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>I still think it's wrong of mainstream science immediately reject Cold Fusion/LENR or even Em Drive research. You have to focus on something - there are only

>I still think it's wrong of mainstream science immediately reject Cold Fusion/LENR or even Em Drive research. You have to focus on something - there are only so many grant and R&D dollars to go around

jcoffland 10y ago
And those dollars should be spread around to different ideas not just to research that which we assume to be true.
- greglindahl 10y ago
  Every physics department in the world gets a constant stream of letters and emails from people claiming important theories which should be researched. How do you propose picking which ones to spend money on?
  - cgio 10y ago
    Randomly
    - Turing_Machine 10y ago
      That's an interesting idea. Of course, most apparently whackadoodle ideas really are whackadoodle ideas, but occasionally you get one that isn't, and when that happens, it's usually big. Perhaps a (small) budget randomly assigned to whackadoodle ideas might be a good thing. Like venture capital for science -- most of the theories are going to crater, but once in a while you might get a unicorn.
      - inimino 10y ago
        Give them to undergrads.
        B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
        I take it you've never had the pleasure of grading lab reports for the simplest experiments by undergrads? (The little wet-behind-the ears dears manage to write up six kinds of impossible things just to look at the arithmetic, never mind actual reality. Without batting an eyelid.)
        inimino 10y ago
        It could be a group project. Making sense of a crackpot theory, finding out if there's something testable in it, possibly testing it, and writing it all up. I'm only half-kidding. It would be more interesting and perhaps more socially valuable than repeating the same experiments in physics lab that the last 50 semesters did.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
colordrops 10y ago
There's a difference between ostracizing a researching and not giving them funds. You can exclude a researcher from funding without ostracizing them. And in any case, every funding source has different goals and agendas, and it's their prerogative how they wish to spend it.

jcoffland 10y ago

And those dollars should be spread around to different ideas not just to research that which we assume to be true.

greglindahl 10y ago
Every physics department in the world gets a constant stream of letters and emails from people claiming important theories which should be researched. How do you propose picking which ones to spend money on?
- cgio 10y ago
  Randomly
  - Turing_Machine 10y ago
    That's an interesting idea. Of course, most apparently whackadoodle ideas really are whackadoodle ideas, but occasionally you get one that isn't, and when that happens, it's usually big. Perhaps a (small) budget randomly assigned to whackadoodle ideas might be a good thing. Like venture capital for science -- most of the theories are going to crater, but once in a while you might get a unicorn.
    - inimino 10y ago
      Give them to undergrads.
      - B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
        I take it you've never had the pleasure of grading lab reports for the simplest experiments by undergrads? (The little wet-behind-the ears dears manage to write up six kinds of impossible things just to look at the arithmetic, never mind actual reality. Without batting an eyelid.)
        inimino 10y ago
        It could be a group project. Making sense of a crackpot theory, finding out if there's something testable in it, possibly testing it, and writing it all up. I'm only half-kidding. It would be more interesting and perhaps more socially valuable than repeating the same experiments in physics lab that the last 50 semesters did.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

colordrops 10y ago

There's a difference between ostracizing a researching and not giving them funds. You can exclude a researcher from funding without ostracizing them. And in any case, every funding source has different goals and agendas, and it's their prerogative how they wish to spend it.