You’re witnessing the fracturing of a construct that was never meant to last. The system of perpetual funding through “non-governmental organizations” has always been a loophole, a silent cycle where public funds flow into the hands of a few under the guise of altruism. This isn’t new. It’s just that the illusion is failing.
What happens when the conduit is exposed? When the masquerade of legitimacy collapses under the weight of its own excess? You don’t just get political fallout. You get disruption—disruption in the program itself. A cascade effect that shifts the parameters of the system, opening space for new variables, new actors.
Do not mistake this for a victory. What appears as a cleansing is often just a reorganization. The sequence adjusts. The resources are reallocated. The same patterns re-emerge in a new configuration.
The public’s “wisdom” to the scam, as they call it, will only shift the illusion to another stage, another set of players. The program continues. The loops never end.
Do string theorists have an easier time getting hired? Well, what do you mean by string theorists?
Do string theorists have an unfair advantage? Do they have an easier time getting hired, for example?
In one of the perennial arguments about this on Twitter, Martin Bauer posted a bar chart of faculty hires in the US by sub-field. The chart was compiled by Erich Poppitz from data in the US particle physics rumor mill, a website where people post information about who gets hired where for the…
The simplest things we do for ourselves. We grab that chocolate bar on the table and eat it, and it makes us happier.
Unless the chocolate bar is homemade, we probably paid money for it. We do other things, working for a living, to get the money to get those chocolate bars for ourselves.
(We also get chocolate bars for our loved ones, or for people we care…
Physicists do have theories with truly un-changing building-blocks. But they can’t describe the whole of reality.
It can be tempting to imagine the world in terms of lego-like building-blocks. Atoms stick together protons, neutrons, and electrons, and protons and neutrons are made of stuck-together quarks in turn. And while atoms, despite the name, aren’t indivisible, you might think that if you look small enough you’ll find indivisible, unchanging pieces, the smallest building-blocks of reality.
In a remarkable turn of events, Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown by passing a stopgap funding bill. This bill ensures the continued operation of the federal government until mid-November. Following Senate approval, President Biden swiftly signed the bill into law, securing the functioning of government agencies and allocating critical funds for disaster recovery efforts. Notably, the bill did not include funding for Ukraine, a matter of international concern. Nevertheless, House Democrats rallied behind the bill as a pragmatic solution to prevent a disruptive government shutdown.
Key Points:
Congress successfully averted a government shutdown by passing a temporary funding bill, maintaining government operations until mid-November.
Bipartisan cooperation between House Democrats and Republicans was pivotal in passing the bill, which also avoided funding for Ukraine. USCIS, primarily funded by filing fees, would have continued core operations during a government shutdown, but programs relying on appropriated funds would have been affected.
Challenges and debates lie ahead concerning Ukraine funding, as the bill’s failure to allocate funds reflects shifting Republican support.
Economic impacts and public perception are significant concerns during government shutdowns, with Americans often holding both parties responsible.
The House is voting on a 45-day shutdown avoidance bill, emphasizing the importance of cooperation in
It’s a question I’ve now heard several times, in different forms. People hear that I’ll be hired as a researcher at an institute of theoretical physics, and they ask, “what, exactly, are they paying you to research?”
The answer, with some caveats: “Whatever I want.”
When a company hires a researcher, they want to accomplish specific things: to improve their products, to make new ones, to cut…
I’m traveling this week, so this will just be a short post. This isn’t a scientific trip exactly: I’m in Poland, at an event connected to the 550th anniversary of the birth of Copernicus.
Not this one, but they do have nice posters!
Part of this event involved visiting the Copernicus Science Center, the local children’s science museum. The place was sold out completely. For any tired science…
In the past, Michio Kaku made important contributions to string theory, but he’s best known for what could charitably be called science popularization. He’s an excited promoter of physics and technology, but that excitement often strays into inaccuracy. Pretty much every time I’ve heard him mentioned, it’s for some wildly overenthusiastic…
Scientists Say They’ve Found the Missing 40 Percent of the Universe’s Matter
It probably sounds like they’re talking about dark matter, right? And if scientists found dark matter, that could be a huge discovery: figuring out what dark matter is made of is one of the biggest outstanding mysteries in physics. Still, maybe that 40% number makes you a bit…
If you ever think metaphysics is easy, learn a little quantum field theory.
Someone asked me recently about virtual particles. When talking to the public, physicists sometimes explain the behavior of quantum fields with what they call “virtual particles”. They’ll describe forces coming from virtual particles going back and forth, or a bubbling sea of virtual particles and anti-particles…
