Science Shambles

Posted on 30/11/2020 by

I did another Sunday Science Shambles with Robin and Helen, and Becky Smethurst. The recording is available here…

Posted in Astrophysics, Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

US Election Week

Posted on 07/11/2020 by

“Stress and nervous tension are now serious social problems in all parts of the Galaxy, and it is in order that this situation should not be in any way exacerbated that the following facts will now be revealed in advance. The next president of the USA will be Joe Biden. The whiny tweet storm shortly to be launched by an ancient automatic defense system will result merely in the breakage of three coffee cups and a mouse cage, the bruising of somebody’s upper arm, and the untimely creation and sudden demise of a bowl of petunias and an innocent sperm whale. In order that some sense of mystery should still be preserved, no revelation will yet be made concerning exactly when the result will be “called”. This fact may safely be made the subject of suspense since it is of no significance whatsoever.”

Just as there’s always a tweet, there’s always a Douglas Adam’s quote.

Posted in Politics, Silly | Tagged ,

Dark words

Posted on 23/10/2020 by

At the Cosmic Shambles Network.

jonHeaders

* Note added after some discussion with colleagues: The FCC document on which I think the Nature article relies says “The FCC-hh would essentially provide a comprehensive search for WIMP DM”. The word “essentially” seems important here; I take it to mean there are some, possibly rather contrived, WIMP scenarios which would still be out of reach. I think such an exclusion would still have a profound influence.

Link to FFC document: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-6904-3

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Politics, Science, Silly | Tagged , , , , , ,

Cross Reference

Posted on 08/10/2020 by

I once saw a reference letter that a Senior Physicist had written for a colleague I had worked with closely. The letter compared my colleague to me, along the lines of “X is as good as Jon at Y, but in addition is excellent at Z”.

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Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Physics Stories, Writing | Tagged , | 3 Comments