1. What is the President up to?

Hello CNPS members and Newsletter readers,

We are starting 2018 running! Many things are happening. We have added one more YouTube channel making it four channels with another coming on board in the coming months. We are officially opening the conference registration on March 1. Please reserve June 27-30 for the 2018 CNPS Conference to be held back at the University of Connecticut. We are starting a second video conference on Saturdays for Expansion Tectonics lead by new CNPS member James Grist from the UK.

I have simplified greatly the CNPS website’s home page and menus to be easier to navigate and to help the first-time visitor navigate our site. We are continuing to work on the new website criticalthinkers.info which will be a 100% marketing website to generate new interest in our work, scientists, and organizations.

2018 Proceedings Open

The 2018 proceedings are now open. You can start working on our papers online. All information on how to submit your paper is found at: http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/site/cnps-2018-annual-conference/proceedings-2018/

Secret Project

Finally, I just started work on a secret project that will be the culmination of the over 20 years of work by the NPA and now the CNPS. Everything we have been doing from our website, our database, our wiki, our forums, and now our YouTube channels will culminate in  something truly amazing that many of us have dreamed of for decades.

I will be slowly bringing people on board with this new component of the CNPS and give you more hints as we go.

Websites Hacked

As many of you probably observed, our websites were all hacked. We lost some graphics but the data was left in tack. Everything is backed up but some backups were older and restoration will take some time. The Wiki is only partially functional. Please be patient as we restore everything. And yes, we have backups that are up-to-date now.

David de Hilster
CNPS President

2. Overview of the Newsletter from the Editor

Hello all.  Welcome to the second edition of the New Format Newsletter

The new Newsletter format was  introduced in November 2017 to provide coordination for our new focus on CRITICAL THINKING.  The new format is structured to help solve the information overload problem created by the breadth of scientific knowledge and research.

The Newsletter is your real-time summary of what’s currently going on across CNPS. If you are just joining us, this is the place to get an overview. You can also catch up on prior history using the Newsletter Archive. Scroll down that page and look for the Archive heading.

The major new items in this edition are related to the annual conference, Project 1 and the Forum.

SO! With OPEN MINDS, but CRITICAL THINKING TURNED ON, enjoy being part of the new process.

Bruce Nappi

3. Table of Contents

1. What is the President up to
2. Overview of the Newsletter from the Editor
3. Table of Contents
4. Special messages from the Directors
5. What’s new; what’s HOT
6. Special member awards, commendations, and activities
7. Featured member articles
8. Outreach programs, membership activities, and membership development
9. Conference activity
10. Project status
11. Website updates
12. The Forum
13. Wiki’s and member publications
14. Blogs, videos, Facebook
15. References for this Newsletter
16. Closing matter – contact info, submissions, CNPS policies etc.

4. Special messages from the Directors

This section is where to look for special messages from the Directors if there are any.

(No entries this issue)

5. What’s New; What’s HOT?

This section shows NEW items that may be of special interest to members and highlights special HOT items.
All members are encouraged to submit suggestions. To do so, look in the Forum for: 9. CNPS Work Groups > CNPS Newsletter > What’s New; What’s HOT?

5a. New Forum efforts

• The GPS and the Speed of Light Project is now moving into modeling. See 5b for a summary and the full discussion in section 10.
• Because the GPS project has now moved into modeling, the anticipated clash of Special Relativity with everything else has erupted in full force! I say, “anticipated” because it was a fundamental element of the project from the beginning to provide a focused approach for CNPS members to discuss SR in the project. One of the results of discussions so far has been the clear understanding that the world of science, including our own members, DO NOT have a singular understanding of many fundamental scientific definitions. So there are now 31 active definitions in the 8. Definitions / Encyclopedia category. Unlike a conventional dictionary, every definition is open to debate by members. This is discussed further in section 12.

5b. The CNPS PROJECTS PROGRAM

1. GPS and the Speed of Light – getting off to a slow start due to the holidays. There is also a lot of foundation work to be done. ( See section 10 )
2. The 2018 Focus on Expansion Tectonics – currently looking for interested participants.
3. Relational Mechanics – ( in the outline stage )

5c. The Guest Scholar Program

As an outreach and membership growth effort, continuing with the publication of the current issue of this Newsletter, CNPS has opened Forum access, for 6 months, for both reading and writing, to ALL 1100+ names on the distribution list for the CNPS Newsletter. See sections 8 and 12 of this Newsletter for details.

5d. FOUR CNPS YouTubers and Counting!

We want to welcome CNPS member Jeff Yee to our family of YouTubers who are out there in social media spreading the word of their work and showing the best of Critical Thinkers.

The CNPS now has 4 active YouTubers including: Jeff Yee, Robert de Hilster (http://youtube.particle.guru), Nick Percival (http://youtube.nickoftime.guru), and David de Hilster (http://youtube.dissidentscience.com).

6. Special member awards, commendations and activities

This section lists special awards, commendations and activities of members both as part of CNPS activities, and activities external to CNPS that are related to CNPS interests.
All members are encouraged to make suggestions for these announcements. To do so, look for “CNPS Newsletter” in the “9. CNPS Work Groups” category of the Forum and the Special awards, commendations and activities thread.

