links for 2009-07-06

"Here, we demonstrate the selection of individual qubits with external fields, while the qubits are in field-insensitive superpositions. We use a spatially inhomogeneous external field to map selected qubits to a different field-insensitive superposition, minimally perturbing unselected qubits, despite the fact that the addressing field is not spatially localized. We show robust single-qubit rotations on neutral-atom qubits located at selected lattice sites. This precise coherent control should be more generally applicable to state transfer and qubit isolation in other architectures using field-insensitive qubits."

"[I]t was also quite amazing to have a chance to talk at the Great Hall in the central venue of Westminster Central Hall, during the session called "Blogs, Big Physics, and Breaking News", on July 2nd. The hall can seat up to 2160 people, but there were not more than maybe 120 at our session; nonetheless, it featured a quite interesting discussion between Matthew Chalmers (a freelance science writer), James Gillies (head of Communications at CERN), and myself. Our chair was Matin Durrani, editor at Physics World."

"Terrible Yellow Eyes is a collection of works inspired by the beloved classic, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Over the coming weeks and months I'll display a growing collection of works created by invited contributing artists and myself.

We share a love and admiration for Sendak's work and the pieces we present here are done as a tribute to his life and legacy."

"In case there were any doubts, Palin's personal spokesperson told the AP that the Facebook message was, in fact, written by the governor. It was a helpful clarification, since it was easy to assume the message was written by a junior high school student who had hacked into Palin's profile."