After having lived with other people in a couple different households where food and cooking was shared, so everyone ate very similarly to save money, I've seen some vast differences in how different people handle food and exercise. Not just the guy who was a rail without exercise and always eating seconds, but for example watching a couple people work out together, with one gradually lose a pound ever week or two, and another taking more than a month to lose a pound, while being really miserable for the whole time.
I think the problem with a lot of things like this, is that they involve people assuming everyone is just like them and that the same amount of effort is needed by anyone. Even if that isn't true in this specific case, it happens so often that others will just assume that is what is happening.
It is rarely completely impossible for people, but for some, the amount of effort and misery involved leaves the question of it is a net gain for the person's life, if living an extra year is worth it if you spend decades not enjoying life. I can't blame someone for making that choice different than I would, especially if they aren't doing something egregious and instead are spending that time and effort to better themselves in a different way.
I wholly advocate using universities for more than just advancing a career, including pursuing interests in the name of just pursuing interests. But it can still be a bad life decision if you try to combine it being both a career decision and interest without understanding the risks involved, or otherwise pursuing it without a solid plan to cover the costs. If you end up spending 20 years paying for it, even people with a strong interest in what they studied in school may end up with regrets or second thoughts.
That is an excellent reason to shut down the whole internet and to never say anything. Coming up with a reason of where and when exactly to draw a line is much, much more difficult, and typically very subjective.
(Seriously, I've had that line of reasoning told to me as why I shouldn't make devices that others could get hurt if they replicated, why I shouldn't teach basic electronics to kids, and even once as a reason why no one should ever make liquid nitrogen...)
It is kind of nice to keep political (and a few other topics) separate from everything else. For people and places that I go to for political discussions, I try to stick to ones that are polite and thoughtful, among other characteristics, even though some people there are on opposite sides of an issue. It kind of sucks to have to apply that criteria everywhere, to avoid places because they have a few people who can't be reasonable, or at least civilized, about things.
Besides, few things can kill the fun of a place like watching people you thought were cool become unhinged over stuff, regardless of whether they are on the opposite side, same side as you, or are discussing a topic you don't even care about.
In some jurisdictions, it is illegal to remove the scent gland from skunks because it is considered unnecessary surgery on the animal (i.e. isn't needed to improve their health, and instead is for the benefit of the owner). It seemed like such places are also places that don't allow for cats to be declawed. People still own skunks in such areas assuming they aren't outright banned, as properly raised they almost never spray from what I've heard. I don't own one myself and this is only what I remember from some time ago from talking to a couple people who did have one over the years.
The teacher might argue it is a verb, and hence an action instead of a substance, even though it can refer to both. But the previous answer rain also works that way, referring both to an action and the product of that action. Questions and answers like that can be kind of tricky, as it is hard to tell what the student's understanding actually is. At the older level, a lot of effort is put into keeping terminology straight so that it is clear students are keeping the concepts behind them straight, even if actual scientists are much looser with the words.
Also, I take exception to the idea that everything is made of matter...
Most of the condiments in my fridge are there only because it saves cupboard space, and I typically don't use enough to notice if it is cold or not. Jams and jellies specifically though I've had to refrigerate, because they will develop mold after a couple days to a week sometimes if not kept cold, and my household doesn't go through them very quickly.
The problem isn't the work of the scientists, but the PR layer on top of the actual work. While I see a need to sometimes speculate or extrapolate a little to show the big picture trend of research that is taken in small steps at a time, stuff like this seems to be going way too far.
The actual research is about the propagation of photons through an ultracold gas of Rubidium atoms, about 35 millionths of a kelvin above absolute zero. Because of the nature of such a cloud, photons traveling through the cloud will change the cloud around them, which then changes how a second photon would travel through it. So the photon-photon interaction is mediated by the cloud they are traveling through. This isn't anywhere close to making photons attract each other in the open, and requires this really cold material under a vacuum in a special containment device. Hitting someone with that, would amount to hitting them with a steel pipe.
There is other work that is similar and a lot more like a light saber to some degree. A strong enough laser focused down in air will cause the air to breakdown into a plasma from the strong electric fields (similar to using a high voltage to turn on a neon light), and heat up the air. Hot air, and especially plasma, will have a different index of refraction and light moving through changing index of refraction will bend, e.g. a lens or a mirage. If you use the right profile, it will actually make the laser beam self-focusing, that the heated air acts like a focusing lens, which keeps the laser focused enough to heat the air in front of that, and the beam will travel without diverging as long as it has enough power to keep heating up the air. This doesn't really stop like a light saber though, and only works in air or a specific material, and where the plasma part stops a rather high power laser beam is still coming out the end.
