{"id":258,"date":"2007-07-31T23:28:54","date_gmt":"2007-08-01T07:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/?p=258"},"modified":"2021-10-13T09:43:53","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T14:43:53","slug":"sorry-prof-guth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/?p=258","title":{"rendered":"Sorry, Prof. Guth&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>&#8230;but it&#8217;s been discovered by empirical observation that the universe is <em>not<\/em>, as you <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alan_Guth\">famously claimed<\/a>, the &#8220;ultimate free lunch.&#8221; Rather, the FQxi Conference on Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology in Reykjavik, Iceland is the ultimate free lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/guthkrauss-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6037\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of which, above you can see the discoverer of cosmic inflation himself, together with theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss on his left, chatting on a glacier only minutes after engaging in a snowball fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/snowmobile-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6038\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And your humble blogger, who still can&#8217;t parallel park, hoping he&#8217;ll be able to steer a snowmobile without falling into any 1000-foot crevices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/mark-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6039\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here I am with <a href=\"http:\/\/cosmicvariance.com\/\">Cosmic Variance<\/a>&#8216;s Mark Trodden (who <a href=\"http:\/\/cosmicvariance.com\/2007\/07\/29\/science-and-no-religion-in-reykjavik\/\">blogged earlier<\/a> about this conference, saving me a good deal of work).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/wheremelt-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6040\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The dirt above is all area where the glacier previously was, but retreated over the last few decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/melt-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6041\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To all those who say global warming is a myth: lo, I have watched a glacier melting with mine own eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/lagoon-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6043\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The geothermally-heated lagoon where part of the conference was held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/pbs-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6042\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And just in case debating unfalsifiable cosmic hypotheses in a lagoon isn&#8217;t tacky enough, a PBS crew (from a show called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/kcet\/closertotruth\/\">&#8220;Closer to Truth&#8221;<\/a>) was there to film it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/divide-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6047\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is said to be the official divide between the North American and European tectonic plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/waterfall-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6045\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In North America this would be a major tourist attraction with hotels, casinos, cotton candy shops, etc. Here it&#8217;s just another waterfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/rainbow-small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6044\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Curse me lucky charms, there&#8217;s no pot o&#8217; gold!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230;but it&#8217;s been discovered by empirical observation that the universe is not, as you famously claimed, the &#8220;ultimate free lunch.&#8221; Rather, the FQxi Conference on Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology in Reykjavik, Iceland is the ultimate free lunch. Speaking of which, above you can see the discoverer of cosmic inflation himself, together with theoretical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures-in-meatspace"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6048,"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/6048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottaaronson.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}