09 NOV 2015 by ideonexus
Non-English Languages Lack the Words for Talking About Te...
By the early 19th century, just three—French, English, and German—accounted for the bulk of scientists’ communication and published research; by the second half of the 20th century, only English remained dominant as the U.S. strengthened its place in the world, and its influence in the global scientific community has continued to increase ever since.
As a consequence, the scientific vocabularies of many languages have failed to keep pace with new developments and discoveries. In many l...Folksonomies: culture technology
Folksonomies: culture technology
29 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Origin of the "Charmed" Quark
We called the new [fourth] quark the “charmed quark” because we were pleased, and fascinated by the symmetry it brought to the subnuclear world. “Charm” also means a “a magical device to avert evil,” and in 1970 it was realized that the old three quark theory ran into very serious problems. ... As if by magic the existence of the charmed quark would [solve those problems]. Folksonomies: physics
Folksonomies: physics
Because they needed a fourth quark due to inadequacies of the three-quark model, and it fit so perfectly as to be magical.