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Avi Loeb And Aliens: The Right And Wrong of Science Funding. (Also Bing Image Search Brings up Porno When you Search for him)

Avi Loeb he prolific Harvard astrophysicist, dances on the edge of cosmic controversy. His research...

What Is And Is Not Plagiarism In Scientific Papers? Neri Oxman And Claudine Gay Did Nothing Seriously Wrong. A Basic Guide To Citation.

The online discourse of our time has come to the issue of plagiarism. Now Claudine Gay and Neri...

Asteroid 2007 FT3 Will Not Hit Us, And Other Predictions For 2024. Suppose It Did Hit Us.

In the past I have predicted certain things at the start of certain years.  This is a selection...

UPDATE: Claudine Gay Not Fired By Harvard. Claudine Gay Did Not Plagiarize. Weeks Later Resigns Due To Ongoing Pressure.

Christopher F Rufo has accused the president of Harvard of plagiarism in an effort so clumsy that...

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Hontas FarmerRSS Feed of this column.

Currently I am an adjunct professor at the College of DuPage. My research focuses on astrophysics from massive star formation to astroparticle physics. Born and raised in Chicagoland I have lived... Read More »

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The issue of how dense the dark matter is near Earth is far from settled. Recent work by Moni Bidin, Carraro, Mendez and Smith holds that the density of dark matter near Earth is 0.04 gigaelectron volts per cubic centimeter, the work of Bovy and Tremaine says it should be more like 0.3 gigaelectron volt per cubic centimeter. The problem is that Bovy and Tremaine make a basic logical error at the outset which invalidates what on the face of is otherwise a masterful work of theoretical astronomy/cosmology. Unfortunately that logical error of circular logic falsifies their counter argument.

It seems that one Toby Cubitt,  a quantum physicist, has done research which proves mathematically that physics is hard.  Well no duh.  Physics is the subject sane people avoid in college.  Compare the conceptual complexity of Louis DeBroglie's work on the wave nature of "solid" material particles to a study of Dr. Shaquille O'Neal Ed.D. on how bosses use humor in the workplace.  

Windows 8 will be the biggest thing in the world of Windows since Windows 95.   That is my prediction based on months of using it in virtualization and now natively on my convertible tablet PC.  In short it is a marked improvement over Windows 7.   The metro application framework, I predict, will lead to the old desktop paradigm being obsolete in the next  5 years.    (Other operating systems are moving towards this too.  Mandriva Linux and it's  ROSA desktop are a step in the same direction.) 

Occupy Hilbert Space is a quirky event proposed by a Facebook friend of mine.   A Hilbert space is a formal mathematical construct in which the information about a physical system is represented by vectors.  In physics we most often encounter the concept of Hilbert spaces in Quantum Mechanics.  They are not limited just to quantum mechanics.  For my submission I will show that we are all occupying a Hilbert space right now.   

Niel Bates describes it like so. 

News like today's new evidence for a standard model light* (~125 Gev) Higgs particle does much for theoretical physics.  In one fell swoop many theories can be ruled out.  While at the same time other theories gain direct support.  Still other theories, and the theorist who propose them, are vindicated for putting their faith in the standard model.  This model that has worked perfectly in every test it has had for 30 or so years.  One area which this will affect in the latter way is that of quantum gravity.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is my 24 year old Nephew's favorite game.  In it Russians invade Manhattan.  When I was a kid, suffice it to say, the Russians were not to be played with...except in games featuring nuclear war.  People not that much younger than me are totally disconnected from that reality.  At the beginning of Call of Duty's story mode New York City has been invaded by Russian forces.   As my father and I watched him we could not help but comment at how unrealistic that was.  Far less provocation than that would have lead to us nuking Russia, not a fire fight.