Prof Ventures Into New Dimension [Lisa Randall alert!]

Boston Herald.com ^ | 28 November 2005 | Paul Restuccia

[fishtank]

"She entered a branch of science where 90 percent of the professors are male, and has emerged as one of the world’s leading particle physics thinkers.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Randall continues to achieve at a time when Harvard President Larry Summers has been under fire for remarks he made earlier this year suggesting that innate differences in ability between men and women in math and science may help explain the lack of top-level females in the profession."

Larry Summers was the prophet who could not go back to his own hometown. Aside from Lisa Randall's obvious brilliance, that in and of itself does not invalidate Summers' assertions.
I don't think that the AVERAGE male is smarter than the AVERAGE female is: I am convinced that the average for both is probably identical. Where I think the difference lies is in the distribution of intelligence in the sexes.
That is, there are more learning disabled boys in special ed than there are girls. Just as I think that there are more genius-quality males than females. So I think the two sexes are equal on the average, but different "on the two ends of the bell curve".

[InterceptPoint]

For a change, I am way ahead of you guys on this one. I've actually read Warped Passages. Wonderful book. For me it was a page flipper. I read the last 200 pages in two days.

This is one smart gal.

Highly recommended reading. A technical background is a plus but not really necessary.

[PatrickHenry]

Click on the pic:

[finnigan2]

"The extra-dimension thing has really piqued people’s interest,” says Randall. “What makes me different as a scientist is that I’m kind of imaginative. The ideas just happen.”

- You know, this whole idea of gravity spilling over from a fifth, flat dimension got me thinking. My own theory is that most of the gravity in the universe is locked up in black holes and we only get to experience the little bit that "leaks" out and which collects around stars and planets in much the same way as iron filings collect around magnetic poles.
I don't know where these ideas of mine come from, they just happen.

[Hot Tabasco]

I wonder what a guy would talk about while out on a first date........If it was me, I would probably start out with something witty like "Whats your sign?"

[InterceptPoint]

Click on the pic:

I've done that. Lots of stars on these reviews.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

“He [Harvard President, Larry Summers] made a generalization based on inadequate knowledge of the literature on the subject.”

She is mischaracterizing his statement. He said we should remain open to the possibility that the differences in achievement in the physical sciences and mathematics between men and women may be due to genetic factors. Most of the firestorm following his remarks was generated by people whose minds are firmly closed to evidence.

It would be difficult to explain the disparity in representation among the sexes in top flight chess players to anything but genetics. Regardless of whether producing top flight chess players is a good thing, or indicative of desirable traits in the real world, the disparity is real.

[muir_redwoods]

"I have several theories about gravity I'd like to test with her!"

Pardon me but, if you're old enough for gravity to be a factor, you might be too old : )

[furball4paws]

My guess is that that would be your last date.

[furball4paws]

There are some pretty heavy duty female chess players now. My guess is that it is genetics, but not because of raw brain power. It's hard to get women interested in a highly computational game of psychological and mental warfare.

[MilspecRob]

My primary reason for writing the book was to help the public better understand the complex science of particle physics” I feel better knowing there are great humanitarians like this around. Most people I know have a real hunger for a better understanding the complex world of particle physics.

Ya, she pretty easy on the eyes too

[PatrickHenry]

Lisa ... I'm still waiting for your freepmail ...

[furball4paws]

It is forbidden by the Grand 6502.

[PatrickHenry]

All the more reason to hope.

[rootkidslim]

My understanding is that males and females average the same in highly G loaded tests, but female scores cluster closer to the mean, while males account for most of the extremes at both ends of the bell curve. It makes sense, nature can afford to "roll the dice" with expendable males. There are more reproductive resources vested in females so you don't take as many chances. That's why war has never been an effective population control, kill half the males and those left work overtime to "meet production quotas." Surviving low ranking males move up when reproductive resources previously unavailable to them become available. (war widows) If it is a total defeat, the winners carry off the females and put them to work implementing the genes of the winning population. Larry Summers is a ex-Clinton rump-swab who stuck his foot in his mouth, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy! You don't say stuff like that at Harvard if you want to keep your job, even if it is true. Did you notice how quickly he folded? What did he give them, more money for the women's center?

[Quark2005]

An article with a bit more explanation of her theory: Where did all the gravity go?

Good article, once again.

Not too many cranks musing on this thread, unfortunately. That always makes things so much more entertaining.

[PatrickHenry]

Not too many cranks musing on this thread, unfortunately.

We usually attract a few who are ready to "prove" that Einstein was a fool. (The expression "Einstein was wrong" gets over 15,000 hits on Google.) Yet they seem strangely unwilling to mix it up with Lisa Randall. But some of us are willing -- even eager -- to tangle with her.

[furball4paws]

The word you're looking for is: pussgrapple.

[RightWingAtheist]

Here are some questions which I hope you don't me asking you fellas: 1.Exactly what sort of new particles are predicted by the Randal-Sundrum theory, and are any of them predicted by any other competing theory? 2.Outside of the accelerators, what sort of astronomical observations could also be used to validate the theory? 3.Now it's heartbreaking for me to even suppose this (it's such a beautiful and elegant theory), but suppose that it turns out that Randall-Sundrum theory is not correct. A null result may not necessarily disprove it, but what sort of result may do so, or at least force us to be more skeptical?

[RightWingAtheist]

A correction. That's Jerome Friedman, not Gerome, and he and his team (Richard Taylor and the late Henry Way Kendall) didn't exactly "discover" quarks, but it was their studies of electron scattering within the nucleus which lent credence to the quark model.