Friday 10 May 2013

It's water Jim, but not as we know it. Ohwaititis.

This somewhat hilarious e-mail just dropped into my inbox. I'm particularly amused by the "gratifying" early reviews... from another scientist who long ago took the exit marked crackpottery.




Dear Colleague,
Our laboratory has uncovered a phase of water not previously recognized.  I am writing to call your attention to the book I've written about this discovery.

You've learned about solid, liquid, and vapor, but fresh evidence reveals a fourth phase. This surprisingly ubiquitous phase resembles liquid water superficially, but it differs; in fact, its ordered molecular structure strays from ordinary H2O. This video describes the basics.

The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor  outlines the evidence for this discovery and its significance for almost everything that water touches. A Cambridge University colleague opines that the book resembles "an illustrated children's book with paradigm shifting content."
Early reviews have been gratifying:
"The most interesting scientific book I've ever read," "The most significant scientific discovery of this century," and "Unputdownable." Nobel laureate Brian Josephson suggests that these discoveries "can be expected to have important implications."
To celebrate the publication of this book, my publisher is offering the hardcover edition for the price of softcover, until May 17. If you choose to order, or merely peruse several free chapters, please visit www.ebnerandsons.com.


Thank you for reading, and best wishes,

Gerald H. Pollack, PhD
Editor-in-chief, WATER
Professor, University of Washington
Founding Fellow, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering
Fellow, American Heart Association, Biomedical Engineering Society
Honorary Doctorate, Ural State University, Ekaterinburg Russia
Honorary Professor, Russian Academy of Sciences
Foreign Member, Srpska Academy
NIH Director’s Transformative R01 Research Award, 2009
Prigogine Medal, 2012

Monday 22 April 2013

What's in a name?

A somehow slightly distasteful mixture of posturing, scientific responsibility, prestige and bitterness, I guess.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22250092

Sorry posting has been light nonexistant. Trying to formulate something cogent and inoffensive re: the peer review system. (Yes, that tired old war chestnut that should be put out to pasture, to badly mix a metaphor.)

Thursday 14 February 2013

Firewalls.

Love it!

arXiv:1207.3123 (replaced) [pdf, other]
Black Holes: Complementarity or Firewalls?
Ahmed Almheiri, Donald Marolf, Joseph Polchinski, James Sully Comments: 22 pages, 1 figure. v2: We have not changed our minds.

Monday 14 January 2013