tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post8721517643804242488..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: A new era of scienceSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-58892027780131294842016-03-31T08:07:36.757-04:002016-03-31T08:07:36.757-04:00Good piece of thought.
Also consider that a caree...Good piece of thought. <br />Also consider that a career in physics has a finite length. People designing parts of the LHC and its detectors in their post doc years are still able to see the results coming in. But now they are to advanced in their career to start a new "experiment" based on their experience and knowledge. In theory , Higgs and Englert had to wait for 50 years before Tottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14663275133049157719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-419112302448191232016-03-19T23:21:45.679-04:002016-03-19T23:21:45.679-04:00It's kind of hard to figure out where a techno...It's kind of hard to figure out where a technology is going to go in 50 or 100 years. Back in the early 1970s, I was working with a lab that wanted the latest and greatest in tablet technology so we could put together a free hand drawing system. Most of the new startups with new technologies that we interviewed were started by particle physicists who had been working on particle detection. Kaleberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05283840743310507878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-48467464463365070242016-03-16T12:43:07.170-04:002016-03-16T12:43:07.170-04:00"I was just watching Kennedy's 1962, Rice..."I was just watching Kennedy's 1962, Rice University speech on Youtube committing our country to a manned lunar landing. We sure had better leadership in those days." <br />The space race was about demonstrating mastery over ICBM technology. The atomic clocks which begat precision quantum metrology were developed to perfect ICBM telemetry, and the AMO quantum metrology people are regretacleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849406662712673245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-19507732512690412222016-03-15T09:29:26.544-04:002016-03-15T09:29:26.544-04:00Hi Sabine,
Nice article. Maybe you should blog abo...Hi Sabine,<br />Nice article. Maybe you should blog about Avi Loeb's articles written to astrophysics students (but which applies even to theoretical ones) about taking risks etc.<br />shantanuShantanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16322812456382858228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-79282777673241089172016-03-14T09:06:49.373-04:002016-03-14T09:06:49.373-04:00I am personally inclined to think that serendipity...I am personally inclined to think that serendipity is our best source of progress, so I ask myself what are the best ways to improve the chances of serendipity? Of course myself is not an expert and doesn't know the answer, but speculates that exploration in general gives the opportunity to see and learn new things. Probably for that very reason, exploration seems to be one of the fundamentalJimVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10198704789965278981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7474870871532590672016-03-13T23:20:55.864-04:002016-03-13T23:20:55.864-04:00The essay is a bit abstract. To make it more unde...The essay is a bit abstract. To make it more understandable, here is Chris Quigg on future particle accelerators.<br /><a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.07020" rel="nofollow">http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.07020</a>.<br /><br />What emphasis in this should change to make it more of the "how do we best make use of the severely limited opportunities for future experiments?"<br /><br />ThanksArunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-33594690416477822342016-03-12T20:56:42.339-05:002016-03-12T20:56:42.339-05:00Wow, at 1.5 trillion a year for military expenses ...Wow, at 1.5 trillion a year for military expenses in the Middle East, that's three times the estimated cost of a manned Mars mission. It's a shame that politicians prefer the destructiveness of war over the constructiveness, and knowledge increase, that comes with scientific programs.<br /><br />I was just watching Kennedy's 1962, Rice University speech on Youtube committing our David Schroederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18048116250413347228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-52209908934869470152016-03-12T15:33:50.270-05:002016-03-12T15:33:50.270-05:00http://forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2015/12/10...http://forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2015/12/10/why-trust-a-theory-physicists-and-philosophers-debate-the-scientific-method/<br />"<i>this workshop last December</i>" URL lacks http<br /><br />"<i>An increasing number of physicists, Ellis and Silk observed, have become strongly convinced of the viability of theories that have no empirical confirmation.</i>" no empirical Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-78564199916926968272016-03-12T11:21:20.176-05:002016-03-12T11:21:20.176-05:00Henning:
No, not really. It was only this worksho...Henning:<br /><br />No, not really. It was only <a href="forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2015/12/10/why-trust-a-theory-physicists-and-philosophers-debate-the-scientific-method/" rel="nofollow">this workshop last December</a> that got me thinking about how the role of theory development has changed so dramatically since, say, the 70s. <a href="http://backreaction.blogspot.de/2016/02/Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-151814047965321252016-03-12T10:39:37.547-05:002016-03-12T10:39:37.547-05:00It's possible a lot of you folks are too pessi...It's possible a lot of you folks are too pessimistic or doer. There is so much scientific research going on these days it is easy to miss the vast amount of low budget small scale research that is giving useful insights. Big budget science is prominent only in publications and research grabs. But I think if you examine the statistics what we find is that more science is being done today onBijou Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01366468126680583410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-13337265016054945302016-03-11T14:59:15.489-05:002016-03-11T14:59:15.489-05:00Sabine, you are re-enforcing my worst worries.
