Raphael Bousso
@bousso.bsky.social
Theoretical physicist: gravity, quantum information, black holes, cosmology. Professor at UC Berkeley
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
Hmm. The best evidence that dark energy is evolving rather than constant just got a little weaker.
The statistical significance of observational results don’t really have “momentum,” but we’ll have to continue to wait and see about this one.
The statistical significance of observational results don’t really have “momentum,” but we’ll have to continue to wait and see about this one.
A little less than a year ago, a large team of cosmologists reported evidence that dark energy (which drives the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe) evolves over time. This made a huge splash but has also been viewed with healthy skepticism. Today they report that evidence has weakened. 🧪
The Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program: A Reanalysis Of Cosmology Results And Evidence For Evolving Dark Energy With An Updated Type Ia Supernova Calibration
We present improved cosmological constraints from a re-analysis of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) 5-year sample of Type Ia supernovae (DES-SN5YR). This re-analysis includes an improved photometric cross...
arxiv.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Hmm. The best evidence that dark energy is evolving rather than constant just got a little weaker.
The statistical significance of observational results don’t really have “momentum,” but we’ll have to continue to wait and see about this one.
The statistical significance of observational results don’t really have “momentum,” but we’ll have to continue to wait and see about this one.
“The truth is, when we started (BMC), it was all about the kids and teaching the kids math,” Givental said. “But with time, the amount of administrative work that was put on the math circle became so huge that it’s almost non-sustainable anymore.”
Genius-producing math program lost to UC Berkeley fingerprinting requirements
After 27 years, Berkeley Math Circle has shut down its flagship program, BMC-Upper, due to “stringent” new campus background check requirements, according to a statement on BMC’s website.
www.dailycal.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:59 AM
“The truth is, when we started (BMC), it was all about the kids and teaching the kids math,” Givental said. “But with time, the amount of administrative work that was put on the math circle became so huge that it’s almost non-sustainable anymore.”
Congratulations to my wonderful colleague John Clarke! And to Berkeley, and to UC. And to everyone who still believes that foundational research is worth investing in
John Clarke, UC Berkeley emeritus professor, awarded 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics | Letters & Science
ls.berkeley.edu
October 7, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Congratulations to my wonderful colleague John Clarke! And to Berkeley, and to UC. And to everyone who still believes that foundational research is worth investing in
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
3 new Physics Nobel Laureates from the University of California! 🥂🤙 (and one less parking space for the rest of us at Berkeley 🙃)
October 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
3 new Physics Nobel Laureates from the University of California! 🥂🤙 (and one less parking space for the rest of us at Berkeley 🙃)
Everything is completely normal. Nothing to see here
September 18, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Everything is completely normal. Nothing to see here
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
Industrial scale corruption
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/u...
Anatomy of Two Giant Deals: The U.A.E. Got Chips. The Trump Team Got Crypto Riches.
www.nytimes.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Industrial scale corruption
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/u...
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
Academic freedom is "do you want the next generation of medical doctors to be trained?" It is "do you want vaccines?" It is "do you want your kids to learn true things?"
September 10, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Academic freedom is "do you want the next generation of medical doctors to be trained?" It is "do you want vaccines?" It is "do you want your kids to learn true things?"
“The damage that has been done to our world-leading scientific research infrastructure will take decades to repair, if we are ever able to.”
Far Out | Sean M. Carroll, Willa Glickman
As scientists and researchers make sense of some of the major discoveries from the turn of the twenty-first century, “the present moment in the science of
www.nybooks.com
August 17, 2025 at 9:28 PM
“The damage that has been done to our world-leading scientific research infrastructure will take decades to repair, if we are ever able to.”
A public lecture/fireside chat at a pub in Marin, hosted by Wonderfest
Gravity as a Quantum Computer – Dr. Raphael Bousso (UC Berkeley)
YouTube video by Wonderfest Science
youtu.be
August 2, 2025 at 8:52 PM
A public lecture/fireside chat at a pub in Marin, hosted by Wonderfest
(Hint: bad but probably not the worst. Also, we do have a solution.)
The worst prediction in the history of science
New scientific accounts of the universe are expected to fit with observation and predicted results from established theories. But at the heart of modern physics, there's reason to think this is not th...
iai.tv
July 27, 2025 at 6:55 AM
(Hint: bad but probably not the worst. Also, we do have a solution.)
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children he killed?
Elon says he was punched in the face by his 5-year-old son.
May 30, 2025 at 7:02 PM
On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children he killed?
