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Macroscopic Quantum Entanglement

meckardt writes: "We laugh at the science fiction of such programs as Star Trek, but it can almost be stated as a truism that what is fiction today may be science tomorrow and engineering next week. Researchers at the University of Aarhus in Denmark report in the science journal Nature that they have been able to cause particles to interact over a distance using lasers. The effect, called quantum entanglement, has been observed before, but never with such large amounts of matter. Don't expect transporters next week, but it is interesting that this report hits the streets the same day that Enterprise debuts."

21 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    what do you know, my very own first post - stupid lameness filter - I'll probably loose because of it. I hate that damn thing

  2. Re:fp? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    You were denied! HA HA Take that!

  3. Cherish my balls!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Gimme an F

    F!

    Gimme a P

    P!

    That's right kids, First P0st.

    This space reserved in memory of the victims:

    -->| |--

    Damn.

    31337 personified

  4. Tall stories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    TALL STORIES (BUT TRUE)

    Because It Was There

    When George Willig, a toy maker from Brooklyn, used homemade climbing equipment to scale the World Trade Center on a windy March day in 1977, he expected to be arrested when he reached the top, and he was. But Willig had not merely climbed what was then the tallest building in the world. Nor had he trespassed upon the property of the average New York commercial landlord. Willig had conquered the summit of a billion dollar, ten million square foot office complex built and run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA), a bi-state planning agency charged with protecting public funds from diversion into speculative ventures.

    But while Willig's stunt brought him instant popular acclaim, the Authority's higher-ups were not amused by the idea any sufficiently venturesome soul could turn the jewel in their real estate crown into an impromptu adventure park. The PA legal department pressed criminal trespass against Willig, then iced the cake with a $750,000 civil suit.

    Keen to take up the cause of an underdog getting it in the neck from humorless bureaucrats, the local newsmedia rallied to Willig's support, mercilessly ridiculing the PA for failing to catch the spirit of a city universally renowned for its chutzpah. And besides, Willig had helped Gothamites forget, if only briefly, that New York was in the midst of its most severe fiscal crisis since the Great Depression. He had made them feel triumphant and unafraid. So it took a second publicity stunt, this one dreamed up by PA's top PR man, Sidney Frigand, to put a positive spin on the Authority's edifice complex. In a courtroom sentencing turned media opportunity, Willig copped a tongue-in-cheek plea, agreeing to pay the city a fine of one dollar and ten cents - a penny for every floor he'd climbed.

    N.B. There must be peculiar and fortuitous relationship between the Willig clan and the world's tallest buildings. In 1945, George's mother, the future Thérèse Fortier Willig, was working in the Empire State Building when a B-25 bomber, lost in fog, plowed into her office causing thirteen fatalities. George's mom survived. (ED)

  5. Re:Wow by MadCow42 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Actually, you can't yet pick up "real" food at McDonalds... let them get past that hurdle first.

    MadCow.

    --
    I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
  6. Important! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    When is Mr Katz going to do a film review of the new movie everyone is talking about
    the movie is called Glitter and I would like to know Mr Katz' opinion

  7. Is that what causes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    extra whitespace in slashdot stories?

  8. Michael by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    He's got a microscopic quantum dick that gets entangled often.

  9. Young Usama play's it safe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    The beginnings of the bin Laden phenomenon are difficult to track down. The bin Laden family first appears when Sheik Mohammed bin Laden, a native of the Sunni Hadramout, emigrated from Yemen to Saudi Arabia in the 1960's. The clan appears to have gradually congealed power around itself, and forged a close relationship with the Saudi royal family, being granted all rights to construction of a religious nature, whether in Mecca, Medina or the Holy Palaces of Jerusalem (until 1967). The bin Ladens renovated Mecca after the royal house was highly satisfied with their work on the palaces. In any event, the bin Ladens established a financial empire that now reaches far beyond mere construction work. The bin Laden clan and the Saudi royal house soon had a very close working relationship, one not just based on finances, but on friendship and shared secrets as well. When young Usamah was growing up, he was ensconsed in the Saudi establishment, going to the same schools and colleges as the luminaries of the Arabian peninsula. Indeed, bin Ladens went to Victoria College in Alexandria, the Eton of the Middle East, where they rubbed shoulders with such excellencies as King Hussein of Jordan and Omar Sharif.

    Usamah was born in 1957 in Riyadh. His father took many wifes, and young Usamah was born to one of the last and least respected of them. He was the 17th son of a reported 50 sired by Mohammed. Mohammed's brother and partner sired 50 more, making the bin Laden clan and influence huge. The fact that Usamah came to outshine them all is a testament to his innate genius.

    Usamah as a young boy, on holiday in Sweden aged 14. His 'pale good looks' shone through already. Click here to view.

