Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Good Guys Are Winning

D R Lunsford once wanted to be astronaut, but society hasn't sent him to Mars just yet. Instead Lunsford comes up with fascinating ideas in physics. Finding an idea that works is also going where no one has gone before. He has managed to publish a paper, Gravitation and Electrodynamics over SO(3,3) concluding mathematically that a "cosmological constant" doesn't exist. His theory provides a way to unite gravity and electromagnetism, a long-sought goal of physics. Despite this major advance, people like Lunsford have difficulty publishing papers.

In Not Even Wrong, Lunsford had some nice words for science bloggers. They are reproduced here in case they get erased elsewhere:

"Yes the science bloggers for the most part go a great job (with notable “variances”). Without them there would be little hope.

"The site mentioned has a detailed description of the cerebral narcissist. Read it through and go down the list of theoretical excrescences and their authors. You will be convinced. Of course, this is a broad cultural phenomenon in the West that touches all areas of life - so why should the academy be spared?

"One thing to remember is that the narcissist, while rather pathetic when exposed, is anything but harmless.-drl

In the battle against "dark energy," this writer wishes to re-emphasise that THE GOOD GUYS ARE WINNING. One prominent advocate of DE was denied tenure at U of Chicago. A key contributor to the Supernova Cosmology Project couldn't get funding, was denied tenure at Vanderbilt and is leaving academia. The SCP and their flagship SNAP project will shortly get some very bad news. They may seek funding from France, since the French have such a record helping Americans. "Dark energy" has eroded the reputation of all physics.

Dictatorship is always good for mediocrity. Remember all those bad paintings of Saddam that used to hang in Baghdad? Or the cheesy posters produced by communism? It is easy to publish papers on string theory or "dark energy." By rewarding those who toe the party line, dictatorship allows an easy way for the mediocre to be successful.

It would be easy to get mad at these folks, but they are getting a worse fate than anger would devise. Since they know how to act out of self-interest, they are welcome to join the winning side. Despite efforts at censorship, more and more people are hearing that "dark energy" doesn't exist. By circumventing mainstream thought, blogging is contributing to advances in science.

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18 Comments:

Blogger Kea said...

Yes, there's no question that blogging has made available ideas that were being quashed. But I'm with Lunsford: this is all really depressing. Things could take a long time to change.

3:37 PM  
Blogger L. Riofrio said...

It can be discouraging being censored and literally barred from speaking. This could be a long fight, but one we will remember well. Thanks again for mentioning Lunsford, Schrieber, Crans and others.

7:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"By circumventing mainstream thought, blogging is contributing to advances in science"

I think by circumventing mainstream,blogging is makes itself bad reputation.

It is a pitty ,because it can be very useful tool in the wright education.

8:59 PM  
Blogger DaVinci said...

I really wish there was some other way to communicate with you than this comment section of your blog. I have so many questions and few of them will be on the topic you posted about that day, I know how off topic questions can bother some people. But I do have a question.
I’ve been thinking about the small BH’s that could be responsible for the planetary bodies in our solar system, (as one example out of many). What would stop the singularities from simply ‘eating’ all the matter that comes their way before it could gather into a body. Wouldn’t a singularity the mass of Mt Everest simply eat everything in a primordial solar system and grow larger? What makes it not do that, but rather grow into a planet? I would think that an event horizon is a pretty difficult thing to avoid once caught in its field of vision. Plus if the solar system was primarily dust gathering into masses, it wouldn’t be so hard to break up and be eaten, even if it had formed into rock, (however it would have done that without the Small BH theory.
The way it plays out in my mind is thus, and please correct me on the parts that I have wrong; a star explodes creating x number of singularities in a given area around the supernova. Dust particles over time create another solar mass, (probably smaller than the original star) and several BH’s which then gather more star dust eventually creating masses we call planets. How is it that these planets form instead of that star dust just simply being eaten by the closest BH? If the gravity from the singularity isn’t enough to eat all the material it gathers but instead simply attracts it into massive lumps, then how could it be powerful enough to form a planet in the first place? It would seem to me that the odds of planets forming would be –astronomical- compared to simple having more Kuiper and asteroid belts circling the sun.
Ok, take a deep breath and straighten me out :)

2:28 AM  
Blogger L. Riofrio said...

