Learning

If you put a cat inside an opaque box and make his life dependent on a random event, when does the cat die? When the random event occurs, or when you open the box? Though common sense suggests the former, quantum mechanics — or at least the most common "Copenhagen" interpretation enunciated by Danish physicist Neils Bohr in the 1920s – says it’s the latter. Someone has to observe the result before it becomes final. Until then, paradoxically, the cat is both dead and alive at the same time. more »

"When universities fail to respond adequately to campus sexual assault, they may be forcing the affected students to attend school in a sexually hostile environment. This environment deprives them of their freedom to go to class without being re-traumatized by a perpetrator sitting a few seats away, walk on campus without being harassed by a perpetrator’s friends, attend a party on-campus, or even feel safe in their own dorm rooms." more »

Doris O'Brien writes: When the weekend ended, I told myself that the 60th reunion would likely be my swan song, my last hurrah. But who knows? Five years from now I might consent to have my arm twisted, if that body part and others are still intact. Besides, I have a feeling that Hillary and Madeleine would want me to give it the old college try.             more »

Pamela Prah writes: Nationwide, US employers reported in 2013 that skilled trades positions were the most difficult to fill, the fourth consecutive year this category has topped the list. A 2011 industry report estimated that as many as 600,000 manufacturing jobs were vacant because employers couldn’t find the skilled workers to fill them, including machinists, distributors, technicians and industrial engineers.   more »