Professor 💜 P

As 2025 ends, the Standard Model still hasn't cracked Our Standard Model of the Universe, for both particle physics and cosmology, remains intact for now. When will its foundations crack?

As 2025 ends, the Standard Model still hasn’t cracked

Here in 2025, many challenges have arisen to both Standard Models: particle physics and cosmology.

As the year end, there's barely a crack in either.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #physics

I see an eel.

bit.ly/4r42HRN
No. 4 Alabama loses at home to No. 11 Oklahoma. Up next: No. 5 Georgia hosts No. 10 Texas. Follow AP for live coverage.

Countries commit to tackling climate disinformation at COP30 It is the first time states have formally committed to information integrity and fighting back against climate disinformation.

Good that Canada joins coalition to fight against climate disinformation (so maybe don't weaken greenwashing law?) www.euronews.com/green/2025/1...

Fascism has 14 early warning signs, as elucidated by fascism scholar Laurence W. Britt.

In May of this year, the US exhibited "only" 12 of them, as we still lacked a censored press and fraudulent elections.

We're up to 13 on the eve of election day.

Because if you tell the truth, this happens.

Is our first "galaxy-quasar hybrid" also a Little Red Dot? Found by Hubble before JWST's launch, GNz7q looked like a mix of a galaxy and a quasar. Was it actually our first known "Little Red Dot"?

Is our first “galaxy-quasar hybrid” also a Little Red Dot?

JWST has famously discovered hundreds of "Little Red Dot" objects in the early Universe.

But the first one predates JWST, and was correctly determined to be a galaxy-quasar hybrid
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #jwst #hubble

Im embarrassed for america

Red Cross has received remains of 2 more Hamas hostages to be given to Israel The Israeli military says the International Committee of the Red Cross has received the remains of two more hostages to be transferred from the Gaza Strip to Israeli custody.

Hamas has assured the U.S. through intermediaries that it is working to return dead hostages from Gaza, according to two senior U.S. advisers.

Yes, reductionism can explain everything in the whole Universe The whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts; that's a flaw in our thinking. Non-reductionism requires magic, not merely science.

Yes, reductionism can explain everything in the whole Universe

If we strip reality down to the fundamental particles and their interactions, and add in boundary conditions and initial conditions, can we explain the whole Universe?

Reductionism says yes
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #physics

Must there be a single unified theory of physics? - Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe | iHeart <p>Daniel and Kelly talk to Ethan Siegal about whether we should expect physics to be explained by a single unified theory.</p><p>See <a href='https://omnystudio.com/listener'>omnystudio.com/listener<...

Must there be a single, unified theory of everything?

Daniel Whiteson and Kelly Weinersmith interview me about the topic, and things get a little intense!

Have a listen and see which side of the problem sounds more compelling to you.
www.iheart.com/podcast/105-...
#physics

No doubt🥺

She is so inspiring.

New York Attorney General Letitia James indicted on fraud charge, AP source says A grand jury has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on a fraud charge, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.

New York Attorney General Letitia James calls fraud case "baseless," and decries "weaponization of our justice system."

Go, James!

Exactly

Macroscopic quantum tunneling wins 2025's Nobel Prize in physics Quantum mechanics was first discovered on small, microscopic scales. 2025's Nobel Prize brings the quantum and large-scale worlds together.

Macroscopic quantum tunneling wins 2025’s Nobel Prize in physics

This year's Nobel Prize in physics was all about building the first sustainable macroscopic system to exhibit quantum behavior.

Here's the science behind the prize, and why it matters.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#physics #quantum

The world's driest desert blooms into a rare, fleeting flower show A rare bloom in Chile’s Atacama desert has briefly transformed one of the world’s driest places into a dazzling carpet of fuchsia-colored wildflowers.

A rare bloom in Chile's Atacama desert has briefly transformed one of the world's driest places into a dazzling carpet of fuchsia-colored wildflowers.

