Pure Scientific Research
Here’s a short video that a reader sent me in which Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the importance of pure research, i.e., theoretical scientific research, normally in physics, performed without an eye towards the development of anything of purpose.
He pointed out that one of Einstein’s equations laid the groundwork for the laser, which eventually became the technology by which we scan our UPC codes when we buy our consumer products, although Einstein (obviously) wasn’t contemplating that at the time.
It’s an interesting topic, to be sure. In 2011, I interviewed Dr. Martin Perl, an aging genius who, at the time, was running the Stanford Linear Accelerator, after having won the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering an elementary particle, the tau lepton.
I happened to ask him about the practical application of his life’s work, and he told me flatly, “There is none.”
I was stunned, and I immediately began to stammer to correct my mistake, ” Oh, let me ask this a different way. Isn’t there a chance that something you and your graduate students are doing could eventually have some sort of practical implication?” He replied, again to my astonishment, “Not one in a million.”
Hey, I’m not a particle physicist, so I’m not in a position to argue, but it does seem a bit weird that what we’re learning about the core components of the universe couldn’t possibly have some future application in our lives.
Every American should be terrified of what’s happening within the U.S. Supreme Court–in particular with the presidential immunity case, in which our nation has been refashioned into a monarchy.
Someone asked me the other day what level of progress we’re making in phasing out fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy. My response to this question hasn’t changed much in the 15 years I’ve been studying this subject: as shown in the graph here, we’re definitely making progress in terms of decarbonizing the grid and the light-duty transportation sector.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way at the start of each football season. The planet is on fire, and Americans everywhere are huddled around their huge TV screens watching the Packers take on the Rams.
No offence to the author of the meme, but your “experience” has nothing to do with the issue at hand. The subject matter here is true by definition.
Note that there is nothing about this guy, his car, or his sign that associates him directly with a certain presidential candidate. But is there really any doubt?
I don’t know how readers play the New York Times daily games like Wordle, but the meme here reminds me of a clue from yesterday’s “The Mini” (crossword). The clue was “PR concern” and the answer was “image.”
As suggested here, Trump’s assertion that he has no knowledge of Project 2025 is a lie, but so is essentially everything else he says.
2GreenEnergy supporter Gary Tulie in Buckinghamshire, England sent me this report on the 
What hit me here was: Retweet so every American knows Trump was besties with Epstein.
