A quantum leap and other science news:
(From Silicon Valley .com's mailings)

* For the first time, scientists have put something big enough to be visible into a mixed quantum state, simultaneously moving and not moving. The weird nature of quantum effects has been observed at the atomic level, but researchers have been struggling to find a way to maintain those effects at the mechanical level of the everyday world. Components of this experiment, according to team leader Andrew Cleland of UC Santa Barbara, included a material that vibrates 6 billion times a second, a commercially available refrigerator to cool it down to a manageable 50 millionths of a degree above absolute zero, and a particular flavor of quantum bit. Said physicist Markus Aspelmeyer of the University of Vienna, "This is groundbreaking work. Now the door is open. Now the fun begins."

* A team led by Tolga Ergin, a scientist from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, has taken us one tiny step closer to a 3D cloak of invisibility.

* Spanish researchers have found they can put nanoscale silicon chips inside living cells without harm. "Based on our experiments we can conclude that silicon-based top-down fabricated intracellular chips can be internalized by living eukaryotic cells without interfering with cell viability, and functionalized chips could be used as intracellular sensors since they can interact with the cell cytoplasm," said team leader José Antonio Plaza.

* Science journalist Tom Siegfried on the misuse of statistical methods in science: "It's science's dirtiest secret: The 'scientific method' of testing hypotheses by statistical analysis stands on a flimsy foundation. Statistical tests are supposed to guide scientists in judging whether an experimental result reflects some real effect or is merely a random fluke, but the standard methods mix mutually inconsistent philosophies and offer no meaningful basis for making such decisions. Even when performed correctly, statistical tests are widely misunderstood and frequently misinterpreted. As a result, countless conclusions in the scientific literature are erroneous, and tests of medical dangers or treatments are often contradictory and confusing."

* Ever said you'd give your arm for a better broadband connection? The throughput turns out to be pretty good.

* Our solar system as if it were a music box. Of course, that tune might change when an orange dwarf star called Gliese 710 comes ripping through the neighborhood in about 1.5 million years.