    Earliest direct evidences of Usamah himself this reporter could track down are recollections by an old teacher, Brian Fyfield-Shayler. In 1969, whilst his decadent western peers were guzzling drugs and descending into an orgy of self, the callow bin Laden, just 13, was studying hard at Al-Thaghr, a school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia modelled on the English public school system. Mr Fyfield-Shayler said (in this respected news source) "I remember him as quiet, retiring and rather shy. He was very courteous - more so than any of the others in his class. Physically, he was outstanding because he was taller, more handsome and fairer than most of the other boys. He also stood out as he was singularly gracious and polite, and had a great deal of inner confidence. He was very neat, very precise and very conscientious."

    There can be no doubt that Usamah, an ordinary and pious young man, was deeply affected by his family's involvement in rebuilding the two holy Mosques in Mekkah and Madinah. We have already heard that his early teacher thought him a confident but reflective individual, so we shouldn't be surprised if he felt great pride that his family was involved in raising the glory of Allah in such spiritually significant places.

    Throughout the 1970's Usamah spent his time studying and working for the family business. Doubtless he kept an eye on current affairs ? the disgraceful behaviour of Israel and America during this period is remarkable ? but he was determined to get his degree and be a credit to his family. In 1979 he graduated from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah with a degree in Civil Engineering.

    BEGINNING OF THE LEGEND

    Usamah as a handsome young man in the Mujahideen. Shortly after young Usamah graduated, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up the failing Communist regime. The Mujahideen put out an international call for help, and Usamah was inspired to leave the dusty world of commerce for more noble pursuits. He packed himself and several family bulldozers off to Afghanistan, and later was quoted as saying "In our religion, there is a special place in the Hereafter for those who participate in Jihad. One day in Afghanistan was like 1000 days of praying in an ordinary mosque."

    Usamah made a huge difference to the Mujahideen. At first he was an effective politician and strategist. He recruited thousands of Arab fighters in the Gulf, paid for their passage to Afghanistan, and set up camps to train them. He designed defences along the Pakistani border, driving a bulldozer himself and taking great risks from Soviet helicopter gunship strafings as a result. Such was the personal stake he felt that before long he had taken up a Kalashnikov and was fighting on the front personally. This personal touch emerged again in 1986 when he and a few dozen Arab helpers fought off a Soviet onslaught in a small town called Jaji, near the Pakistani border. This ignited the Afghani resolve, as it was the first example that the Russians could actually be beaten. Just twelve months later he turned the tide of the Afghanistan war with a brilliant offensive against Soviet troops in the battle of Shaban. The Mujahideen suffered heavy casualties in the vicious, heavy fighting, but thanks to bin Laden's superb generalship the Soviets were pushed out of the area for good and the end was in sight for the Communists.

    Hamza Mohammed, a Palestinian volunteer in Afghanistan, recalls "He was a hero to us because he was always on the Front Line, always moving ahead of everyone else. He not only gave his money, but he also gave himself. He came down from his palace to live with the Afghan peasants and the Arab fighters. He cooked with them, ate with them, dug trenches with them. That was Bin Laden's way."

    By the late 1980's Usamah had established himself as a legend across all Afghanistan. It was at this time that his close personal friendship with the Taliban Mullah Mohammad Omar began. The Wahhabi brand of Islam they both share is somewhat similar to Protestantism, but in an Islamic context, and they are both very spiritual men. To this day they take reflective fishing trips in the backlands of their country, such is their binding friendship. Where the rest of the Islamic world has been corrupted by decadent Western ways, the Wahhabis stick to traditional Islam as taught in the Koran. They are amongst the very holiest and most pious of Muslims, their creed established in Saudi Arabia, to an extent, and also Afghanistan, which though not strictly a Wahhabi state is very closely modelled on one. A measure of his piety is that he selflessly rejected an offer from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to expand the Prophet's mosque in Medinah. This cosy little deal would have pocketed Usamah a lovely $90 million, but he refused as he correctly recognised it as an attempt to lure him from Jihad against the communists.

    RETURN TO THE HOMELAND

    Usamah today, careworn and wise with experience. Usamah returned to Saudi Arabia in the late eighties, a celebrity throughout the Muslim world. Convinced by the words of the holy Koran, Usamah soon set aside his own personal, selfish best interests and began to campaign for the Saudi government to introduce Shariah (Islamic Law) and reduce its terrible corruption, an offence to Allah in the land of Mekkah. Although this was to get him into trouble with the corrupt authorities on several occasions, the real shakedown occurred when King Fahd decided to allow Western troops in the Kingdom during the Gulf War. Usamah criticised the Saudi regime for this terrible decision, and was promptly hounded with a harassment campaign. Before long, in 1991, he fled to the Sudan, and shortly afterwards was declared an outlaw by the Saudi regime, which stripped him of his nationality and put a price on his head. His loyalty to the word of the Koran and his conscience had cost him his home, and reduced him to a common bandit as far as his old circles in Saudi Arabia were concerned.