Getting $240 million over 30 years instead of $135 million is on par with sitting on most of the $135 million with 2% interest (assuming you don't invest parts of the $240 million payments). If you have enough self-control to sit on most of it, you could probably do at least a little better than that without taking too much of a risk. At the very least, it seems like taking the lump sum can simplify several things (and if you were going to just sit on it, or give it away, might as well do that starting right away).
As far as what to spend it on, the first thing should be an accountant if you don't have a solid background in that yourself. I might not do that for $100k winning, but would for a million plus.
I've had a fair share of issues with small, two bit companies that caused a lot of problems over relatively obscured products. This covered everything from an argument over a $20 defective part resulting in a $1000+ order being canceled, to a company refusing to answer a simple question because they insisted it is impossible I would understand basic electronics or be capable of soldering (for a specialized component requiring such knowledge to even use), to an apartment management company that sued me without any prior warning or notice over what turned out to be a clerical error on their part, and then wondered why I didn't show them the receipt I had before being sued. I've also had a mess with Citibank over an account I thought was closed that resulted in me paying enough fees I don't want to really discuss it in detail here.
But the only company off the top of my head that I remember having continual problems with was Comcast. It started when the installation guy showed up late, and checked a box on the receipt that waived the installation fee if that happened, but then customer service insisted they never heard of it, never have done that before and will not in the future. It was a preprinted receipt form with a whole section and check box for that. I've had several billing discrepancies where random charges or changes to rates happened, or double charged for things. The national office told me to contact the local office. But the phone numbers for the local office on the billing letterhead went to family answering machines or to some person's personal cell phone unrelated to Comcast. If the national office forwarded me to the local office, you would get an automated message from the phone company that an invalid number was dialed. I got most of the charges removed, but it was annoying because it was so much work over $10 here, or $20 there.
I don't know if you can call it customer service, but I've had messes with collection agencies looking for someone with a similar name (having a common name, I'm surprised I never got one for the same name... only ones that were different). One of the most persistent was a collection company that is known for working exclusively for cell phone companies, and started calling me two months after I got a new phone, trying to reach the previous holder of the number. For a company that deals with people not paying their phone bills, you would think they would learn that the phone number they didn't pay for might stop working at some point...
I'm always amazed at what is possible with a little more effort though, as there are several times I called a company for something related to a product at work, and as soon as they realize it was a business or government related purchase, I get transfered to someone much better. Especially with computer related stuff, upon reading the serial number several companies would switch from a broken English speaker that assumed I knew nothing, to a person that was very responsive and could answer direct, technical questions. Dell in particular, many years ago when I did some IT-ish work, did this a lot, having great support if the serial number was connected to the university I worked for, while otherwise, I once had the fun of being chewed out by a technical support person on the phone explaining to me that an "engineering workstation computer is not a toy" and that I shouldn't be playing with an advanced computer as a tech illiterate, nor complaining that the DVD drive bearings had gone bad under warranty and the drive mechanically locked up. Anyway, where I was going with this last bit is I find it almost backward: many cases at work, I need to chose the lowest bidder and am not allowed to take into consideration the customer service, while at home I have much more flexibility in how I use my money and can chose to pay a little more for better service, but the former is the situation customer service pampers me, while the latter is the case where even higher end options skimp.
The gas is a good deal if you happen to drive by the location regularly (or like me, drive infrequent enough to fill up only once a month). But I wonder how many of their customers drive a long ways to save a few cents per gallon, but consume the difference in gas getting there.
It is interesting that most of their money comes from membership fees, because there is a second level membership that costs twice as much, but offers 2% back at the end of the year. When I used to shop with a bunch of grad students, that actually could make quite a bit or money back, but even when I am at the point it is just two families using the two cards, it is enough to pay back the extra membership fee and some portion of the normal fee.
In some sense, only the meter, second, and kelvin are defined in terms of fundamental properties. So those are the only three you can work out from scratch anywhere. The definition of the ampere, mole, candela (which is more than brightness of light measured in watts) all depend on the kilogram definition currently.
The CIPM is purposely slow with changing definitions though, as they make sure a lot of effort has been put into making sure not only are the new definitions constant and reproducible, but that the methods used to calibrate against such a definition can be done with better accuracy than previous methods.
Apparently the same architect of this building also designed the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas that has a similar problem of concentrating sunlight on part of the hotel's pool deck.
I think the problem with a lot of things like this, is that they involve people assuming everyone is just like them and that the same amount of effort is needed by anyone. Even if that isn't true in this specific case, it happens so often that others will just assume that is what is happening.
