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At SciAM: Lawbreaking particles a “a complete revolution” in physics

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From Jesse Dunietz at Scientific American:

Scientists aren’t yet certain that electrons and their relatives are violating the Standard Model of particle physics, but the evidence is mounting

The evidence comes from electrons and their more massive cousins, muons and tau leptons. According to the Standard Model, these three particles should behave like differently sized but otherwise identical triplets. But three experiments have produced growing evidence—including results announced in just the last few months—that the particles react differently to some as-yet mysterious influence. The findings are not yet conclusive, but if they hold up, “it would be a complete revolution,” says California Institute of Technology theorist Mark Wise. More.

Many have been revolting against the Standard Model and the Big Bang forever, and always will be, because these guiding assumptions do not especially provide evidence for a random, naturalist model of the universe. Or not particularly. With respect to this model,

The evidence is even harder to swallow given how far lepton universality is from theorists’ expectations of where cracks in the Standard Model might show up. “There’s sort of a story line that the theorists tell,” Wise says, and “this isn’t in the story line.” What’s worse, the proposed explanations for the leptons’ behavior seem ad hoc and unsatisfying. “The kind of models that can fit the…anomalies don’t really do anything else at first sight,” Ligeti says. “For example, they don’t get you any closer to understanding what dark matter might be.”

Their speculations reap attention and keep hopes alive for decades, without establishing anything concrete.

But that doesn’t really matter as long as they keep the circus rolling.

See also: How naturalism rots science from the head down

and

The Big Bang: Put simply, the facts are wrong

Comments
We already know that at least general relativity, quantum mechanics or both are in error / incomplete to some degree because we do not have a working theory of quantum gravity. And it will always be so, to some degree. Solving one problem leads to a better problem to solve, which leads to a bette problem to solve, etc. Problems are inevitable, but problems are solvable.critical rationalist
July 25, 2017
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Strange, isn't it ? Naturalists only ever believe in absolute revolutions in physics ; nothing else that could/would smack of a divine Creator, to which all evidence points. Except that the zaniest, i.e. the atheists' gratuitous, flights of fancy are not science. What a shame. All the more ironical, when you consider that historically they would have been the most conservative, foot-dragging devotees of Meccano/Lego, mechanistic physics. Scientism, their mind-f*rt, was predicated on it. Quantum mechanics has been one long 'via dolorosa' for them. It's done a ''William J Murray' on them. Filled in in the closest detail what was too obvious for the rest of us to know where to start such analysis. It's been a great snowballing juggernaut, apart from other things, confirming Intelligent Design in spades. And yes, ppolish, they know an excellent blind watchmaker, too, should you ever need yours repaired. It's amazing how he manages to perform such precision work. Hey ! Maybe, his white stick would have magical properties.... At least, in another universe.Axel
July 24, 2017
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Mounting evidence of Design is a fascinating crack in existing Darwinian theory. Should lead to new theories which give us a better understanding of the world. Oh wait, it's only an appearance of design? Nevermind then. Nothing to see here. Except cargo cult science. One can see THAT quite clearly.ppolish
July 23, 2017
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This article was published almost 8 years ago:
Roger Penrose Says Physics Is Wrong, From String Theory to Quantum Mechanics One of the greatest thinkers in physics says the human brain—and the universe itself—must function according to some theory we haven't yet discovered. http://discovermagazine.com/2009/sep/06-discover-interview-roger-penrose-says-physics-is-wrong-string-theory-quantum-mechanics
Physics Is Wrong? some theory we haven't yet discovered? Has anything changed since then?Dionisio
July 23, 2017
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“it would be a complete revolution,”
Another one? :) Unending Revelation of the Ultimate Reality (c)Dionisio
July 23, 2017
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[...] the particles react differently to some as-yet mysterious influence.
What else is new? We ain't seen nothin' yet. :)Dionisio
July 23, 2017
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Seversky: I agree with you. Of course, it's important that the result be confirmed so that there may be no real doubt about the facts. It this is true, something important could come from it.gpuccio
July 23, 2017
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This could be fascinating. It's the "cracks" in existing theories which can lead on to new theories which give us a better understanding of the world. It was the perceived "cracks" in Newtonian Mechanics which inspired the search for something better which led to relativity theory.Seversky
July 23, 2017
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