The search for alien life must heed this lesson from Stephen King In 2025, Earth remains the only planet where life is known to exist. Without a second example, "The Stand" has a vital lesson to teach us.

The search for alien life must heed this lesson from Stephen King

In Stephen King's "The Stand," survivors of the Captain Trips superflu are rare, and finding a second survivor doesn't always occur.

Here's what that lesson means for seeking alien life.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro

The image is an X post by David French (@DavidAFre ) from 1 day ago, stating: "Does a Fox correspondent not know that we can stop boats at sea, search them, seize any drugs we find, arrest the crew, try them, and imprison them – while also questioning them to help investigate the cartels? The choices aren't between execution and permission." It includes a reply by Charles Gasparino (@CGA ) from 1 day ago, asking: "Why would anyone be against using US forces to stop drugs from coming into this country? Because international stipulates that we need to poison our kids? x.com/DavidAFre..."

Acting as judge, jury, and executioner against civilian vessels would lead to war crimes charges with nearly any other country’s leader.

COSMOS-Web unveils JWST's newest gravitational lenses By deeply imaging a large volume of space, COSMOS-Web provides JWST's widest cosmic views. Its gravitational lenses reveal a big surprise.

COSMOS-Web unveils JWST’s newest gravitational lenses

Within JWST's largest-area survey so far, the COSMOS-Web field, there are over 100 newly imaged gravitational lenses.

Here are the sights, and surprises, lying within.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #jwst #astro

Me too

Lab tests show Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned, his wife says Russian authorities said Navalny died last year after feeling unwell following a walk around the high-security Arctic penal colony where he was serving a combined 30 ½-year jail sentence.

Tests by two foreign laboratories show that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned before his death in an Arctic penal colony last year, his wife says.

LIGO's 10th anniversary gift confirms Hawking's theorem 10 years ago, LIGO first began directly detecting gravitational waves. Now better than ever, it's revealing previously unreachable features.

LIGO’s 10th anniversary gift confirms Hawking’s theorem

10 years ago, we measured our first black hole-black hole merger in gravitational waves.

10 years later, we can measure them so well we confirmed the Hawking area theorem.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #physics #LIGO #hawking

Ask Ethan: Where does cosmic dust come from? Dust is ubiquitous in the modern Universe, appearing in nearly all galaxies. But our cosmos was born dust-free. So where does it originate?

Where does cosmic dust come from?

#AskEthan

Of all the things that needed to arise to enable life in our Universe, the least appreciated is cosmic dust.

At last, astronomers have pinned down the primary source of its creation.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #dust #signal #noise

Seismicity map of Kamchatka generated using GMT by Jascha Polet

Today’s M7.4 aftershock of the Kamchatka #earthquake was located in the Northern section of the mainshock rupture, where most aftershocks (in pink/purple) and foreshocks occurred. This event was also an interface thrust earthquake, but slip was concentrated at a greater depth. ⚒️🧪

I'm sickened by the gun violence of today.

HORRIBLE. SICKENING. UNACCEPTABLE.

In a democracy we settle our differences with words, ideas & actions, not hatred, guns & violence.

#ShameOnUS

6 Reasons to Keep the 'Roadless Rule' in Place NPCA supports continuation of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule to protect our nation’s forests — for national parks, wildlife, recreation and more.

USFS recently opened a public comment period around a reckless proposal to eliminate the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, commonly known as the “Roadless Rule,” which could impact over 45M acres of national forestland.

Learn more — and take action. www.npca.org/articles/104...

Ask Ethan: Could "positive geometry" unlock the theory of everything? Since even before Einstein, physicists have sought a theory of everything to explain the Universe. Can positive geometry lead us there?

Could “positive geometry” unlock the theory of everything?

#AskEthan

Searches for a theory of everything have been challenging, to say the least.

Does positive geometry, bolstered by the discovery of the amplituhedron, offer a promising new road?

bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#physics #math

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