CANADA PM EXPlAINS QUANTUM COMPUTING IN VIRAl VIDEO
A video has gone viral of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showing off his geek side by nailing a reporter’s question about quantum computing. Speaking at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, Trudeau dared reporters to ask him about how quantum computing works during a question period.
When a reporter obliged, Trudeau, a former teacher, gave a detailed and elaborate mini-lesson on the difference between normal and quantum computing, drawing laughter and applause from an audience of some of Canada’s smartest theoretical physicists.
“Regular computer bit is either a one or a zero. On or off. A quantum state can be much more complex than that because, as we know, things can be both particle and waves at the same times and the uncertainty around quantum states allows us to encode more information into a much smaller computer.
“So that’s what’s exciting about quantum computing,” he said as the audience again burst into applause. “Don’t get me going on this or we’ll be here all day. Trust me.”
(AP)
NO lYCRA SHORTS DUE TO ‘UNSIGHTlY BUlGES’
A hotel in New Zealand implemented a new dress code that prohibits customers from wearing lycra bicycle shorts. Mike Saunders, owner of the Plough Hotel in Rangiora, North Canterbury, told Stuff that the hotel expected more bikers after making the decision to open for breakfast and wanted to set a certain standard of dress.
“It’s just a little unsuitable, we don’t always want to see any unsightly bumps and bulges,” Saunders said. “We get a nice group of customers out here, some elderly folk... when you’re trying to concentrate on your breakfast you just want to see the sausages on your plate.”
Pegasus Cycling Club chairwoman Tracy Clark cited a “lack of understanding” as the reason behind Saunders’ decision. “There’s people in New Zealand now who have grown up disconnected from bicycles, have no understanding of what it is to get out there and ride and see the scenery, they are interested in getting in their car and driving place to place,” she said.
Saunders said most patrons were understanding and assured that lycra shorts were the only articles of clothing that were banned.
(UPI)
UK AIRPORT SNIFFER DOGS GOOD AT FINDING SAUSAGES, NOT DRUGS
A team of sniffer dogs set up at a British airport at a cost of $1.7 million have proved adept at discovering small amounts of cheese and sausages but not so good at finding smuggled drugs. An inspection of border security at Manchester Airport in northern England found that during a seven-month period, the six dogs had failed to find any illegal class A drugs, those considered the most dangerous, such as heroin or cocaine.
“The deterrent effect of the detection dogs was difficult to measure, but seizures alone represented a low return on investment, given 1.25 million spent on new kennels and the costs of operating the unit,” said a report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.
Each dog has its own speciality in detecting goods such as drugs, tobacco, cash and meat being illegally brought into the airport by the 22 million passengers who use it annually.
However the report found that although the sniffers had helped customs seize 46 kg of cigarettes and 181 kg of meat, they had uncovered no class A drugs between November 2014 and June 2015 even though this was a “very high” priority.
It said one dog trained to find smuggled animal products had made “multiple accurate detections, but most were of small amounts of cheese or sausages, wrongly brought back by returning British holidaymakers and posing minimal risk to UK public health”.
(Reuters)
WOMAN BARRED FROM NAMING BABY ‘CYANIDE’
A Welsh mother whose attempt to name her daughter Cyanide was blocked by a court said she wanted to name the girl after the poison that killed Hitler. The three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld a lower court judge’s ruling blocking the Powys woman from naming her twins Cyanide and Preacher.
The woman had argued Cyanide was a “lovely, pretty name” with positive connotations because some historians believe the poison killed both Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leader’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. “I consider that this was a good thing,” she said. However, the judges ruled the “unusual” names for the children, particularly the one fashioned after a “notorious poison,” could do them harm.
(UPI)
FlORIDA GRANNY GETS A SECOND CHANCE AT PROM
A 101-year-old Florida woman is getting a second chance at prom. Eleanor Bessin says she attended her prom on a boat in Boston with a man she had been planning to marry. However, he went off to serve in World War II, and when he returned, he developed cancer and died. She still carries his picture.
Student Government leaders from TERRA High School are setting up the dance for about 75 seniors at the Palace Nursing & Rehab. Nursing home staff will vote for a prom king and queen during the prom. Resident Sadie Gilbert, 86, says she was never invited to her high school prom, but will now get the chance to attend.
(AP)