iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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David Blanchflower BSc @davidbflower.bsky.social · 1h

Someone has created a fake me on Mastodon. Definitely not me. Avoid. 🔭 🧪

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 1h

@davidbflower.bsky.social Quick question, did you very recently start an alternate account over on Mastodon ?

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 19h

There are people in this world who actually have acquired high-level expertise. You know what they all have in common? They have no need to embarrass themselves with ridiculously exaggerated bragging like this.

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 19h

Trump's doubling down on this sure seems like an odd midterm campaign strategy.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Say hello to our 2026 physics laureate Francis Halzen! Halzen sent us a snapshot from his hotel room in Italy - join us in congratulating our new Nobel Prize laureate.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

”I hope this reflects on the really courageous people who joined me in the beginning of this project when no respectable conservative physicists would have joined me, but many talented people did, and that's why I'm here.” - physics laureate Francis Halzen speaking at today's prize announcement.

A illustrated portrait of physics laureate Francis Halzen

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Learn more about the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics Press release: bit.ly/4yiVKzP Popular information: bit.ly/3V150cU Advanced information: bit.ly/4AeS03D

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

The neutrino interactions that are continuously collected by IceCube will provide researchers with novel knowledge about the violent settings in which high-energy neutrinos can be created – and could even reveal previously unknown cosmic phenomena.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory – ideated by this year’s physics laureate Francis Halzen – tracks neutrinos that originate in the distant cosmos.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Francis Halzen has received the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for his decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Researchers soon discovered the first high-energy neutrinos and, a few years later, could publish their discovery of neutrinos that must originate far outside our solar system. The search for the universe’s neutrino sources could begin in earnest.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Cosmic neutrinos with extremely high energies are very rare, so an enormous volume of ice is needed to observe an adequate number of collisions. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory covers an entire cubic kilometre and was finished in 2011.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Using IceCube, researchers can capture neutrinos from extremely energy-rich processes in the distant universe.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

2026 physics laureate Francis Halzen realised that ice at the South Pole could be used to track particles known as neutrinos. His vision and scientific leadership have been fundamental for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory – a cubic kilometre of ice that is equipped with light sensors.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

The South Pole’s ice has many advantages, as it is free from various types of interference and the area is geologically stable, with no earthquakes. Halzen and his idea soon gained the support of other researchers and, just a few years later, preliminary testing was conducted on sensors in ice.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Newly awarded physics laureate Francis Halzen first presented his vision for capturing neutrinos at the South Pole in 1988. When a neutrino collides with an atomic nucleus, it produces a flash of light that can be tracked by sensors in the clear glacial ice.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Neutrinos with extremely high energies are created in the same environments as other types of particles. However, unlike other particles, neutrinos reach us without changing direction or losing energy. This means they can provide information that is not available in any other way.

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Much about these sources is mysterious: what are they, where are they, and what are the main processes inside them?

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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026

Scientists have long known that the cosmos contains natural particle accelerators, which fire out particles with energies up a million times more than can be achieved in laboratories on Earth.

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

So, these were my predictions for the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics: 1/ bsky.app/profile/scie...

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Here are my predictions for today's announcement of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics - in descending order of my expectations for the likelihood of each. I was totally incorrect for nine of the past thirteen years, so don't bet on any of these, but just laugh when I'm wrong! 1/

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Did we hit 85°F, with sunshine, AND less than 50% humidity . . . on October 1st?!?

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

For nearly 3 decades, Fermilab's Tevatron helped to complete the Standard Model of particle physics, especially by finally discovering the top quark, and helping narrow the search for the Higgs boson - right up until it ceased operations, 15 years ago this very afternoon.

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WaitForSanity @mallardbay93.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

And they raised buffalo on the land above it

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A follow-up: Ok, I'm gonna go cough up a lung now, so the rest of yinz take it easy, and I'll catch you later . . . I *hope*!

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Well, I've now entered the everything-hurts phase of this, I'm gonna say, flu.

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hey, Blueskyverse! Join me in commemorating today's 125th anniversary of the birth of Enrico Fermi! Of the 2 types of particles in our universe (force-carriers or matter), the matter category are named fermions after him, as is the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hey, Blueskyverse! Join me in wishing a very Happy 72nd Birthday today to CERN! Most of the fundamental types of bosons in nature were discovered there - including the Higgs boson - and, of course, it was there that the World Wide Web was invented as well.

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I haven't been out of the house in a little while, except just out to my mailbox. I not under house arrest or anything, but I'm what Bill Maher refers to as an "indoor cat", and, since I have everything I need at home, that's where I've stayed. (that'll be relevant soon) 1/

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If this is what *he* looks like now, just imagine how horrible must be his portrait locked away in some attic! #LiteraryReferenceOfTheDay

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CNN @cnn.com · 24/09/2026

The leaders of two of the world’s top AI companies are usually fierce rivals. But in front of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, they were in agreement: The AI industry needs international standards and cooperation, or risk global security. cnn.it/46Cc8iy

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David Blanchflower BSc @davidbflower.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It's 3.01am. Cloudy, but I did glimpse Mars, Castor and Pollux. Also took a couple of faint pictures of Mars with the Beehive Cluster. 🔭 🧪 #astrophotography

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

One of the connectors (from a fiber optic cable routing signals by laser light) wasn't fully attached properly. That's it, that's all it was! Well, here, don't just take my word for it. At left is the connector they discovered wasn't propely attached. At right it's fixed. /6

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Of course what it doesn't rule out is mistakes inadvertently introduced by experimenters, or from unknown equipment malfunction, or from some concealed flaw in experimental setup, etc. Soooo, in the case of the OPERA experiment, what was ultimately determined to be at fault? 5/

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This incident just highlighted that even a statistically significant observation in excess of 6σ doesn't necessarily require any new phenomenon to exist, just that any such observation would be extremely unlikely to be merely some statistical fluke, or known systematic error. 4/

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

And, spoiler alert, that's exactly how things turned out! The 6.2σ confidence achieved by the OPERA researchers - one in excess of the 5σ standard required to officially claim a discovery - was legitimate, but ended up being only a measure of great precision, not of accuracy. 3/

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

There were, of course, sensationalized headlines suggesting that relativity had been overturned, and that Einstein had been proven wrong, but, despite keeping cautiously open minds, everyone familiar with the situation expected it'd ultimately amount to some type of error. 2/

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It was 15 years ago today when results were announced of a 'timing anomaly' at the OPERA experiment - one with a 6.2σ statistical significance. The anomaly indicated an apparent observation of neutrinos with a velocity exceeding that of lightspeed, and the media took notice! 1/

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

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Abdel F Isakovic @afisakovic.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Oh, I am rarely, if ever, star-struck, but, to work in Faraday's lab for a while would have been quite an experience. I wonder where we stand on a good, modern style biography of Faraday?

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Science-George @science-george.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Hey, Blueskyverse! Join me in commemorating the 235th birthday of Michael Faraday, who, when asked about his research relating electricity & magnetism, "But, after all, what use is it?", replied "Why, sir, there is every probability that you will soon be able to tax it!"

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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Can we ever know what came before the big bang? Physicists cannot access anything that existed before the beginning of space and time, but they have ideas.

scientificamerican.com

What came before the big bang?

Physicists cannot access anything that existed before the start of time and space, but they have theories

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