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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Ohio State Science Sundays is back for 2026–2027 academic year! We are in a bigger venue with free parking. The events are free, open to all, and are intended for general audiences. After the presentation, there is a nice reception with snacks where you can meet the speaker. Details below.

Science Sundays: "Quantum computers: the hype, the science, and the need"

Sun, October 11, 2026
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Fawcett Event Center

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Reposted by John Beacom

Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Learning to analyze, to question, to pursue knowledge, to build arguments based on evidence, and to discard sophistry: these are values that the sciences, social sciences, and humanities share. And we share the battle to protect this style of inquiry from barbarians who would destroy it.

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Reposted by John Beacom

Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The messengers generally look down on most scientific inquiry unless it’s a very specific form of applied science. We can’t let these folks divide us; in the end, much of STEM has more in common with the humanities and social sciences than with, e.g., business.

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Reposted by John Beacom

Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

As someone in a STEM discipline, I really abhor the kind of messaging that Mark describes. The messengers aren’t people who actually care about STEM. It’s really a shorthand for “do something practical, focus on your relation to the labor market”.

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Ohio State Science Sundays is back for 2026–2027 academic year! We will be in a bigger venue with free parking. As always, the events are free, open to all, and are intended for general audiences. After each presentation, there is a nice reception with snacks where you can meet the speaker.

Photo of the speaker and the talk title, "Outraged: why we fight about morality and politics and how to find common ground."

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

It takes a lot to get me to comment on something. This is one of those times. What sad news. I fondly remember enjoying Mark's company and learning from him when I was a postdoc at Caltech. RIP.

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

The main thing is just that neutrinos are hard to detect. But, yes, neutrinos are redshifted, which makes it even harder.

John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

It's too early to be sure, but this is very encouraging! Some of our key papers behind this result include the one proposing to add gadolinium to Super-Kamiokande (Beacom and Vagins, arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0...) and our prediction of the DSNB flux (Horiuchi et al., arxiv.org/abs/0812.3157).

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

For more than 20 years, my collaborators and I have been working towards a first detection of the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) --- the faint glow of neutrinos from all past core collapses throughout the universe. Super-Kamiokande now sees a 2.6sigma indication of detecting this.

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

The next Ohio State Science Sundays event is on April 5! This event is for general audiences and is free. Columbus people, we hope to see you there! (For others, we'll post video in about a week.) We welcome help in telling others about this event. artsandsciences.osu.edu/events/scien...

Science Sundays: "Climate by any other name"

Ohio’s weather is telling a story. From warming temperatures to heavier rains, shifting weather patterns are reshaping life in Ohio. Through stories and science, we’ll connect the dots between global ...

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

The next Ohio State Science Sundays event is on March 1! This event is for general audiences and is free. Columbus people, we hope to see you there! (For others, we'll post video in about a week.) We welcome help in telling others about this event. artsandsciences.osu.edu/events/scien...

Science Sundays: "Centering humans at the interaction of art, design, and technology"

Technological change is remaking our world at a nearly incomprehensible pace. Artists and designers are uniquely positioned to reframe and shape how this change is encountered because their work direc...

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

The next Ohio State Science Sundays event is on February 1! This event is for general audiences and is free. Columbus people, we hope to see you there! (For others, we'll post video in about a week.) We welcome help in telling others about this event. artsandsciences.osu.edu/events/scien...

Science Sundays: "Changing how people think about science"

Communicating with the public about their science isn't something that all scientists do, nor is it something that they all do well. This talk will discuss how our language science lab inside the Cent...

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

The next Ohio State Science Sundays event is on January 11! This event is intended for general audiences and is free. Columbus people, we hope to see you there! (For others, we'll post video in about a week.) We welcome help in telling others about this event. artsandsciences.osu.edu/events/scien...

Science Sundays: "Who do you trust? Why journalism still matters"

In an era of misinformation, polarization and plummeting public confidence, journalism’s role is more crucial than ever. This talk explores how trust in media has eroded, why that matters for democrac...

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

The next Ohio State Science Sundays event is on December 7! This event is for general audiences and is free. Columbus people, we hope to see you there! (For others, we'll post video in about a week.) We welcome help in telling others about this event. artsandsciences.osu.edu/events/scien...

Science Sundays: "Using AI and GIS to create virtual worlds from old maps"

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and Geographic Information Science (GIS) enable researchers to unlock the rich historical information trapped in old maps. The Ghost Neighborhoods of Columbus ...

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Reposted by John Beacom

Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Deadline Dec 1!

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Reposted by John Beacom

Nicole Bell @nicolefbell.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

In a new Physical Review Letter, S. Meighen-Berger, J. Newstead, @johnbeacom.bsky.social, M. Dolan and I explain how the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) can make precision solar neutrino measurements. PRL: doi.org/10.1103/htfm... Popular science: pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/neu...

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

A bodhisattva who was just hanging out at the library.

Painting of a three-faced Tibetan bodhisattva.

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John Beacom @johnbeacom.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Cool label on an old pallet jack, still in use decades after it was made.

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And the full report can be found at www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/ele....

nationalacademies.org

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nap.nationalacademies.org

An accessible two-page summary of the report can be found at nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/288....

Over the last three years, I was proud to work as a member of this committee, which included two Nobel Prize winners. Our report was released in June, 2025.

The National Academies conducted a study to explore the long-term goals and future ambitions for particle physics. “Elementary Particle Physics: The Higgs and Beyond” presents a bold 40-year vision for the field and highlights critical actions necessary to make this vision reality.