The "many worlds interpretation", parallel universes, the Trousers of Time: call it what you will, but quantum theory has some surprising ideas about what happens after a quantum event, which artist Jonathan Keats is exploring in this new "toy". It's a ball of uranium-doped glass (no, really—it's uranium!) next to a scintillation detector crystal inside a jar. The idea is that as the uranium decays and emits particles, the detector "observes" this event, and splits off new universes as it goes. It's all quantum. And it's pretty crazy. But if the god-like novelty of having a universe creation kit on your desk tickles your fancy, you can buy one for $US20. [OhGizmo]

Scientists have connected up the world's first computer network protected by "quantum cryptography," a supposedly unbreakable system that functions off a scheme based on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. For us non-science folk, that means that you can't grab information transmitted through the network without disturbing it somehow, making it easy to detect when somebody's trying to listen in on exchanges.

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Quantum computers are almost considered as the Holy Grail of computing, with power that blows away anything we can see on the market today. Now, a team of scientists working on creating the world's first quantum computer have taken a big step towards their goal.

The team has created a silicon chip that can control and observe a single electron. What makes that useful? Well, according to Susan Angus, who's leading the scientific team, "Building a quantum computer involves perfect control of the most fundamental properties of our universe. Controlling and observing individual electrons is an important step towards that goal." Being able to control individual electrons gives some of that control.

Instead of using binary to transfer information, Quantum computers will use quantum physics, which (from my very, very limited understanding), lets information be transferred even when the computer is switched off.

If you're struggling to get your head around the idea, you're not alone. However, the guys at Science in Public have a pretty good grasp on the whole situation, so it's definitely worth a trip on the link express to try and gain some insight into why this is important.

[Science in Public - Thanks Niall!]

US scientists have developed an atom trap, a device that can hold hundreds of atoms in a 3D optical lattice array, which they say is an important stepping stone to one day building a bona fide quantum computer.

From the article:

In the past, researchers have used optical lattices to trap millions of atoms. "The difference in what we're doing in this apparatus is that we have a large array where we can observe each individual atom," Weiss says. Until now, the only lattices where individual atoms were visible were one-or two-dimensional arrays, and contained only a handful of atoms.

In the new study, though, the team used three lasers arranged at right angles to create a 3D lattice in which they trapped 250 atoms of cesium.

I look forward to the day we break reality wide open with a freaky quantum computer. I've heard stories that, in theory, a quantum computer can be set to perform tasks even when they're turned off... or that quantum computers across all possible realities of said computers could come to deliver power far in excess of the single computer... my brain hurts... -Seamus Byrne

Atom trap is a step toward a quantum computer [New Scientist]

Well looky here folks, it's finally arrived, the Harmony Chip, using the mysterious principles of quantum mechanics to give you a cure for anything that ever ailed you. It heals cuts, drives away aches and pains, makes you think more clearly, cures osteoporosis and high blood pressure, and hey, it can even make your car run better. One guy even said it made his knives stay sharper longer. Hook one up to your cellphone and protect yourself from "electro-smog," and those deadly "chaotic scaler waves," too. Thank goodness, we were getting worried about those.

As you can see in the picture here, you're instructed to "never remove protective foils!" You never know, the time/space continuum could get a rip in it, you might open up a black hole ... who knows what? We want to pay the $197 just to remove the protective foil and see what happens. This looks like fun, but for about $190 less, you could get yourself the same thing in a package of Nothing. – Charlie White

Product Page [Harmony United Ltd., via Red Ferret Journal]