    In the Sudan Usamah managed to expand his business interests considerably, and he continued his Jihad bankrolling. Always keeping a careful eye on ethical considerations, he made sure to only bankroll just causes, putting money on the underdog and the concept of right V might:

    Chechnya. Here the Russians have sought to destroy all hope of Chechnian independance, but as usual bin Laden is involved, helping fund the Chechen guerrila fighters against the superior enemy. A noble cause.

    Muslim Bosnians against the Serb overseers. Despite the justness of this cause, the US interfered, arresting the fighters he sent to help the cause of freedom against oppression. Nonetheless, bin Laden had a big impact there, as he does everywhere.

    Palestine. bin Laden has always been outraged by the plight of the Palestinians. At a young age he came under the tutilege of a Palestininian man, Sheikh Abdallah Azzam, who was once a confidant of Yasser Arafat but had become disenchanted with the PLO. Some Usamah became intertwined with Palestinian politics and the cause.

    Yemen. Usamah has long had links to the Yemen Wahhabi cause. He has also been involved in the struggle there - the bombing of the USS Cole was possibly an example of this (unlike the WTC, this bombing fits bin Laden's MO - the target was military, not involving innocent civilians.

    Everyone of these causes was Just and right, and it is no wonder that Usamah's reputation only grew and prospered during this period ? and no wonder that an assassination attempt was made at this time, though he escaped with only some injuries.

    AFGHANISTAN ONCE MORE

    In 1996 Usamah moved permanently back to Afghanistan. In despair at the terrible situation in both Saudi Arabia and the Sudan, he sought a more traditional and devout setting. After Saudi Arabia decided to imprison Islamic scholars and hundreds of Mujahideen youths, after the rape of the Holy Land by the West and the occupation of the two Holy Places by American troops, Usamah decided to make a stand. He issued his first Bayan, or statement, 'A Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places'. This document was seminal, and simple ? a lucid warning instructing the Americans to leave the land of the two Holy Places or face military attack from the Mujahideen, the same Mujahideen that defeated the largest superpower in the world under his tutelage some few years before in Afghanistan.

    "Muslims burn with anger at America. For its own good, America should leave [Saudi Arabia]."

    Usamah is still in Afghanistan to this day. Despite the total lack of any evidence (The US claims to have evidence, but with it's usual broohaha is prepared to go to war rather than publically release it. It is so convincing they will give it to allies but not to the Taleban, from whom they expect an extradition with no evidence at all) relating him to the recent WTC attacks, he is castigated worldwide for this devilish act. Usamah may be no friend of the United States, and with good reason, but he has no record of attacking innocent civilian targets. He is an honourable man and an honourable fighter, with a long, proud record of fighting for the oppressed (but right) underdog.

    So why must he die?

    Because he must be martyred. It is my belief that Usamah has reached his peak. Already approaching his 50's, he can't continue his brave fight against Western imperialism forever. Already he is weakening, his judgement is failing and his body shrivels. Every Muslim who dies in Jihad is guaranteed a place in Heaven, and Usamah, in dying, can both guarantee his own elevation and strike a blow against the western imperial forces trying to paint him as some sort of extremist. If he martyrs himself, a thousand new and young Usamahs will be inspired by his legend and continue the good fight, and the truth about bin Laden will spread around the world, and so the simple peoples of this globe will hear of his valiant life and fight. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the USA boycotted the Moscow Olympics, western opinion was outraged, and President Jimmy Carter embargoed all exports to the Soviet Union. Contrary to popular belief, the USA did not funnel military or financial support to the Mujahideen, however. In this interview bin Laden recalls "Personally neither I nor my brothers saw evidence of American help", so we see that the Americans were all mouth but had no guts. Now that America has, with it's usual hypocricy, decided to attack Afghanistan, it is clear that Usama must take risks to ensure maximum damage is applied to the enemy.

    WHAT USAMAH MUST DO

    Firstly he must provide tantalising glimpses of himself, drawing the Americans into Afghanistan. He must make sure the common people of Afghanistan understand that the Americans are out to culturally reprogram the Afghanis, one of the last pure peoples of the Earth. He must extract maximum damage upon the enemy in exchange for his own life. No superpower, however strong, can, once entered, come out of Afghanistan with honour. Hopefully the plight of Afghanistan and the indiscriminate killing of civilians that will occur there will reignite the Wahhabi cause throughout the Arab world, but especially in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. There is a great, noble chance here for the Middle East to be reawakened in its old image.

    Usamah made Afghanistan in his own image, it is thanks to his influence that it has steered a course away from the brutality and violence of communism, towards the status of a pure Muslim state. The Taliban, unlike the governments of Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia, is not corrupted by Western influence, and will not hand him over. The West knows it has a resolute enemy. Even in the unlikely even that they did decide to hand him over, they would be unnable to, and surely the Afghans would revolt and a new revolution would be needed.

