Pointless Policing

Inventing New Particles Is Pointless

Sabine Hossenfelder | Guardian | 26th September 2022

Theoretical physicist says the unsayable about her field: it is wasting a lot of time and money on wild goose chases in the "particle zoo". "It has become common among physicists to invent new particles for which there is no evidence, publish papers about them, write more papers about these particles’ properties, and demand the hypothesis be experimentally tested" (944 words)

Policing The Necropolis

Maria Golia | Lapham's Quarterly | 24th October 2022

Tomb raiding was big business in Ancient Egypt. Surviving court transcripts reveal how these heists were put together by teams of experts skilled at tunnelling, carpentry and fencing stolen goods. The thieves were so successful at it that they halved the value of previous metals. Impalement, the punishment meted out for only the most serious of crimes, was the penalty if caught (1,858 words)