^TagFrank Tipler

genesis of life and beginning of evolution concept illustration

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 3, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Anthropic Principles, Featured, Firing squad (Anthropic Principle analogy), Frank Tipler, John D. Barrow, Ola Hössjer, Robert J. Marks, Strong Anthropic Principle, Weak Anthropic Principle}

Our Universe Survived a Firing Squad and It’s Just an Accident?

_{According to the Weak Anthropic Principle, if things weren’t the way they are, we wouldn’t be here and that’s all there is to it} _{News

October 3, 2021

12

Philosophy, Science}

Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks has been doing a series of podcasts with Swedish mathematician Ola Hössjer, and Colombian biostatistician Daniel Díaz in connection with a recent co-authored paper on the fine-tuning of the universe for life in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. In the first portion of this episode, podcast 153, “Why is there fine-tuning everywhere?” they looked at whether life was seeded in our universe by advanced life forms (directed panspermia), as advocated by some prominent scientists. In the second portion, they discussed the view — again, held by prominent science figures — that our universe is an advanced computer sim. Both concepts stem from the difficulty of accounting for the existence and complexity Read More ›

Futuristic Mars Space Scene with Large Moon

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 13, 2021

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Adam Frank, Aurora (novel), Aurora hypothesis, Caleb Scharf, Calr Sagan, Extraterrestrials (ET), Frank Tipler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Mars, Matt Williams, MIchael Hart, Perseverance (rover), William I. Newman}

The Aurora Hypothesis: ET Could Risk Only Rare Contact With Us

_{Given the difficulties and risks of space travel, extraterrestrials with advanced technology may have visited Earth only one in a million years, researchers say} _{News

March 13, 2021

8

Science}

In recent months we’ve been looking at science writer Matt Williams’s coverage of the many reasons (links below) that have been advanced as to why we do not see extraterrestrials except at the movies. Last Saturday, we considered the Percolation Hypothesis, whose beauty is its common-sense simplicity: The aliens can’t overcome the laws of physics, any more than we can. In the real world, barriers like years between communications even at the speed of light would take a toll on adventurousness. Another hypothesis that Williams has examined is our focus today, the Aurora Hypothesis, “just because planets are habitable doesn’t mean that intelligent life can colonize there.” (Williams) The thesis has had a busy life in science media. Its earliest Read More ›

Stack of papers isolated on white background

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 9, 2020

Categorized
Military, Peer Review

Tagged
Albert Einstein, Frank Tipler, Hiroshima, Karl Popper, Marshall McLuhan, William Sealy Gosset}

Einstein’s Single Journal Paper Ended WWII

_{Does that mean that a thousand papers could multiply the effect? Think again.} _{Robert J. Marks

June 9, 2020

5

Military, Peer Review}

It was Albert Einstein’s work on matter and energy, captured in e = mc2 that enabled the atomic bomb that ended World War II. Modern anonymous peer review today works well except that it is muddied with bias, incompetence, and ignorance. The review processes of Einstein’s day were better. A renowned expert’s approval was sufficient for a paper’s publication.1 The current system has only been in force since the end of World War II when pressure was applied to professors to write papers. The mantra “publish or perish” looks to have been coined soon after the war in 1951 by Marshall “The Medium is the Message” McLuhan.2 Earlier, professors were often discouraged from publishing. Karl Popper, one of the most Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 14, 2020

Categorized
Peer Review

Tagged
Albert Einstein, Featured, Frank Tipler, Max Planck, Peer Review, Physics, Scholarly Publishing, Wilhelm Wiens}

Einstein’s Only Rejected Paper

_{It was the only one reviewed anonymously, as is the practice today} _{Robert J. Marks

May 14, 2020

5

Peer Review}

Today’s collection of scholarly literature is exploding in quantity and deteriorating in quality. One solution is to return to review practices at the time of Einstein. The reviewers were much better qualified and were not anonymous.