Jed
> I do not think any scientist or engineer will reject or embrace BLP > based on the liberalism of the Huffington Post. That is absurd. Of course it is absurd! That is the point of my (apparently failed) attempt at injecting some cynical humor into the sad situation - i.e. where many conservative scientists (most, actually) choose to act more like little children in a temper tantrum on the playground - and who want to take the ball and go home - when others do not play by their rules. > Nearly every scientist rejects it because it violates the theory that > atoms cannot shrink below the ground state. I am sure that is the > reason they reject it; not because of any ulterior motive. NOT TRUE! There is no such theory, just a number of assumptions based on other valid theories which are tangential to this exact point. And since it was mentioned to me recently by Mark Goldes, here is an excellent theoretical paper from Ron Burgoin that purports to PROVE - in mathematics that I do not understand - that every scientist should actually accept fractional ground states on theory alone, even if the experimental proof were lacking - least of all should not reject it out of hand and out of ignorance. It all goes back to Dr Carroll who was an advisor to Mark years ago. "Inverse Quantum Mechanics of the Hydrogen Atom: A General Solution", Advanced Studies in Theoretical Physics, Vol. 1, Number 8, p.381-393, 2007 : http://www.m-hikari.com/astp/astp2007/astp5-8-2007/bourgoinASTP5-8-2007.pdf IOW - the only theory out there which actually addresses the issue head-on actually supports Mills instead of disproves him, yet the skeptics still want to borrow from other theories which do not confront the issue directly. Dr Chu even fell into that trap. I hope he has a malleable mind and there is reason to suspect that he does. I am actually more impressed with papers like Burgoins than this bit of PR - perhaps because the math is over my head, so it must be correct ;-) ... and since any commercial license may be premature now (may not really amount to anything other than a defensive strategy). Jones BTW - do not be put off by Burgoin's lack of prestigious university affiliation, as there are personal reasons he chose this home town situation -- (he is an accomplished scientist and inventor) and anyway, the paper should stand of fall on its own merits.
