The strange quantum state of entanglement isn’t just challenging to think about, it’s hard to create. This “spooky” phenomenon—in which two particles are linked, even if they’re separated by distance—can be created by scientists in the lab using bulky lasers. But scientists published a study in Nature today in which they created a light-emitting diode (LED) that produces entangled photons.

One reason entanglement is exciting is the potential to drive quantum computers that make today’s best look pokey by comparison, like so:

Quantum computers exploit the inherent uncertainties of quantum physics to perform calculations much faster than computers currently in use. Whereas conventional ‘bits’ of information take only the values zero or one, quantum bits, or ‘qubits’, exist in a fuzzy superposition of both. In theory, this ambiguity allows any number of qubits to be lumped together or ‘entangled’ and processed in parallel, so that a huge number of calculations can be made at once [Nature].

That’s great in theory, but the standard practice for making entangled particles is unwieldy and unreliable, according to team member Mark Stevenson of Toshiba:

Entangled photons have previously been made using a crystal to split laser light into photon pairs. The trouble with such “parametric down conversion” is its unpredictable nature. “Sometimes you get two pairs of photons, sometimes one, sometimes zero,” says Stephenson [sic]. “That’s not exactly reliable if you want an error-free quantum computer” [New Scientist].

The team’s device, which produces these particles just in pairs, is a indium arsenide quantum dot connected to a little LED. (A quantum dot is semiconductor that measures only nanometers in size—small enough that weird quantum behaviors arise.)

When the researchers supply the LED with electric current, two electrons hop into two positively charged ‘holes’ in the quantum dot’s lattice, releasing energy in the form of a photon pair. Crucially, the nature of this process means that the polarization of one generated photon is determined by the other, so the pair is entangled [Nature].

Using entanglement-producing LEDs for practical tasks is still daunting. The team reports that making these quantum dots is so difficult that only 1 percent entangle particles successfully, and they must be cooled to just a few degrees above absolute zero. But this is an impressive first step toward entangling particles at the flip of a switch.

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Image: Wikimedia Commons

On the road somewhere in Tennessee tonight, I read the present top story at the NYTimes:
Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says The chatter began weeks ago as armchair engineers brainstormed for ways to stop the torrent of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico: What about nuking the well? Decades ago, the Soviet Union reportedly used nuclear blasts to successfully seal off runaway gas wells, inserting a bomb deep underground and letting its fiery heat melt the surrounding rock to shut off the flow. Why not try it here?
Of course this won't happen, but the idea isn't actually all that far fetched. Furthermore, does anyone have a better suggestion? Now go read the article and let's get an interesting discussion going in comments...

Investigation of normal flatus production in healthy volunteers.

“Flatulence can cause discomfort and distress but there are few published data of normal patterns and volumes. Twenty four hour collections were made using a rectal catheter in 10 normal volunteers taking their normal diet plus 200 g baked beans. Total daily volume ranged from 476 to 1491 ml (median 705 ml). Women and men (both n = 5) expelled equivalent amounts. The median daily flatus hydrogen volume was 361 ml/24 h (range 42-1060) and the carbon dioxide volume 68 ml/24 h (range 25-116), three volunteers produced methane (3, 26, and 120 ml/24 h), and the remaining unidentified gas (presumably nitrogen) or gases contributed a median 213 ml/24 h (range 61-476). Larger volumes of flatus were produced after meals than at other times. Flatus produced at a faster rate tended to contain more fermentation gases. Flatus was produced during the sleeping period, but the rate was significantly lower than the daytime rate (median 16 and 34 ml/h respectively). Ingestion of a ‘fibre free’ diet (Fortisip) for 48 hours significantly reduced the total volume collected in 24 hours (median 214 ml/24 h), reduced the carbon dioxide volume (median 6 ml/24 h), and practically eradicated hydrogen production. The volume of unidentified gas was not significantly affected (median 207 ml/24 h). Thus fermentation gases make the highest contribution to normal flatus volume. A ‘fibre free’ diet eliminates these without changing residual gas release of around 200 ml/24 h.”

Thanks to P. M. for today’s ROFL!

Image: flickr/marcelo träsel

Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Flatufonia–or the musical anus.
Discoblog: Finding the frequency of Fido’s farts.
Discoblog: High Altitude Flatus Expulsion (HAFE).
Discoblog: It’s like a Brita filter for your butt.

WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ahh this is but a teaser video, head on over to the ESA site for some stunning images of NGC 3603.  They have a very nice write up and did I mention desktop backgrounds of the images?  Well they do.

An hour southwest of Berlin, in the town of Treuenbrietzen, Mozart has played non-stop for two months. The classical composer’s audience? Waste-eating microbes.

As Spiegel Online reports, the German waste-facility’s owners believe the music, coupled with more oxygen, will make their microbes eat biosolids more efficiently, saving money and leaving less residual waste. Their idea comes from the German firm Mundus, headquartered in Wiesenburg, whose founder cites Mozart’s “very good effect on people.”

It’s fairly easy to poo-poo this experiment, especially given other wildly-marketed but later refuted claims attributed to the man’s music. Many of these Mozart miracles first surfaced after Frances Rauscher at the University of California, Irvine questioned in a 1993 paper (pdf) in Nature if listening to classical music could increase adolescent performance on IQ tests. Though Rauscher found that the music did seem to increase performance, later studies showed no effect.

Though the waste-facility spent hundreds on fancy stereo equipment, management hopes the scheme will save them thousands in expenses each year. One only hopes that the music will make their human employees a bit happier at a job that might otherwise stink.

Related content:
Discoblog: Will Watching Videos of the Great Outdoors Make Cows “Happy and Productive”?
Discoblog: Mozart Won’t Make Your Baby Smarter, But the Right Food Might
Discoblog: Will Computer Programs Replace Mozart?
DISCOVER: No Smarts in Mozart

Image: flickr / gruntzooki