Rubio just told 275000 people who did nothing wrong that he plans to destroy everything they worked for their entire life. This is utter madness and depravity
U.S. Will ‘Aggressively’ Revoke Visas of Chinese Students, Rubio Says
www.nytimes.com
May 29, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Rubio just told 275000 people who did nothing wrong that he plans to destroy everything they worked for their entire life. This is utter madness and depravity
In a universe with many matter fields, the geometry does not fluctuate. Then we know what we mean by the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics, and we know what we mean by a Bounce (or cyclic) Cosmology. My recent theorem says you can't have both.
Do singularities exist? I'd always thought they were purely mathematical artifacts, but recent work in mathematical physics work from @bousso.bsky.social and others hint otherwise (for sufficiently broad definitions of "singularities" and "exist").
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill | Quanta Magazine
Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists will need to go to the ends of space and time to find a fix.
www.quantamagazine.org
May 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
In a universe with many matter fields, the geometry does not fluctuate. Then we know what we mean by the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics, and we know what we mean by a Bounce (or cyclic) Cosmology. My recent theorem says you can't have both.
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
Do singularities exist? I'd always thought they were purely mathematical artifacts, but recent work in mathematical physics work from @bousso.bsky.social and others hint otherwise (for sufficiently broad definitions of "singularities" and "exist").
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill | Quanta Magazine
Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists will need to go to the ends of space and time to find a fix.
www.quantamagazine.org
May 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Do singularities exist? I'd always thought they were purely mathematical artifacts, but recent work in mathematical physics work from @bousso.bsky.social and others hint otherwise (for sufficiently broad definitions of "singularities" and "exist").
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
Science in the US is being actively destroyed simply by deliberately doing nothing. This article does not mention DOE, NSF, etc but it’s the same story. Processing freeze means: grants appear on paper but disappear in real life
The hidden ways Trump, DOGE are shutting down parts of the U.S. government
Limits on spending have incapacitated parts of agencies as varied as the National Park Service and the Pentagon.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 12, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Science in the US is being actively destroyed simply by deliberately doing nothing. This article does not mention DOE, NSF, etc but it’s the same story. Processing freeze means: grants appear on paper but disappear in real life
Brian Greene is a national treasure, a singular amalgam of grace, professionalism, and brilliance. Also, he's pretty good at explaining stuff
youtu.be/16kzFN0SWYg
youtu.be/16kzFN0SWYg
Is Gravity the Hidden Key to Quantum Physics?
YouTube video by World Science Festival
youtu.be
May 10, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Brian Greene is a national treasure, a singular amalgam of grace, professionalism, and brilliance. Also, he's pretty good at explaining stuff
youtu.be/16kzFN0SWYg
youtu.be/16kzFN0SWYg
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
What's happening with these grants is much more complicated and mostly unknown. None of the NIH have been officially cancelled. The NIH was just ordered to stop paying. They got the Unis to enforce silence on their own campuses because they thought they were "negotiating" and cld get the funds back.
Conspiracy of Silence: How Trump is Covertly Strangling Billions in Disease Cure Research talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/consp...
Conspiracy of Silence: How Trump is Covertly Strangling Billions in Disease Cure Research
The following is very important news about the Trump White House’s unfolding...
talkingpointsmemo.com
May 6, 2025 at 6:24 PM
What's happening with these grants is much more complicated and mostly unknown. None of the NIH have been officially cancelled. The NIH was just ordered to stop paying. They got the Unis to enforce silence on their own campuses because they thought they were "negotiating" and cld get the funds back.
My kingdom for a moderately okay government
delighted that Canada can get so enthusiastic about a moderately okay government
April 29, 2025 at 7:45 AM
My kingdom for a moderately okay government
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
Panch resigns: www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy
“I have done all I can,” says Sethuraman Panchanathan, a Trump appointee who has led agency since 2020
www.science.org
April 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Panch resigns: www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Raphael Bousso
In addition to the terminations of existing awards, new NSF grants are still stopped completely since DOGE was granted access to systems a week ago.
Last Thursday, an agency spokesperson said "NSF continues to issue awards." That does not appear to be the case.
Last Thursday, an agency spokesperson said "NSF continues to issue awards." That does not appear to be the case.
April 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
In addition to the terminations of existing awards, new NSF grants are still stopped completely since DOGE was granted access to systems a week ago.
Last Thursday, an agency spokesperson said "NSF continues to issue awards." That does not appear to be the case.
Last Thursday, an agency spokesperson said "NSF continues to issue awards." That does not appear to be the case.
Pope Francis was a friend of science. I am proud to have met him, and I am saddened by his death.
April 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Pope Francis was a friend of science. I am proud to have met him, and I am saddened by his death.
