NEWSLETTER MAY 2026
NEWSLETTER MAY 2026
Being cancelled and freedom of speech in the west
This is not a twenty-first century phenomenon. It goes back to the famous case of Socrates in 600BC who was set up on charges of ‘corrupting the youth of Athens’ and sentenced to death. During the dark ages the various religious factions in Europe persecuted and silenced opponents: burning witches and heretics and forcing Galileo to retract his claim that the earth was not the centre of the universe.
For many years dissidents in the west were silenced in subtle covert ways, for example Gramsci’s idea of a ruling hegemony exerting control, whereas now with alternative narratives being widely available the suppression of alternative views is more open.
The UK’s unwritten constitution includes inter alia freedom of speech which is under threat in many spheres including physics. In 1974 Eric Laithewaite gave the Xmas lectures at the Royal Institution and because he questioned Newton’s theory of gravity, based on the motion of gyroscopes, the lectures were banned and only became available when he retracted his opinion.
In around 2009 Rupert Sheldrake published his book A New Science of Life which was denounced by the editor of Nature, a Richard Maddox as ‘pseudo science’ and Adam Rutherford of The Guardian 19 July 2013 stated:
‘A book for ignoring: Sheldrake persists in his claims despite the fact that there is no evidence for them. This is bad science.’
Sheldrake also gave a Ted talk which was banned.
Why is questioning Newton or hypothesising that there must be some form of morphic resonance disallowed but postulating ‘ghost particles’ or ‘dark matter’ which cannot be observed acceptable physics?
The test for differentiating science from mere opinion was set out by Karl Popper in The Logic of Scientific Discovery: a scientist has to state what evidence would falsify his thesis. Those spending vast sums on detecting gravitational waves and finding none seem to have ignored this test as the underlying theory persists. Same for neutrinos. There is also a great deal of evidence against the Big Bang yet the theory survives.
Obviously there is no level playing field and only the anointed few who support the prevailing orthodoxy are allowed to be heard.
Artemis II
The spacecraft took off on April 1st – ‘all fools day’ which helped fuel distrust of the entire event. Given the advances in technology, how can anyone be sure of what is real and what is ‘Hollywood’ or Kabuki Theatre.
Science would benefit from more robust public debates on mainstream media. The BBC which produced remarkable science documentaries in the 70s such as The Ascent of Man, Connections and a host of Horizon episodes has opted for the dumbed down, anodyne approach of Brian Cox. The Institute of Art and Ideas has more rigorous content but involves a subscription of around £10pm.
E Bookshop
A new title will be added this month, Fantasy Physics v the Fractal Universe which covers the same material as in the latest six podcast but in more depth. Previous titles include a volume of Selected Papers by Fermi, Pauli, Hubble, Einstein, Schrödinger and Turing; my own book on Black Body Radiation and The UVC Disambiguation is also available and is a follow up to the earlier podcast The Ultra-Violet Catastrophe or a Storm in a Teacup.
Podcasts 2026
Six podcasts have been published this year:
January
Fantasy Physics: The Non-existent Neutrino available now
February
The Vacuum Energy Catastrophe and the Big Bang
available now
March
Why Intelligence is Non-Computable available now
April
The God Particle or a Deus ex Machina available now
May and June
Fractals, Philosophy, Music and Morphic Resonance
© K. Strang 2026