Do...Sabine, you are re-enforcing my worst worries.<br /><br />Do you see a path to correct this sorry state of affairs? <br /><br />Is there a way to suppress debilitating incentives, and to create the kind of rewards that could get us unstuck?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14479459346584756683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-6153594356493812712016-03-10T10:53:53.453-05:002016-03-10T10:53:53.453-05:00Steve Colyer said.. "US Military in Vietnam a...Steve Colyer said.. "<i>US Military in Vietnam as a grunt, yes</i>" Point of fact, <b>no</b>. I carry my "1A" draft card always, lest I confuse country and government. US in 'Nam was South China Sea oil exploration. They looked too far south. <br /><br />WWII was Allies' smash and grab of German industrial and science universes, e.g., Ruhrchemie's Otto RoelenUncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-45637572074544797052016-03-10T10:50:08.603-05:002016-03-10T10:50:08.603-05:00Nicely put Phillip. So also : As money goes to zer...Nicely put Phillip. So also : As money goes to zero, knowledge goes up, with constant energy. Perhaps we should try this motto then : Minimized means maximize creative solutions. Constructing causality ourselves instead of having machines oracle.Koenraad Van Spaendonckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090279727324831109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-8298061132345071142016-03-10T09:26:23.334-05:002016-03-10T09:26:23.334-05:00"Time + Money = Energy
Therefore, to answer ...<i>"Time + Money = Energy<br /><br />Therefore, to answer to the great question, "What is time?" becomes ...<br /><br />Time = Energy - Money"</i><br /><br />Time is money. Knowledge is power. Power is energy/time. Substituting, we have knowledge = energy/money. Solving for money, we get money = energy/knowledge. So, as knowledge goes to zero, money becomes infinite, Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-61611355753425468962016-03-10T01:42:41.324-05:002016-03-10T01:42:41.324-05:00Yes, it looks like we're stuck, which is exact...Yes, it looks like we're stuck, which is exactly why I was writing this post... Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-17939033140832029192016-03-09T22:54:55.610-05:002016-03-09T22:54:55.610-05:00"But at any level in this game, we might fail...<i>"But at any level in this game, we might fail."</i><br /><br />How high is your confidence that we haven't failed already?<br /><br />The fact that we seem to be incapable to improve on the Standard Model looks an awful lot like being stuck.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14479459346584756683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-81035408958744250642016-03-09T18:57:30.183-05:002016-03-09T18:57:30.183-05:00Uncle Al wrote:
"The US War on Islam burns a...Uncle Al wrote:<br /><br />"The US War on Islam burns about $1.5 trillion/year. The National Science Foundation burns less than $8 billion/year. 1% less war, 4 days, triples NSF budget. Idiots."<br /><br />I second Al's motion. For that price and assuming we had the plutonium we could have sent 2000 New Horizons missions (which are basic research) into the Kuiper belt.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357650697197367949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-26530733319366495482016-03-09T10:57:44.866-05:002016-03-09T10:57:44.866-05:00Hello Sabine,
It is a nuanced situation.
Because ...Hello Sabine,<br /><br />It is a nuanced situation.<br />Because to assess if a theory or hypothesis is promising enough to fund experiment, we rely on our current knowledge and paradigm. But progress, as history shows, often comes out of left field. <br /><br />Dry statistics : " If you want to win a lottery 100% sure, you have to buy all the tickets and check them ". True, but Koenraad Van Spaendonckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090279727324831109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-10981089047744252732016-03-09T10:43:37.346-05:002016-03-09T10:43:37.346-05:00"But in theoretical physics the age of serend..."<i>But in theoretical physics the age of serendipitous discovery is nearing its end</i>," doomed by excluding observations contradicting empirically defective and even sterile theories. <br /><br />http://i.stack.imgur.com/1wliZ.jpg<br /> Transforming zero output into grant funding.<br /><br />Eötvös experiment[1] vacuum free fall two sets of single crystal marbles, enantiomorphicUncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-48042366557562112292016-03-09T09:41:20.257-05:002016-03-09T09:41:20.257-05:00Great essay but I don't know what can be done ...Great essay but I don't know what can be done to avoid the development. We might wreck our economy (short of racial suicide) such that we simply cannot afford to advance experimentation in physics. This is becoming likely as the years pass. As for serendipity it still happens but now at the component engineering level rather than the experiment overall. Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03016608637645316849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-40034209742584932062016-03-09T08:58:44.699-05:002016-03-09T08:58:44.699-05:00I like the way you think, Bee.
Time + Money = Ene...I like the way you think, Bee.<br /><br />Time + Money = Energy<br /><br />Therefore, to answer to the great question, "What is time?" becomes ...<br /><br />Time = Energy - Money<br /><br />Conclusion: To increase the needed time to produce advances in basic research we must increase the workload of researchers while decreasing the amount of money spent. Keep 'em hungry, and Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357650697197367949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-36152773819560105212016-03-09T05:59:17.844-05:002016-03-09T05:59:17.844-05:00akidbelle,
I think this is a misunderstanding on ...akidbelle,<br /><br />I think this is a misunderstanding on what I mean by "investment". Investment means the direction of efforts by monetary means, not necessarily making profit with that investment. Basic research is rarely directly profitable. Payoffs are exceeding indirect and often come only centuries later. <br /><br />In my community we are all driven by trying to understand theSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-79355518579503263972016-03-09T05:09:47.921-05:002016-03-09T05:09:47.921-05:00Hi Sabine; very nice post, thanks.
You wrote: Th...Hi Sabine; very nice post, thanks. <br /><br />You wrote: The community’s assessment of a theory’s promise must be drawn upon to justify investment in an experimental test of that theory.<br /><br />In my own way, I understand the underlying question may be:<br />Does the meme reign? Does the matrix has us? (I mean the theoretical physicists community). <br /><br />This is not a comfortable akidbellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12292741599925116131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-61133557923815919352016-03-09T03:49:01.464-05:002016-03-09T03:49:01.464-05:00"If we don’t invest sufficiently into knowled..."If we don’t invest sufficiently into knowledge discovery, or invest into the wrong things, we might get stuck – and might end up unable to proceed beyond a certain level of technology. Forever."<br /><br />I can more dystopic than that: we may end up killing ourselves off as a specie. We may have already passed the tipping point. Some will say science got us into this mess, which is Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357650697197367949noreply@blogger.com