The Reference FrameThe most important events in our and your superstringy Universe as seen from a conservative physicist's viewpointLHC: first collisions next week- September 17, 2008 According to many sources such as the U.K. Times, the LHC will begin collisions at the beginning of the next week!This goal could have been achieved already this week but the 1-week delay was caused by some power failures affecting the cryogenics. These problems are now fixed.But don't expect the end of the world yet, like the authors of the artistic film, "Our Final Days", above. The center-of-mass energy will be around 900 GeV (6% of the ultimate goal) only so the LHC will behave as a...http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/lhc-first-collision-next-week.html Sharia law takes over Great Britain- September 16, 2008 A few years ago, a creative far-right website offered this map of Europe as of 2015.Well, they may have been close to the truth; however, note that they included Italy but not Kosovo into the Albanian Federation so the reality is already exceeding their expectations at least at one spot. In North Pakistan, they are establishing sharia courts that will work simultaneously with the old British courts (that will be temporarily allowed as long as there remain some infidels on the island):Times...http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/sharia-law-takes-over-great-britain.html Infinities, divergences, and emotions- September 16, 2008 In this text, I would like to talk about the infinities and divergences in physics - what they are, what is bad about them, what is not bad about them, and what transformations their character has undergone during the most recent centuries and decades. People often scream "divergences are bad" but these screams are often motivated by irrational justifications.The story will probably require the reader to understand physics at an advanced undergraduate level but anyone can try to penetrate...http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/infinities-divergences-and-emotions.html Lehman Brothers (1850-2008)- September 15, 2008 Lehman Brothers were established, under this name, in 1850 when Mayer Lehman, the youngest brother (the guy on the right side), joined his older brothers, Henry Lehman (the real founder) and Emanuel Lehman (the guy on the left side), and emigrated from Bavaria to Alabama. Their first businesses were based on using cotton as a currency.The company has grown and survived many twists and turns, world wars, Great Depression, internal battles, and many bankruptcies of competitors in the financial...http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/lehman-brothers-1850-2008.html Hillary Clinton vs Sarah Palin- September 14, 2008 Isn't it funny ;-) BTW, if you didn't know, flurge is a hybrid of flush and purge. But what "Clinton" actually meant was FLIRG, a male organ in the state that is not erect (also, "flerg" means a foreskin). It stands for "First Lady Is Really a GuyGay", an acronym that should probably explain the flaccidness. ;-)http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/hillary-clinton-vs-sarah-palin.html Old SiteMeter is back- September 14, 2008 New SiteMeter was much less usable than the old oneAs you can check, they managed to return to the old SiteMeter within 24 hours. Congratulations. The whole text below becomes obsolete.Update: Sitemeter claims that they have heard us and they will be implementing a rollback to the website immediately. So please, give them some time. Your patience is what they deserve in this painful situation.SiteMeter.com, a web service responsible for the counter near the bottom of the right sidebar of this...http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-sitemeter-is-much-less-usable-than.html Time magazine: Northwest Passage navigable- September 14, 2008 On September 13th, Time magazine (click) informed their readers that "Northwest Passage's navigability was dramatically demonstrated". Two ships coming from the opposite directions met and astonished Eskimo cheers from both crews echoed through the rock-bound channel. ;-)The only problem is that it was not September 13th, 2008 but September 13th, 1937. :-) Well, it shouldn't be too shocking because the current Arctic temperature is pretty much what it was in the late 1930s.Hat tip: Marc Moranohttp://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/time-magazine-1937-northwest-passage.html Ike: Wilkinson escapes "certain death"- September 13, 2008 The residents of Texas beaches near the eye of the hurricane Ike were informed about their "certain death" if they wouldn't evacuate.Well, about 3 or 4 people died in the U.S. as a result of Ike - which was a tropical storm when this article was first posted and a tropical depression when you read it now - and none of them was in Galveston. In another group of the casualties, a boy tragically died because his father was afraid of Ike and decided to cut a tree and except for two Ike evacuees....http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/ike-wilkinson-escapes-certain-death.html ITER: Nb-Ti superconductor works- September 12, 2008 On Wednesday, exactly when the LHC saw the first beams, ITER announced good news, too.Prototype superconductor for tokamak fusion reactor proves successfulWhat is the state of the thermonuclear artJET, the Joint European Torus, was so far the most successful realization of the Russian "Tokamak" (co-authored by Tamm and Sakharov) toroidal technology (the acronym stands for "Toroidal KameraChamber with Magnetic KatushkasCoil") to sustain thermonuclear fusion: it was able to produce 16 MW for one..http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/iter-nb-ti-superconductor-works.html Eurobarometer: Czechs have the smartest attitude to climate change- September 12, 2008 Eurobarometer has released its latest poll,Europeans' attitudes towards climate change (PDF, Google News)If you go to page 7 ("9 of 145" in the PDF file), you will see the percentages "how many people in each country view climate change as a serious problem". The results are sorted from the sanest countries to the dumbest ones in this respect:45% Czechia47% Portugal, Italy; 50% Poland52% Bulgaria; 57% U.K.; 58% Lithuania, Estonia60% Romania; 61% Spain, Belgium62% EU average; 63% Ireland; 64%...http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/09/eurobarometer-czechs-have-smartest.html |