It is rarely completely impossible for people, but for some, the amount of effort and misery involved leaves the question of it is a net gain for the person's life, if living an extra year is worth it if you spend decades not enjoying life. I can't blame someone for making that choice different than I would, especially if they aren't doing something egregious and instead are spending that time and effort to better themselves in a different way.
That is an excellent reason to shut down the whole internet and to never say anything. Coming up with a reason of where and when exactly to draw a line is much, much more difficult, and typically very subjective.
(Seriously, I've had that line of reasoning told to me as why I shouldn't make devices that others could get hurt if they replicated, why I shouldn't teach basic electronics to kids, and even once as a reason why no one should ever make liquid nitrogen...)
Besides, few things can kill the fun of a place like watching people you thought were cool become unhinged over stuff, regardless of whether they are on the opposite side, same side as you, or are discussing a topic you don't even care about.
Also, I take exception to the idea that everything is made of matter...
The actual research is about the propagation of photons through an ultracold gas of Rubidium atoms, about 35 millionths of a kelvin above absolute zero. Because of the nature of such a cloud, photons traveling through the cloud will change the cloud around them, which then changes how a second photon would travel through it. So the photon-photon interaction is mediated by the cloud they are traveling through. This isn't anywhere close to making photons attract each other in the open, and requires this really cold material under a vacuum in a special containment device. Hitting someone with that, would amount to hitting them with a steel pipe.
There is other work that is similar and a lot more like a light saber to some degree. A strong enough laser focused down in air will cause the air to breakdown into a plasma from the strong electric fields (similar to using a high voltage to turn on a neon light), and heat up the air. Hot air, and especially plasma, will have a different index of refraction and light moving through changing index of refraction will bend, e.g. a lens or a mirage. If you use the right profile, it will actually make the laser beam self-focusing, that the heated air acts like a focusing lens, which keeps the laser focused enough to heat the air in front of that, and the beam will travel without diverging as long as it has enough power to keep heating up the air. This doesn't really stop like a light saber though, and only works in air or a specific material, and where the plasma part stops a rather high power laser beam is still coming out the end.
As far as what to spend it on, the first thing should be an accountant if you don't have a solid background in that yourself. I might not do that for $100k winning, but would for a million plus.
But the only company off the top of my head that I remember having continual problems with was Comcast. It started when the installation guy showed up late, and checked a box on the receipt that waived the installation fee if that happened, but then customer service insisted they never heard of it, never have done that before and will not in the future. It was a preprinted receipt form with a whole section and check box for that. I've had several billing discrepancies where random charges or changes to rates happened, or double charged for things. The national office told me to contact the local office. But the phone numbers for the local office on the billing letterhead went to family answering machines or to some person's personal cell phone unrelated to Comcast. If the national office forwarded me to the local office, you would get an automated message from the phone company that an invalid number was dialed. I got most of the charges removed, but it was annoying because it was so much work over $10 here, or $20 there.
I don't know if you can call it customer service, but I've had messes with collection agencies looking for someone with a similar name (having a common name, I'm surprised I never got one for the same name... only ones that were different). One of the most persistent was a collection company that is known for working exclusively for cell phone companies, and started calling me two months after I got a new phone, trying to reach the previous holder of the number. For a company that deals with people not paying their phone bills, you would think they would learn that the phone number they didn't pay for might stop working at some point...
I'm always amazed at what is possible with a little more effort though, as there are several times I called a company for something related to a product at work, and as soon as they realize it was a business or government related purchase, I get transfered to someone much better. Especially with computer related stuff, upon reading the serial number several companies would switch from a broken English speaker that assumed I knew nothing, to a person that was very responsive and could answer direct, technical questions. Dell in particular, many years ago when I did some IT-ish work, did this a lot, having great support if the serial number was connected to the university I worked for, while otherwise, I once had the fun of being chewed out by a technical support person on the phone explaining to me that an "engineering workstation computer is not a toy" and that I shouldn't be playing with an advanced computer as a tech illiterate, nor complaining that the DVD drive bearings had gone bad under warranty and the drive mechanically locked up. Anyway, where I was going with this last bit is I find it almost backward: many cases at work, I need to chose the lowest bidder and am not allowed to take into consideration the customer service, while at home I have much more flexibility in how I use my money and can chose to pay a little more for better service, but the former is the situation customer service pampers me, while the latter is the case where even higher end options skimp.
The CIPM is purposely slow with changing definitions though, as they make sure a lot of effort has been put into making sure not only are the new definitions constant and reproducible, but that the methods used to calibrate against such a definition can be done with better accuracy than previous methods.