Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms, prepared in an optical dipole trap, were distilled into a second empty dipole trap adjacent to the first one. The distillation was driven by thermal atoms spilling over the potential barrier separating the two wells and then forming a new condensate. This process serves as a model system for metastability in condensates, provides a test for quantum kin...

Ground-water contamination by crude oil, and other petroleum-based liquids, is a widespread problem. An average of 83 crude-oil spills occurred per year during 1994-96 in the United States, each spilling about 50,000 barrels of crude oil (U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety, electronic commun., 1997). An understanding of the fate of organic contaminants (such as oil and gasoline) in the subsurface i...

IEEE 802.11 has captured the support of major wireless industry leaders. The growth and commercialization seen by the personal communications sector may be finally spilling over to the Wireless LAN sector, but I still remember the cold and stormy night back in 88 when I started working on a Wireless LAN at a start-up. That venture didn t work, but it did provide valuable insight into the proble...

J ust after midnight on March 24, 1989, the giant oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef off the coast of Alaska, spilling almost 21 million gallons of crude oil into the sea. The disaster caused an oil slick that covered 3,000 square miles and contaminated 1,090 miles of coastline along the pristine Prince William Sound, killing thousands of marine creatures and costing Exxon $1.28 ...