Before saying anything furthur, IANAQP.
All the single photon guns that I've dealt with have dealt not with shooting out single photons, but by increasing the probability that when a photon does get shot out, its a single photon.
For example, the machine may shoot out 1/1000th of a photon (wierd concept, I know) per pulse, with perhaps 1000 pulses per second or so. One could say that this gun shoots a photon per second, but as is usually encountered with quantum physics, its hard to be sure about what you're doing.
The machines I've worked with had the ability to shoot out 1/1 of a photon, but statistically speaking you're far more likely to end up with more photons than you want with that method.
This looks like a very cool development and might make quantum encryption a bit more viable. Though it doesnt help the fact that most high QP single photon DETECTORS need to work at 4 kelvins...
Agreed. I'm currently enrolled at University of Waterloo (up in Canada.. known for its great engineering co-op) studying nanotechnology engineering. I'm pretty sure this university has gotten pretty much everything right. They start most disciplines off similarly, though chem-eng would focus on more chemistry, mech on more physics, and then right off the bat after 4 months they throw you into a work-term to begin gaining that valuable real-world experience (though in the first work term its just general engineering/science/IT type jobs).
Then back to school, learning some more theory thats more directly related to your field (second semester in nano throws electromagnetism, organic chem, materials science etc) then back to the work force again, this time being able to go to a job more suited to your field.
This continues for the 5 years, but once you graduate, you've got almost 2 years of real-world engineering experience, with a solid base of general engineering skills, reinforced by general engineering work experience, but then you've also got a huge degree of theory in your chosen specialization, and at least a year of specified work experience in that field.
I know that when I graduate I won't be a tradesman or a thinker, I'll be an ideal combination of both, armed with theory and applicable skills, ready for the workplace. This, IMHO is what an engineer wants to be, not either of the positions mentioned in TFA.
(BTW: Forgive the shameless plug for UW.. i just like my school)
I built a cloud chamber (dry-ice cooled chamber to better view tracks of elementary particles) last year as an independant study project, and decided to get some radioactive material in order to better isolate tracks made from beta sources, alpha sources, etc. One of the sources we got was Polonium 210, all we needed was the permission of our physics teacher.
Now the project is done, but I still have a radioactive source sitting beside me on my desk.
So yes, this radioactive source is very easy to come by, and if anyone needs a source with just about one half life gone, look me up..
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVwzJEhMmD8
Before saying anything furthur, IANAQP. All the single photon guns that I've dealt with have dealt not with shooting out single photons, but by increasing the probability that when a photon does get shot out, its a single photon. For example, the machine may shoot out 1/1000th of a photon (wierd concept, I know) per pulse, with perhaps 1000 pulses per second or so. One could say that this gun shoots a photon per second, but as is usually encountered with quantum physics, its hard to be sure about what you're doing. The machines I've worked with had the ability to shoot out 1/1 of a photon, but statistically speaking you're far more likely to end up with more photons than you want with that method. This looks like a very cool development and might make quantum encryption a bit more viable. Though it doesnt help the fact that most high QP single photon DETECTORS need to work at 4 kelvins...
Agreed. I'm currently enrolled at University of Waterloo (up in Canada.. known for its great engineering co-op) studying nanotechnology engineering. I'm pretty sure this university has gotten pretty much everything right. They start most disciplines off similarly, though chem-eng would focus on more chemistry, mech on more physics, and then right off the bat after 4 months they throw you into a work-term to begin gaining that valuable real-world experience (though in the first work term its just general engineering/science/IT type jobs).
Then back to school, learning some more theory thats more directly related to your field (second semester in nano throws electromagnetism, organic chem, materials science etc) then back to the work force again, this time being able to go to a job more suited to your field.
This continues for the 5 years, but once you graduate, you've got almost 2 years of real-world engineering experience, with a solid base of general engineering skills, reinforced by general engineering work experience, but then you've also got a huge degree of theory in your chosen specialization, and at least a year of specified work experience in that field. I know that when I graduate I won't be a tradesman or a thinker, I'll be an ideal combination of both, armed with theory and applicable skills, ready for the workplace. This, IMHO is what an engineer wants to be, not either of the positions mentioned in TFA. (BTW: Forgive the shameless plug for UW.. i just like my school)
I built a cloud chamber (dry-ice cooled chamber to better view tracks of elementary particles) last year as an independant study project, and decided to get some radioactive material in order to better isolate tracks made from beta sources, alpha sources, etc. One of the sources we got was Polonium 210, all we needed was the permission of our physics teacher.
Now the project is done, but I still have a radioactive source sitting beside me on my desk.
So yes, this radioactive source is very easy to come by, and if anyone needs a source with just about one half life gone, look me up..