How to make social cohesion work. Bertelsmann Stiftung Speech 2019

The megatrends of globalization and digitalization pose challenges for social cohesion. Many people are concerned about their economic future, and right-wing populists are leveraging the internet to spread oversimplified messages and fuel fears. Thought leaders from around the world convened to discuss the future of social cohesion at the Bertelsmann Stiftung‘s international “Trying Times” conference addressing the issue “Rethinking Social Cohesion” that was held in Berlin from September 4–6, 2019. In his closing speech titled “How to make social cohesion work,” Canadian author and President Emeritus of PEN International John Ralston Saul demonstrated that empathy, respect for difference and the willingness to accept the complexity of society rather than exclusion and fear are the factors that pave the way toward a successful future. The social cohesion of the future needs both diversity and community. Read his speech in full here

Question Isotropy

The "cosmological principle" was set up early without realizing its implications for the horizon problem, and almost entirely without support from observational data. Consistent signals of anisotropy have been found in data on electromagnetic propagation, polarizations of QSOs and $CMB$ temperature maps. The axis of Virgo is found again and again in signals breaking isotropy, from independent observables in independent energy regimes. There are no satisfactory explanations of these effects in conventional astrophysics. Axion-photon mixing and propagation in axion condensates are capable of encompassing the data.Comment: Published in Axions 2010: AIP Conf.Proc.1274:72-77,2010, edited by David Tanne

Exploring the Micro-Structure of the Proton: from Form Factors to DVCS

For a long time people made the mistake of thinking the proton was understood. New experiments, ranging from form factors to deeply virtual Compton scattering, promise a new era of highly informative studies. Among the controversial topics of the future may be such basic features as the physical size of the proton, the role of quark orbital angular momentum, and the possibility of making "femto-photographic" images of hadronic micro-structure.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, presented by John Ralston at the Workshop on "Testing QCD through Spin Observables in Nuclear Targets", University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, April 18-2