General Interest

Dark Matter and Charged Exotic Dust

The density profiles of dark matter halos are often modeled by an approximate solution to the isothermal Lane-Emden equation with suitable boundary conditions at the origin. It is shown here that such a model corresponds to an exact solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations for exotic charged dust. It is also shown that, because of its necessarily very small charge to mass ratio, the fact that the particles are charged does not necessarily rule out such material as a candidate for dark matter.

Dark Matter-Charged Exotic Dust

General Interest

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The American Condition: The Party’s Over-Maybe for Good

By June of 2010 the GDP of the U.S. had recovered to a few percent higher that it was in the first quarter of 2007, while employment was five percent lower than it was in that first quarter. Why?

USA Today Magazine March 2011.

The Party’s Over-Maybe for Good

General Interest
Politics

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BORN SECRET: The H-Bomb, the Progressive Case and National Security

By A. DeVolpi, G.E. Marsh, T.A. Postol, and G.S. Stanford.

Born Secret looks at the widely publicized Progressive magazine case and the U.S. government’s then unprecedented attempt to prevent publication of an H-bomb design culled by a journalist from unclassified materials. The book, originally published by Pergamon Press in 1981, has long been out of print and the authors have decided to make it available to the general public and those having an interest in the Atomic Energy Act and the First Amendment. After the court proceedings ended, the authors also donated a copy of the complete unclassified in camera file to the University of Chicago Libraries.

The file is a PDF of approximately 300MB. To download, click here.

ERRATA for BORN SECRET

The following 6.5 MB file has been reformatted and corrected. Born Secret-Reformated with corrections-updates

General Interest
Nuclear Policy
Politics

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From Hiroshima to Today

This is a Convocation Lecture given at Monmouth College on 18 November 2003. It was given in the context of Technology and the Human Condition and is still relevant today.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE LECTURE

General Interest
Nuclear Policy
Politics

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Climate Change, Energy, and National Security

A talk given on 18 May 2010 at the 4th International Conference on Climate Change.

2010 International Conference on Climate Change

General Interest
Global Warming
Politics

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Are U.S. Nuclear Weapons Reliable?

An exchange in Nature on the reliability of of U.S. nuclear weapons and the need for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW).

Nature 12Nov09-Warheads

General Interest
Nuclear Policy
Politics

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Global Warming: A Blessing in Disguise

USA Today Magazine (November 2009)

“The real tipping point for civilization is the beginning of another Ice Age–not a world a few degrees warmer.”

USA Today Mag-Nov09

General Interest
Global Warming
Politics

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The Demystification of Emergent Behavior

Emergent behavior that appears at a given level of organization may be characterized as arising from an organizationally lower level in such a way that it transcends a mere increase in the behavioral degree of complexity. It is therefore to be distinguished from chaotic behavior, which is deterministic but unpredictable because of an exponential dependence on initial conditions. In emergent phenomena, higher-levels of organization are not determined by lower-levels of organization; or, more colloquially, emergent behavior is often said to be “greater than the sum of the parts”. This essay is intended to demystify at least some aspects of the mystery of emergence.

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Biology
Essays in Science
General Interest
Physics

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Initiatives to Enhance Nuclear Stability and Non-Proliferation in the 21st Century

Physics & Society Vol. 38, No.3 (July 2009). Coauthored with George S. Stanford.

Three initiatives that the Obama Administration can undertake that would greatly increase nuclear stability and enhance the non-proliferation regime for many years to come.

PDF

General Interest
Nuclear Policy
Politics

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Falling into the Afghan Trap

USA Today Magazine (May 2009)

The U.S. is bogged down in tactical responses to Taliban initiatives. Little by little, the Soviet experience is becoming more and more relevant.

PDF

General Interest
Politics

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