Many problems with this one.

First, state taxes are in general much less than federal taxes. High-tax states tend to have higher per capita incomes, resulting in federal grants to states that tend to move benefits from high-tax states to low-tax states. So high-tax states get better states benefits, but are penalized by the federal government's policies.

Second, those people that move to low-tax states- they're moving there from high-tax states. They may not realize it, but they've become accustomed to all the services those taxes provide. When a critical mass of such people arrive (as is starting to happen now with New Yorkers in many parts of North Carolina), these new arrivals start demanding the services they used to take for granted. Taxes rise.

If there is validity to the claim that people prefer low-tax states, it is (at least in part) either because of a form of arbitrage- some services are being offered in states while residents of other states indirectly pay for them, or because of the ability of citizens to become accustomed to services (consider them the norm) and not take them into account when deciding to move, as opposed to more easily quantified items like taxes.

@pwscott:
I'll put aside my opinions on the morality of your suggestion for a moment and concentrate on logistics.

This would conflict with the general idea that once they arrive, the people/explorers/colonists should do useful work- and by that, they mean useful both to themselves and to those of us back on Earth. For that we need scientists, doctors, engineers, and other highly skilled people who are motivated to work hard for little tangible reward.

@Skipweasel:
I think the idea is that if you estimate you will have n options in your lifetime, you should reject the first n/e options, then choose the best one after that.

Estimating n is the hard part.

Hmm... I wonder what concentrations this bacteria get work at. Might be an interesting way to extract uranium from seawater (naturally present at a few ppb). This would make nuclear reactor fuel much more abundant.

Every time I see things like this I'm surprised. In every wedding I've been to, you give gifts for the engagement and at the shower (from the registry, if applicable). By the time the wedding comes around, those are picked clean, but even if they aren't, you give money. Most of the weddings I've been too don't even have a place for gifts, only envelopes.

@5:

The system containing the cat is in a well-defined state at all times. However, the definition of a quantum state doesn't always map well onto our classical intuitions. A single particle may be in a well defined quantum state, but that state may not tell you much about what answer you'd get if you measure the particle's position.

Physicists often define a subset of allowed quantum states in a system (often energy eigenstates) as a basis of "pure states", and then call other allowed states superpositions of these states. They express the superposition as a weighted sum of pure states.

@6:

It sounds like you're talking about decoherence. Yes, eventually interactions between particles will disrupt a superposition that one of them might be in. Here, though, it sounds like they are putting the whole organism into a superposition of states, not an individual particle within it. Also, the lasers are cooling the organism to a very low temperature, which would slow decoherence and extend the life of the superposition.

If an animal feels no pain, does this make it more difficult to tell when it is sick, and in need of treatment/not suitable for consumption?

@AndrewC:

The key difference seems to be how the electrode sends the signal back to the receiver- because this new one is wireless, the brain is less open to infection after implantation.

@#8:
No one said anyone had actually been framed this way, just that it could be done.