Here's a Friday offtopic thread that isn't about kittens. :)

In your mind, who are the top scientists and/or mathematicians that you think understood, or at least had the best glimpse of the inner workings of the universe with most clarity?

( Let`s delve into this )

Those are two major traits of the last half a century that have become a central feature in a recent conclusion of a groups of scientists, which basically argues that a new epoch in Earth's development, called Anthropocene, should now be formulated separately from the Holocene:

Earth Enters Anthropocene Epoch, Thanks to Humans

This international ( Read more... )

We all know Neil deGrasse Tyson, that bright representative of this type of eloquent neo-Renaissance guy full of awesome, who's been relentlessly advocating for more rational thinking and the adoption of scientific principles in policy-making. So it was no surprise when he recently came up with an idea about an utopian society that he called ( Read more... )

I mean, the only one who could benefit from the attention is Ken Ham and nobody else. And his horde of Creationist drones. Why provide him with the validation that he so much desires? The Nye/Ham debate wasn't supposed to be "won" by anyone - Ham lured Nye into it, in order to bring himself into the spotlight. And Nye obliged. Why?

Case in point:

( Read more... )

Gravitational waves may reveal stringy Universe

Pattern of gravitational waves may reveal string theory's remnant strings.

Universe expanding faster than expected

Astronomers have obtained the most precise measurement yet of how fast the universe is expanding, and it doesn’t agree with predictions based on other data and our current ( Read more... )

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Tells Bill Maher That Anti-Science Liberals Are Full of Shit Too

"“Let’s not pretend that Democrats and Republicans equally deny science,” Maher said. But TV-scientist and friend of the show Neil DeGrasse Tyson quickly stepped in to correct Maher.

“Don’t be too high and mighty there,” Tyson said. “Because there are certain ( Read more... )

Schroedinger's cat, now with a new twist that could be exploited for developing quantum computing:

New Thought Experiment Combines Quantum Entanglement And Superposition


( Read more... )

Scientists Talk Privately About Creating a Synthetic Human Genome

Wow. It's sooo secret that the NYT has an article on it. Are these guys who are getting so worked up about this aware of what these meetings are about? In a nutshell, it's a bunch of lawyers, who basically have an MA in sociology, and a bunch of business guys who have even less. They ( Read more... )

A new state of water molecules has been found, one where tightly confined water molecules that are supposedly unable to turn around and shift their polarity, begin to exhibit quantum properties, their hydrogen atoms smearing around the central oxygen atom, thus forming a probabilistic shell and occupying all possible six positions within a ( Read more... )

Universe Is Probably A Simulation: Neil DeGrasse Tyson

So, Neil deGrasse Tyson has argued during the latest Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate that statistically, it's far more likely that we live in a simulated universe rather than a real one. It's not exactly a novel idea, and has a lot more to do with philosophy rather than actual empirical science, ( Read more... )