[X] My Assistant

[Pando]

This one is really interesting. A scientist by the name of Alexander Mayer posted several of his lectures at his Stanford University website suggesting a radical theory of time, with some interesting data to back up that theory. A heated debate ensued at SlashDot. Shortly thereafter his website at Stanford was administratively locked, his lectures were taken down, and his name from the "Visiting" faculty members was removed.

Original Stanford University website (no longer works):
http://www.stanford.edu/~afmayer/
A Google cache still exists for that site. While Google did not cache his lecture Powerpoint and PDF files, someone managed to grab them and make a mirror containing those files (get them while you can).

At the simplest, he introduces a simple thought experiment from which he proposes a "Gravitational Transverse Redshift" phenomenon. He then proceeds to use this phenomenon to help explain such modern day mysteries as the Big Bang, Dark Matter, and anomalies in GPS data. If nothing else, it makes an interesting read...

[ljk4-1]

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0602280

From: George F. R. Ellis [view email]

Date (v1): Mon, 13 Feb 2006 10:47:21 GMT (109kb)
Date (revised v2): Wed, 29 Mar 2006 14:23:05 GMT (109kb)

Issues in the Philosophy of Cosmology

Authors: George F. R. Ellis

Comments: To appear in the Handbook in Philosophy of Physics, Ed J Butterfield and J Earman (Elsevier, 2006). Small imporvements plus crucial change in Thesis B2

After a survey of the present state of cosmological theory and observations, this article discusses a series of major themes underlying the relation of philosophy to cosmology. These are: A: The uniqueness of the universe; B: The large scale of the universe in space and time; C: The unbound energies in the early universe; D: Explaining the universe -- the question of origins; E: The universe as the background for existence; F: The explicit philosophical basis; G: The Anthropic question: fine tuning for life; H: The possible existence of multiverses; I: The natures of existence. Each of these themes is explored and related to a series of Theses that set out the major issues confronting cosmology in relation to philosophy.

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0602280