From: Kennita Watson (kwatson@netcom.com)
Date: Tue Jan 28 1997 - 22:27:22 MST
I haven't been inclined to strain my brain to follow most of the quantum
computer thread, but I saw this in Discover magazine and thought it
might be of interest not only to the QC folks but to the general nano
crowd (apoologies if it slipped by me before).
David Wineland and Chris Monroe at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology in Boulder, CO have "managed to coax an atom to exist in
two places at once". They used lasers and a magnet to push the spin-down
version of a beryllium atom ten atom-widths away from its spin-down self.
It's fragile, but it's a start. I, for one, am excited. I find this at
least as significant to nanotech as the atom laser.
For further details, see the Discover article at:
http://www.enews.com/magazines/discover/magtxt/100196-3.html
Kennita (who unrepentantly likes her physics in layman's terms)
Kennita Watson | The bond that links your true family is not one of blood,
kwatson@netcom.com| but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do
| members of the same family grow up under the same roof.
| -- Richard Bach, _Illusions_
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