Special Physics Colloquium
Pseudo-Technology in the New Millennium
by
James Randi
Friday, September 24, 1999 4:00 p.m. Room 203, Physics Building
The average citizen is suspicious of science and technology. James Randi addresses this unfortunate misunderstanding in an effective and entertaining fashion by asking the right questions — and then answering them. From satellite television to the Internet, society is bombarded with carefully designed misinformation. Much of it is simply age-old cons repackaged for the new millennium. From U.S. patents issued for devices that control your computer with ESP to multi-million dollar studies funded by federal agencies to study imaginary "E-Rays;" from new age dowsing rods designed to detect drugs, to magnets designed to relieve pain, our society continues to be susceptible to "snake oil" claims that drain corporations and our government of millions, if not billions, of dollars annually. Does a simple felt-tip pen detect counterfeit money for merchants? Can a registered nurse using "quantum mechanics technology" heal a patient by simply passing her hands over her patient? Does a "high-tech" dowsing rod enable the U.S. Border Patrol to find smuggled aliens? Can a simple, sealed, plastic ball replace detergent in your washing machine? James Randi answers these questions, and many more, while showing you how to protect your pocketbook, by outlining how to spot and expose these cons of the new millennium.
James Randi is an author, lecturer, magician, and recipient of the MacArthur "genius" fellowship. Two years ago he founded the James Randi Educational Foundation whose primary mission is educating young people to think critically. JREF maintains a comprehensive library of critical thinking and paranormal works in print and video; awards grants for basic paranormal research; and awards educational prizes to teachers and students who demonstrate an exceptional adherence to critical thinking.
For more than thirty years James Randi has tirelessly and relentlessly examined and tested claims of all kinds, by individuals of all walks of life, in countries all over the world. In the process he has become the world's premiere investigator of psychic and paranormal claims. His investigations have been the subject of several television programs including Nova and numerous network news specials.
The American Physical Society presented James Randi with their 1989 Forum Award. The citation read: "For his unique defense of science and the scientific method in many disciplines, including physics, against pseudoscience, frauds and charlatans. His use of scientific techniques has contributed to refuting suspicious and fraudulent claims of paranormal results. He has contributed significantly to public understanding of important issues where science and society interact."
Abstract
For decades, neutrinos were described as massless particles, always "spinning" in the sense of a left-handed corkscrew. Now this basic tenet of the Standard Model of particle physics has been upset by the discovery of neutrino oscillations -- a quantum mechanical interference phenomena in which different flavor neutrinos (electron-neutrino, muon-neutrino, tau-neutrino) change identities and transform into one another as they propagate. Oscillations occur only if neutrinos have mass. The implications for particle physics and cosmology will be explored.
Abstract:
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a project of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the European Southern Observatory, will be built over the coming decade in Northern Chile. ALMA will be a revolutionary telescope, operating at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths and comprised of an array of individual antennas each 12 meters in diameter that work together to make precision images of astronomical objects. The goal of the ALMA Project is an array of 64 antennas that can be positioned as needed over an area 10 kilometers in diameter so as to give the array a zoom-lens capability. ALMA will image the universe with unprecedented sensitivity and sharpness at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The energy density of radiation from both the Milky Way and from the diffuse extragalactic background peaks in the submillimeter. Aside from Cosmic Microwave Background photons, submillimeter photons are the most abundant photons in the Universe. Detailed imaging at these wavelengths will be a major step for astronomy, making it possible to study the origins of galaxies, stars and planets.
November 5
Title: "Cosmic Microwave Background Fluctuations: A Probe of Cosmology"
November 19, 1999
Speaker: Jim Stone
Institution: Boston University
Host: Craig Dukes
Title: TBA
December 3, 1999
Speaker: Prof. Sid Redner
Institution: Boston University
Host: E. Kolomeisky
Title: TBA
January 21
Speaker:
Institution:
Host: Poon
Title: TBA
January 28
Speaker:
Institution:
Host: Poon
Title: TBA
February 4
Speaker:
Institition:
Host: Poon
Title: TBA
February 11
Speaker:
Institution:
Host: Poon
Title: TBA
March 3
Speaker: Qaisar Shafi
Institution:
Host: P. Q. Hung
Title: TBA