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It's not that a particle has a theoretical probability of being somewhere with some probable momentum, no it will be at a very real place at a very real time with a very actual momentum. It's just that practically it's so complicated to predict it, that the best way we have come up till now are quantum mechanics .

Nope, you're wrong. Here are the experimental evidence which falsify your hypothesis. Bonus: Zombie Feynman.

Well, I guess they did actually hold a competition at the conference: they have an Apparatus Competition, and the device might have been built for that purpose. It's not really a "science fair", though; the focus is just showcase classroom instructional equipment, not conduct scientific research.

Anyway, to add insult to injury, I noticed that the article referred to the Ph.D. student as a "college student", as if they were an undergraduate.

Geeze, talk about incompetent reporting. No, graduate students don't compete their research in "science fairs". It was a CONFERENCE. Specifically, a physics education conference: the 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting at Creighton University.

Exactly. Eric Mazur at Harvard has come to the conclusion that conventional problems reinforce bad study habits. As a result, students don't truly understand what they're being taught. They know only how to get the answers on tests that their instructors expect.

One of our exercises at Physics Camp was, given a laser, a diffraction grating (to find the wavelength of the laser), and a ruler, determine the width of your hair.
So yeah, that'll work.

On the other hand, I wouldn't mind volunteering my time to work on a NP's network. Of course, it has to be a Mac network. Or a Linux network. Either so easy to set up, you can show someone else, or so bullet-proof, you set it up once and forget about it (Set it and forget it, Ron!). Windows networks are designed to keep sub-par network admins employed.