For davinci: Even a Black Hole in Earth's centre would not eat everything up. The tiny amount it did eat would generate an immense amount of radiation. Outward radiation pressure would balance gravity's inward pull to create an equilibrium. The maount of Earth consumed is barely what a human eats, about one ton/year. Earth acquires far more than this each year through meteorites. Our planet is still accreting!

Prmirdial Black Holes were formed from tiny quantum fluctuations grown big by rapid expansion of the Universe. They formed singularities in a variety of sizes even before supernovae existed.

Little Black Holes are drawn into orbit around big ones. In a solar system, the biggest BH forms a star and smaller ones form a hierarchy of objects: Gas giants, planets, dwarf planets and satellites.

Now, if we could publish more you could just look this up in a bookstore.

7:23 AM  
Blogger DaVinci said...

Thanks, I was having a glass of wine(or several) the other day and got to wondering about it. One thing led to another and before long I was totally confused.
I've been spending my morning looking for Christine Rosamond paintings for my home, so I at least have something new to think about and will leave you alone for a while. I do like those occasional photos of you I see, here. Hard to believe that all those brains are in such a beautiful frame. But really, get a better photographer, this one really reminds me of the way my dad used to take pictures, 90% of them were headless.
Have a great day!

8:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I want to tell something about Saddam Hussein who mentioned in the post.Before he invaded Quwait he was a friend of the West and the Soviet Union.With all his dictatorship and giant paintings,like of Stalin,US and Europe wanted him in order to diminish an Islamic influense of Iran.And we see the results when he is gone.When people are not ready for democraty, all what they get is anarchy or dictatorship.

10:38 PM  
Blogger DaVinci said...

Alex, its not political its religion that keeps them back. Unfortunately for the mid east, I think it is a terminal condition. Too bad our hick president didnt take that into consideration when he started playing armyman.

2:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is nothing wrong with their religion.I want to remind you all the wars between protestants and catholics in the Middle Age Europe.I wish this phase in the social evolution could be avoided.The failure of Bush is that he was not wise enough to forsee this events.

5:35 AM  
Blogger DaVinci said...

"There is nothing wrong with their religion"! Perhaps if they practice Islam the way americans practice Christianity there is no problem, but there are many more fundamentalists in that region than there are Christian fundamentalist in America.
If you take a fundamentalist approach to Islam (like many do) then if you're not one of them, they only have three options for you, death, slavery, conversion.
This isnt the time to be politically correct regarding muslims, or any theocrates for that matter.

7:10 AM  
Blogger DaVinci said...

Sorry Riafrio. I should keep the religious ranting to my site.

7:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As I told it is only a phase in the social evolution.I am not a Muslim,and I am not trying to show that Islam is a good religion.I don't think there are good or bad religions.There is a good or bad people.
In the Middle Age Europe most of the christians were extrimists.It doesn't avoid from the Europe to become an origin of modern democraty.
Most of the Muslims are not fundamentalists,also the power of the fundamentalists is growing,inspired by a failures of the US and Europe in Iraq.
Most of the Arabic countries are moderate,and they are first to deal with an reiligious extreimests.For example,Egypt,Pakistan,Jordan,Saudia,Quwait,Bahrein,and the others.
Also all the arabs,and I am not arab,lookes the same for westernes,it is not true.

8:44 AM  
Blogger DaVinci said...

Alex, What Christians did in Europe is irrelevant, even though I do see what you’re saying. The point I make is that religious fundamentalism is an evil no matter what religion, but at the present time we are dealing with Muslim Fundamentalist who have one agenda and that is not fully understood by our political leaders. Invading Iraq for the purpose of establishing democracy is a sophomoric ideal. It demonstrates a lack of understanding of the fundamentalist mentality, and will only by cured systemically.

10:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I must protest this latest entry. I have some dark energy right here beside me on my desk, floating in a cup. Wait, that's coffee. Never mind.

1:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am agree

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3:10 PM  

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