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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Sean Carroll Tells A Story Of Humanity In The Hunt For The Higgs Boson

A worker walks past a giant photograph of the CMS detector of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a 2008 science exhibition in Berlin, Germany.

November 27, 2012 If you're the kind who secretly obsesses about the fundamental nature of reality but wouldn't know a boson if it was delivering roses at your doorstep, I have good news for you.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

When Is A Theory Wrong?

The Universe of Particles exhibition at CERN in 2011.

November 21, 2012 Theories are the life-blood of science; but ruling them out may be harder than you think. And letting a cherished model fall on the trash heap of history is even harder, yet. Take "supersymmetry" from the world of particle physics, for example. When might we see its demise or its vindication?

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Tuesday, May 01, 2012

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Blackboard Rumble: Why Are Physicists Hating On Philosophy (and Philosophers)?

May 1, 2012 There are those in the physics community who have no room for philosophy. At stake in their stance is a critical question living deep in the foundations of modern physics: What are the limits of science?

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Waiting For New Universes

The magnificent galaxy NGC 4710 is tilted nearly edge-on to our view from Earth. This perspective allows astronomers to easily distinguish the central bulge of stars from its pancake-flat disk of stars, dust, and gas.

October 25, 2011 How long is long enough when it comes to waiting for a new cosmology? How long will scientists, or everyone else for that matter, wait for an exciting, though speculative, theory to find some basis in experiment?

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