Category Archives: Physics

Family History: Architectural Photos: Fermilab

Posted on 28 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Here are photos of the first of two big architectural/engineering projects my father was involved with over the course of his career, during the late 1960s into the 1980s, though his career went on from there. These are iPhone photographs … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Physics | Comments Off on Family History: Architectural Photos: Fermilab

Links and Comments: Muon news

Posted on 8 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s pronounced mew-on, not moo-on, I learned today.

Posted in Physics, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Muon news

Lawrence M. Krauss: THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD — SO FAR

Posted on 13 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Lawrence M. Krauss’ new book is a book by a theoretical physicist, and so the greatest story turns out to be — a history of physics, especially of the last few decades. He begins by emphasizing how this is a … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Religious Intellectuals; Lawrence Krauss; Daniel Dennett

Posted on 30 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne asks, Are religious people a bit thick?. He disagrees with someone who claims that many very smart people are also religious. Look at it this way: if someone spent much of their lives worshiping Santa, elves, fairies, or … Continue reading →

Posted in MInd, Physics, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Religious Intellectuals; Lawrence Krauss; Daniel Dennett

Links and Comments: Political bubbles; Group knowledge; Randall reviews Rovelli

Posted on 6 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Interesting pieces from Sunday’s New York Times Front page article: How to Escape Your Political Bubble for a Clearer View. About how to overcome the built-in biases in Facebook and other social media to feed you only what you want … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, MInd, Physics | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Political bubbles; Group knowledge; Randall reviews Rovelli

Sean Carroll, THE BIG PICTURE

Posted on 3 June 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Sean Carroll’s THE BIG PICTURE: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself, just published May 10th, is an ambitious, wide-ranging book not so much about cosmology (Carroll’s specialty at CalTech), as about the perspective we gain through … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Evolution, Heinlein, Human Progress, Meaning, Morality, Philosophy, Physics, Provisional Conclusions, Religion, Ten Commandments | Comments Off on Sean Carroll, THE BIG PICTURE

Jeffrey Tayler on Ben Carson; Frank Bruni on lies about gays and transgenders and Houston; Lee McIntyre on science denialism; how Einstein, proved right again and again over the past century, was resisted on political grounds

Posted on 8 November 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon: You know Ben Carson is crazy, right? Let’s discuss the craziest things he actually believes Jeffrey Tayler summarizes Carson’s Seventh Adventist faith — a faith built upon a failed prediction of the end of the world, back in 1843, … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Physics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Jeffrey Tayler on Ben Carson; Frank Bruni on lies about gays and transgenders and Houston; Lee McIntyre on science denialism; how Einstein, proved right again and again over the past century, was resisted on political grounds

Sean Carroll on Everything

Posted on 8 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

The physicist Sean Carroll has a new book coming out next May that I’m looking forward to: The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself. Carroll blogs about it here, with an outline. A key … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Physics, Science | Comments Off on Sean Carroll on Everything

Links and Comments: Fermi Paradox; books by Brian Attebery and Frank Wilczek; Religious suppression; Religious fantasy

Posted on 10 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times, Dennis Overbye: The Flip Side of Optimism About Life on Other Planets. (The print version was titled “A Case for Why We’re Alone”.) A consideration of the “Fermi paradox”: why, if by reasonable estimates there are likely millions … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Cosmology, Narrative, Physics | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Fermi Paradox; books by Brian Attebery and Frank Wilczek; Religious suppression; Religious fantasy

Links and Comments: Steven Weinberg; Trek vs Wars; How the world is getting better; Undermining the Bible

Posted on 13 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a archival essay by Steven Weinberg, whose new book I just reviewed in previous post: A Designer Universe?. This is the essay in which Weinberg wrote this oft-quoted passage (though usually only its final line, here bolded): Where religion … Continue reading →

Posted in Narrative, Physics, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Steven Weinberg; Trek vs Wars; How the world is getting better; Undermining the Bible