Tag: quantum gravity
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Why the death of black holes is a big problem for physics
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Part 4 of my 4-part series on black holes for Medium members is up; part 1 is here, part 2 is here, and part 3 is here. If enough of…
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The search for a “theory of everything”
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] All four one and one for all A theory of everything would unite the four forces of nature, but is such a thing possible? For Symmetry Magazine: Over the…
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Some heavy facts about gravity
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] I’m not generally the type of writer who makes listicles, but I’m producing a few for Symmetry Magazine this year. The first covers the OG of fundamental forces: gravity!…
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Could gravity have mass?
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Might gravity have mass? From Physics World: When confronted with something unexplained in the data, scientists face several possibilities. Maybe there’s an error and the result is spurious. Maybe…
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No quantum foam seen in the cosmic beer glass
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Light from distant black holes doesn’t surf on waves of quantum foam Strongest check yet on quantum gravity effects in astronomy turns up nothing For Ars Technica: Quantum gravity…
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Stephen Hawking, black holes, and scientific celebrity
For the upcoming ScienceOnline 2014 meeting, I’m leading a session titled “Reporting Incremental Science in a World that wants Big Results“. It’s an important topic. We who communicate science to the general public have to evaluate stories to see if they’re worth covering, then translate them in such a way that conveys their significance without…
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Speak softly and carry a 2.3-ton aluminum bar
We have no complete, consistent quantum theory of gravity. However, clues from other theories indicate that the physics we know breaks down at a certain fundamental length scale: the Planck length. In particular, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics must be modified if you can’t measure position to arbitrary precision. However, length and energy…
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