    The likelihood is that they shall be true to the tenets of Islam, and not hand over Usamah. Then, the US and other Western allies will be forced to invade Afghanistan, where they will meet a bloody end. Usamah must sacrifice himself in the process, for it is the best way of guaranteeing his place in heaven and exacting maximum pain upon the enemy.

  10. dickinmouth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I have an account that posted a few goatse.cx ascii art trolls. When they don't get archived, will it be possible to karma whore with it again?

  11. ?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Quantum Entanglement is actually very interesting. In theory, it could be harnessed to allow me to have my cock in both a mouth and an ass, at the same time!

    1. Re:?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      It might also help your current situation - getting your mouth out of your ass.

  12. cmdrtaco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    cmdrtaco has a quantum dick

  13. people here are hard to offend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    at most message boards, all I have to do is say "MMMMMM PENIS" and everybody is all like "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD THAT PERSON SAID THE P-WORD LETS KILL HIM", but here nobody cares... this sucks

  14. SUCK MY MACROSCOPIC COCK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    do what the title says, unless your female

    1. Re:SUCK MY MACROSCOPIC COCK by stantron77 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Weird I would have said do the above if you ARE female, but hey whatever makes you happy.

      --
      "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." - Pla
  15. Protest the terrorists' killing of OUR innocents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    HAVE YOU OPENED A NEWSPAPER IN THE LAST 2 WEEKS? We are not indiscriminantly carpet bombing the region as you fuckwit hippies are trying to portray, we will hunt down and kill the monsters who did this. Nobody is calling for it, but you idiots react to it. Why? Because you can't deal with the REAL problem, so you have to make the opposition look worse than it is.

    And your sig is offensive - no innocents have been killed by the US in response to the 7000 innocents that were killed by the Al Quaeda demons. Oh, but I'm sure we DESERVED it, didn't we?

    http://www.msnbc.com/news/634264.asp

  16. Hiding from the truth by darylp · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    but it is interesting that this report hits the streets the same day that Enterprise debuts.

    No, what's interesting is that there's MORE IMPORTANT THINGS going on in the world at the moment. Or has all this geek-wanking blinded everyone to the fact that the potential for a catastrophic biological terrorist attack in major Western cities has increased a thousand-fold over the past fortnight?

    How is Quantum Entanglement going to save us when the factories can't keep up with the demand for gas masks and NBC protection suits? Didn't we learn ANYTHING from Aum and the Sarin attack on the Tokyo subway?

    What geek sites need to be focusing on now are PRACTICAL uses of technology to help restore some piece of mind to the population. All the intelligence in the world can't outsmart a single determined zealot with a vial of Anthrax.

  17. Re:Protest the terrorists' killing of OUR innocent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I fully agree, its such a load of tripe, these people are morons. Its been over two weeks and the US hasn't killed a single person yet, and we're supposed to be protesting the US killing innocent people??? Advocate peace? Yeah great idea, lets show the world how peaceful we are, by sitting around on our butts doing what effectively amounts to nothing while the terrorists plot the next attack, which will likely kill many times more people.

    Bring a tiny handful of guilty people to justice? Come oon .. thats the formula followed in the 1993 bombing of the WTC, six guilty people are sitting in jail .. and hello, did that stop this from happening? I don't think so, there are THOUSANDS more zealots just lining up to drop nukes and biological weapons on the US. If you only brought Osama and a handful of other guilty people to justice, thats fscking stupid - then you're just asking to be attacked again, by those thousands more who also seek glory in the side of a building.

    Anyway, I do get the impression that for once the US is actually thinking their reaction through, instead of the usual knee-jerk bomb-a-pharm-company type reactions. I would presume that they now realise the scale of the effects these actions have. But its damn annoying listening to people complain how the US is knee-jerk killing innocent people when they haven't done a thing yet.

    Some innocent people will die, sure, but heres the choice that the USA is currently faced with: (1) kill a couple thousand innocent people accidentally in the quest to end terrorism, or (2) allow terrorism to continue and let *millions* of innocent people die in the next horror terrorist attack, via weapons of mass destruction. Its a no-brainer. (I wanted to say "innocent US citizens" but then remembered we must realise that this was a totally random attack that killed people from every continent on the planet).

  18. Re:Protest the terrorists' killing of OUR innocent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    On the other hand maybe it's not a bad idea to voice concern BEFORE it happens, instead of waiting until afterwards

  19. SCOTT BAKULAS WANG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I wonder if this shit is as powerful ass Scott Bakula's Wang.

    CAN YOU IMAGINE A BEOWULF CLUSTER OF SCOTT BAKULA'S WANG?????