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A Personal Update: The Day To Day Work Of One Physicist.

A brief personal update as to what I have been doing.  There has been much interesting science...

A Simple Way To Assess The Likelihood K2-18 b Host Alien Life. The Odds Are Almost 50-50.

How can you as a person who is not a scientist know if a given claim of having found alien life...

Reported Failure To Reproduce Superconductivity, But Replication Of Apparent Diamagnetism, At Room Temperature In LK-99

Last week it was claimed that a material that would be superconducting at  normal pressure...

Understanding The Great Discovery of A Universal Gravitational Wave Background by the Interational Pulsar Timing Array Collaboration.

What are gravitational waves? What are Pulsars and what does it mean to time a pulsar? How does...

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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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Rights are not decided by science but by law and laws are made by man. However, in this scientific age it has been decided that people who are members of a minority by nature generally have the same rights as anyone else. This is known as biological essentialism. Most transgender activist do not accept this, for the sake of discussion let us accept it. Therefore, the question of transgender rights comes down to how science answers the following questions. Do transgender people have the choice of completely conforming to gender norms and just being manly men or feminine women? Does the available data show that transgender people exist due to genetic, hormonal, neurological and or any other physical and immutable cause?

Jordan B Peterson denying that climate exist because climate scientist model it with a finite set of variables is simply wrong. Hard sciences use a finite set of variables and an infinite set of mathematical operations to model, approximate, and describe the world then comparing that to data from experiment or direct observation. Jordan B Psychologist like Jordan B Peterson cannot do this for a variety of reasons usually relating to ethics. The brain is fundamentally a complex system, but we can describe how neurons work, chemistry, and physics. Everything else emerges from those basic physical realities.

The Thirty Meter Telescope is moving forward as the state of Hawaii seeks to address real injustices done to the Native Hawaiians, issues brought to wider attention by the protest building TMT.

When astronomers say that having a Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea will unlock discoveries, we can only dream of what do we really mean? What good reasons did a minority of Native Hawaiians have to oppose this construction? What has happened since the wonderful time when a protest on top of a beautiful mountain that seemed to have a carnival like atmosphere was the worst thing happening?

Disease is caused by microbes, viruses, and bacteria. In the case of cancer, it is an overgrowth of your own human cells in a disorderly way. Microbiology is even more indisputable than any astronomical fact. In fact, it is so solid that the best reference to give is a free and open-source textbook. 1 People who take a holistic approach to disease, who are also often anti vaxx are not generally anti-germ theory. It is a fact the healthier the body the better it can fight off disease causing microbes. COVID-19 the current pandemic is enflamed in the United States due to the virus replicating in the overabundant fat cells of people in our country who are overweight and especially obese people.

Even a website by researchers who support the use of Ivermectin say you need to get vaccinated. So why do people like Joe Rogan and other podcaster/influencers lean into anti vaccine anti science and counterfactual rhetoric? Vaccines should not be mandated for those who just don’t want them but the rest of us should not have to accept anti-scientific reasons. If someone does not want to be vaccinated fine no one should be forced. Adjust by accepting online schooling, remote work, eating carry out instead of dine in, etc. Have the integrity to admit it’s because you just don’t want it, no reason. Especially if you aren’t someone who was health conscious at all, and who eats junk food and drinks diet soda and never exercises at all.

  At least one Astronomer has shared an image of the James Webb Space Telescope taken from an Earth-bound telescope.  This is what it looks like in all its glory but you may wonder why it is we cannot get a better image of it.  It is huge and made of very reflective materials.  Why no camera on it to take a selfie or monitor it visually for any faults?