This is a list of news articles that I have found interesting and sometimes a brief comment about them. I typically archive these articles locally but because of copyright reasons I can't link the archived copies here.

• Acupuncture tops Conventional Therapy for lower back pain (original article) - This is good information for back-pain sufferers (including myself, though mine is low-intensity and infrequent). It means that acupuncture is a valid, proven treatment alternative. Even more interesting is the fact that it really doesn't matter where the needles are placed. So in theory a drug addict (who presumably has some experience with needles ) will be just as effective as an experienced, trained practitioner assuming the same basic method and same equipment are used. This says something about traditional/alternative medical treatments; they may certainly be effective but without being exposed to the modern testing procedures there is no way to know exactly which part of the treatment is providing the efficacy.

• Racism's Physical Toll

• Quantum computing is apparently one step closer after two groups came up with a quantum bus. The National Institute of Standards and Technology apparently has a Quantum Information lab and the other group was the Schoelkopf Lab at Yale . Article here.