Wednesday, April 02, 2008

The Safest Rest You've Ever Had

The Quantum Sleeper
The Quantum Sleeper Unit is a high-level security system designed for maximum protection in various hostile environments

On Haircuts

No Country for Old Men with Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh:
Chigurh's distinctive look was derived from a 1979 photo from a book supplied by Tommy Lee Jones which featured photos of brothel patrons on the Texas-Mexico border.[33] Describing his "extraordinary moptop haircut," he said, "You don't have to act the haircut. The haircut acts by itself."


Sensitive Optical Measurements

Beating the standard quantum limit: Phase super-sensitivity of N-photon interferometers
Quantum metrology promises greater sensitivity for optical phase measurements than could ever be achieved classically

Quantum enhancement of N-photon phase sensitivity by interferometric addition of down-converted photon pairs to weak coherent light

Quantum Heat Engines

Coherent Power Booster in Science Magazine.
According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, a heat engine requires two heat baths to operate-a warm source of heat and a cooler dump for waste heat. In apparent violation of this law, Scully et al. propose a heat engine that uses quantum coherence to extract work from a single, warm gas. In his Perspective, Linke explains that the Second Law is not violated, because the power extracted from the bath is smaller than that required to achieve coherence. By combining quantum mechanics with traditional heat engines, the efficiencies of various kinds of motors could be enhanced.


Improving Carnot efficiency with quantum correlations