[Note added: the predicted storm has begun, as of about 1000 UTC, 5:00 AM NYC time; good for early birds on the west coast and those in Asia.] If you live in Canada, Europe or the northern half of the US, keep an eye to the north late tonight and possibly tomorrow night. A series ... Read more

I’ll expound below upon the second bullet point, hoping to draw attention to general questions concerning aesthetics in theoretical physics. The Beauty of General Relativity General Relativity, Einstein’s masterpiece, revolutionized human understanding of gravity. It’s widely seen by its practitioners as the most beautiful theory in all of physics (where “theory” means “a combination of ... Read more

This year marks a half-century since the discovery that a quantum field theory, now known as QCD (quantum chromodynamics), could be the underlying explanation for the strong nuclear force. That’s the force that holds quarks and gluons inside of protons and neutrons, and keeps protons and neutrons clumped together in atomic nuclei. This major step ... Read more