Month: September 2022

RARE MAGNETIC PARTICLES. “Now, magnetic monopoles, if they exist at all, are rare. There would be no large-scale magnetic fields in astrophysical bodies if they were not rare. We should look among cosmic rays for magnetic monopoles.” https://lnkd.in/eYiqnNnc View in LinkedIn

GALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELDS. “It appears that the galactic field is not primordial. It is generated by the fluid motions in the galaxy on a characteristic time scale of the order of 3x10(8) years = 10(16) s. Thus...there will be fewer than one monopole per 10(26) nucleons.” https://lnkd.in/eYiqnNnc View in LinkedIn

NO TERRESTRIAL TOOLS. “It appears, then, in view of recent laboratory results, that the existence of large-scale magnetic fields is entirely consistent with the measured abundance of monopoles. (Data omitted). (But) if in fact there be true symmetry between electric and magnetic particles, then...the laboratory stands mute.” https://lnkd.in/eYiqnNnc View in LinkedIn

NO MAGNETIC PARTICLES. “We can only assume that the universe contains no magnetically charged particles. No monopoles have been discovered in the terrestrial environment...nor among the cosmic rays.” https://lnkd.in/eYiqnNnc View in LinkedIn

AN ELECTRIC UNIVERSE. “The evidence at hand shows a strong prejudice in the universe for electric matter and against anti-matter or magnetic matter.” https://lnkd.in/eYiqnNnc View in LinkedIn

FUNDAMENTALS. “The theory developed in this book is insensitive to whether a locality is populated solely by electric or by magnetic particles. Maxwell’s equations are symmetric in E and B, so that the fields can be interchanged if the charge on particles is interchanged. There would be no large-scale electromagnetic activity and the locale would be a dull place indeed.” https://lnkd.in/eYiqnNnc View in LinkedIn

LITMUS TEST. “If the explanations outnumber the assumptions when we are done, we will mark up a success. On the other hand, if the assumptions and special hypotheses outnumber the explanations, we will have to go back and start over again.” (The author, Professor EN Parker, after who NASA named its Parker Solar Probe, the first time NASA had named a spacecraft after a living person). https://lnkd.in/eU4GzKqE View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this second and last weekend on cosmic magnetism. This twist on the usually dull classroom physics of magnetism electrifies the topic into an extraordinarily fascinating theme, with more questions than answers, and highlights that our earth-bound glimpses of this beast are not related to its true nature in the unruly cosmos. https://lnkd.in/eU4GzKqE View in LinkedIn

AT LAST WE ARE SAYING THIS! “Life could have begun as little as 300 million years after Earth formed. In geological terms, this is quick—about one spin of the Sun around the galaxy. These findings have implications for the possibility of extraterrestrial life. If life is relatively quick to emerge, given the right conditions, this increases the chance that life exists on other planets.” https://lnkd.in/eidfc4kV View in LinkedIn

Soporific unidentified species of wasp (?) caught by a cold night, waiting to warm up, was transported from the dangerous road to the nearby shrubbery to recover. View in LinkedIn