6 years ago
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A Rare Element From The Edge of The Periodic Table Is Breaking Quantum Mechanics
There's a lot we don't know about the actinides. On the periodic table, this series of heavy, radioactive elements hangs at the bottom, and includes a host of mysterious substances that don't naturally occur on Earth.
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I don't want to be a party pooper, but it gets a bit old when all the "science" articles claim that someone cured cancer, or proved quantum mechanics is wrong, or completely overturned everything we know about evolution, or built a quantum computer, etc. I'm going to copy the abstract of the paper here in case someone can explain how this "breaks quantum mechanics":
BTW Berkellium is not on the "edge of the periodic table". I'm guessing the last time the writer of this article saw a periodic table was in the mid 90's.
If we stopped trying to make science as sensational as the series from Bravo TV, maybe there would be fewer stupid people claiming that science is a conspiracy by the evil illuminati. Then again, maybe not :/
That's the fun, though, in reading popular science coverage: how full of shit is it? Mostly, or entirely? Typically it's in proportion to how popular it's trying to be. Anything from iflscience.com or sciencealert.com is likely to be alamentary. You know when you see kurzweilai.net, though, you're in for a coprophagist's delight.
I should be doing this. I'm sure the people who write this bullshit earn more than I do. Real science is boring for most people
We have a radio science show here where I live, that I love, and is fascinating, but that inevitably puts me to sleep.
Science is about getting unexpected results. I like unexpected results. Awesome abstract BTW!
Thanks! Although it's not really my abstract, it's from their paper :)
TBH science is just about finding what fits the available evidence. This is what makes it boring for a lot of people. It's not about what you'd like to be true, or what would be exciting, or what confirms what you believe.
I'm going with not.
Yeah, betting on human stupidity is always the safe bet.