Do you think that technologically-advanced intelligent life exists on other planets?A) Yes.B) No.C) No opinion.Quiz for the Arrogant Physicist:What commonly-occurring physical phenomenon remains completely mysterious to science? Despite decades of intense study, we don't know any of the rules which describe it. We have no quantitative or even qualitative theory to describe it. We cannot reproduce it in the laboratory. We're not even sure if we are asking the right questions about it.Robert L. Park’s 7 Warning Signs of Voodoo Science1) A discovery is pitched directly to the media.2) A powerful "establishment" is said to be suppressing the discovery.3) An effect is always at the very limit of detection.4) Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.5) A belief is said to be credible because it has endured for centuries.6) An important discovery is made in isolation.7) New laws of nature are proposed to explain an incredible observation.The philosophy of Science:The final test of the validity of any idea about the physical world is EXPERIMENT.Corollaries:- Anecdotal evidence is not evidence. Only controlled experiments that can be reproduced count.- Any one human can be fooled. Wait for a consensus before believing.- New Theories do not overthrow old theories. Rather, new theories extend old theories. Old theories, if firmly based on experiment, can't be wrong, but they can be incomplete.The Top 5 answers from the Physics Department.5) A perpetual motion machine (“free energy”) is not possible.4) Global Warming is real.3) Magnet therapy is bogus.2) Einstein’s Theories are correct.1) Cancer cannot be caused by - your microwave oven- your cell phone- overhead power linesWhich of the following physical phenomenon is the least well understood by modern science?A) timeB) gravityC) consciousnessD) the immune systemE) the hardness of
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