Different journals have different standards for the type of paper. For example, the format for Science and Nature articles tends to be less detailed and more focussed on the particular result obtained. Other journals are more suitable for more in-depth discussion of methods and their intricacies. Some of them, such as Physics Letters, promise rapid publication, whereas PRL etc., Science, and Nature can drag on for some time. Notice also that they have chosen to publish the papers open access, which not every journal allows. Impact factor isn't everything. And as another poster noted, there is a Science article in the works. Nothing fishy here.

QED does not have lots of pictures in it. Physics books for the layman tend to not have many pictures. Physics textbooks are much more equation-heavy than picture-heavy.

So this paper is about that very first step of actually making the qubits. One atom = one qubit. In this case, the "state" would likely be the atom's spin orientation. Spin and position are not connected by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Position and momentum are linked, as are energy and time.

I'm not really sure what your question is, but I'll try to answer it! To make a quantum computer, you need a number of qubits. If you want to use atoms as qubits, you need to be able to repeatably trap, hold, and interrogate them over "long" timescales. If you could only trap a single atom 50% of the time, your computer would be very inefficient if you have, say, 30 qubits (ie. an array of 30 single atoms). By pushing this up to 83%, efficiency improves dramatically. Also, they can probably do better than 83% by improving their vacuum, but this would require taking their apparatus apart somewhat, and is not something people tend to do once they have a working setup!

It is the first time single Rb-85 atoms have been trapped.

Yes, definitely ebay! Old analog scopes are just as good as digital scopes (in some cases preferable), but it depends on the application, and you can fix them if they break. If you need a really fast scope or want math functions, then you need a newer one. We have a few digital Tektronix scopes in the lab, and they are just fine. Also, what is handy with newer scopes is that they have USB ports so it's easy to save your data (if you need to).

Traditional musicians make money from performing concerts and giving lessons. Recordings are advertisement, not the main product.

"There's only room for one Steve in this here company."

Capitol C? Is it involved in politics somehow?

I thought ID4 was awesome when I saw it. But then I was also 12 at the time...

The underlying quantum state *is* observable. Why wouldn't it be?

If you RTFA (and not even the paper is necessary for this), you will see that they are limited by the fidelity of their setup, ie. signal to noise. Hence, when they improve their apparatus, they will get more accurate results.

But the internet is a series of tubes! You can't just dump things on it like a truck!

My parents bought my sister a cell phone when she was 11 so they could keep track of her. There wasn't any issue of "responsible use". My dad tells her that she always needs to keep it with her and that's that. I think the other kids her age had to beg their parents for cell phones...

I also would like plain LAN play for Diablo III. Where I live, internet is still fairly expensive and the data caps are not liberal. I want to be able to play the game with my friends at home without needing a net connection. I loved Diablo II for the LAN play. If Diablo III will have no LAN play, I won't buy it and would encourage others to boycott it also.

You can slow light down, speed it up, and even stop it altogether!