next decade, according to studies it commissioned from outside consultants. But eliminating Saturday delivery would take an act of Congress – something that would seem unlikely in an election year. Still, the postmaster general, John E. Potter, stressed the urgency of the financial crisis in Washington in a briefing before executives of businesses that use the mail heavily as well as the Postal Regulatory Commission. He cited studies from Accenture, the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey to argue that measures more sweeping than basic cost-cutting will be needed in the next year. ‘Without any congressional changes, we can manage half of that shortfall, Joseph Corbett, the chief financial officer of the service, said in an interview. ‘But even with efficiency enhancements, it still leaves us with about $115 billion in 10 years. Eliminating Saturday delivery, Mr. Corbett said, ‘is one five or six areas that will save $3 billion a year. As could be expected, two unions representing letter carriers and other postal workers objected strongly to the elimination of Saturday delivery. Direct-mail marketers and other customers of the […]
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Remote Viewing the Year 2060