6a. Commendations

Lloyd Kinder

Lloyd has been a pioneer supporter of the Forum since March, 2017. Since April, 2017, Lloyd’s support for CNPS has exceeded 100 hours. His major contributions have been:

• Helping to design and test components of the Structured Discussion method. He tested the use of Etherpad to simulate a debate atmosphere. He used Etherpad to explore real-time discussions. He also helped flesh out the first use on the forum of the Structured Discussion forum and thread outlining terms.
• Facilitator for section 6.2 Expansion Tectonics (ET). Lloyd reached out both inside and outside CNPS to find the major geologic concepts that compete with ET. He broke those concepts down using organized tables that allow quick and simple comparisons. Lloyd’s work in this regard will become the foundation for the new CNPS Project 2 (See section 10).
• Facilitator for an organizational approach to physics and general cosmology. In 4. Universe, Aether and Field Theory > 4.5 Macrocosm Cosmology > Cosmology Group Models , he got 10 CNPS members to contribute summaries of the main claims for their universal models. Using the structured tools that he developed for the ET effort, he created an outstanding start for capturing and comparing the theories of all of our members.
• Facilitator for an organizational approach to the basic physics of the universe. In 5.0 Microcosm General Organization > Microcosm Models , he got 14 CNPS members to contribute summaries for their universe models related to: matter, space, energy propagation, mass, gravity, charge and magnetism. This is a foundation upon which we can expand the effort to include all the models from our members.

THANK YOU LLOYD for your outstanding contribution. Other members, please join in and help Lloyd move these efforts forward.

6b. Book Publications

Jeff Yee

Particles of the Universe 2: Disrupted (2017) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078HTWT7W
http://forums.naturalphilosophy.org/showthread.php?tid=421

Abstract: This book lays the foundation of an aether model that describes particles, photons and the forces that cause their motion. It is the sequel to the original Particles of the Universe book, published in 2012, which was a call to action to renew efforts of a science based on the aether. The book logically and mathematically explains subatomic particles as a collection of fundamental particles, similar to how atomic elements are a collection of protons. The fundamental particle is described as a standing wave of energy, and forces as the movement of these fundamental particles to minimize wave amplitude, originally described by Dr. Milo Wolff and now expanded in these works.

Key Phenomenon Addressed:
– Aether: Calculation of a density property for a medium of wave propagation. The density value is required in all energy and force equations in Energy Wave Theory
– Clocks: Defines time as the fundamental frequency, which is calculated from the wave’s wavelength and wave speed properties. Wavelength changes due to Doppler effects for relativity.
– Electrons: A particle consisting of multiple wave centers of standing wave energy.
– Energy: Movement of waves in the aether. Describes types of energy as forms of waves (standing vs traveling; longitudinal vs transverse)
– Frame in Relativity: See “clocks”. The frame of reference is the universal wavelength and wave speed properties. Relativity is motion of an object affecting the wavelength.
– Light: see Photon. Light is specific frequencies of photons.
– Magnetic Field: The movement of wave centers in the electron responding to wave amplitude, causing electron spin and thus a spin-wave in the aether.
– Photon: The vibration of particles that create a secondary, transverse wave for a short-lived packet until the particle comes to rest (the primary wave is the longitudinal wave).
– Quantum Mechanics: The classical and quantum branches are merged into one based on a fundamental wave energy equation, with two wave forms: longitudinal (particles) and transverse (photons).
– Time: See “clocks”.

7. Featured member articles

This section presents or references articles that present issues of high significance to members, or scientific summaries of breakthrough concepts that develop from CNPS member efforts. Most articles will be selected by the Newsletter editor or one of the Directors. All members are encouraged to make suggestions. To do so, look for “CNPS Newsletter” in the “9. CNPS Work Groups” category of the Forum and the Newsletter article submission recommendations thread.

(No entries this issue)

8. Outreach programs, membership activities, and membership development

CNPS efforts with people and organizations outside of CNPS. Outreach programs might include:

• Other societies, colleges, universities, high schools, and the media
• Activities like collecting reference information, publishing CNPS member produced material, or providing speakers for scientific issues
• Membership development, special recruiting events.

All members are encouraged to make suggestions and participate in these efforts. To do so, look for “CNPS Membership development and Outreach programs” in the “9. CNPS Work Groups” category of the Forum.

8a. Guest Scholar program – ( repeated from the last Newsletter )

As an outreach and membership growth effort, starting with the publication of the Nov.-Dec. issue of the Newsletter, CNPS has opened CNPS Forum access, for 6 months, for both reading and writing, to ALL 1100+ names on the distribution list for the CNPS Newsletter. See section 12a for registration details.

As a membership growth effort, this program seeks to attract new members from those on distribution for the Newsletter by allowing them to evaluate interacting with CNPS members directly on CNPS programs. For those non-members reading this section, consider the following benefits it could bring you:

1. CNPS opens a channel for academics to present their own personal insights, outside the narrowly controlled “mainstream model”, for critique and support from peer level scientists and academics.
2. CNPS provides a very simple approach to publication, in a context with other publications that push the boundaries of current knowledge and belief.
3. Unlike conventional academic societies, CNPS membership costs are nominal – $35.

As an outreach effort, this program seeks to form new relationships between CNPS and other organizations

9. Conference activity

While most members think the term “Conference” only applies to the annual CNPS conference, there are actually other types of conferences already underway. Additional conferences are also in planning. This section captures a summary of the status and any changes in conference activity.

9a. The annual conference

The proceedings are now open! You can start writing your proceedings online. All the information is found at: http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/site/cnps-2018-annual-conference/proceedings-2018/

Arrangements have been firmed up to hold the 2018 CNPS Annual Conference in Connecticut at UCONN, at the Nathan Hale Inn, from June 27 to 30, 2018.

CNPS is currently accepting papers and talks on:

relativity,   gravity,   aether
structures,   philosophy,   the Big Bang
expansion tectonics, and cosmology.

You do not have to attend the conference to have a paper in the proceedings. There is a charge of $15 per page for all proceedings articles. Submissions use the ShareLatex editing system on the cloud. Anyone who is interested in submitting a paper must be registered on http://www.sharelatex.com and contact us at proceedings@naturalphilosophy.org.

 9b. Video conference for Expansion Tectonics

A new CNPS video conference group started on Saturday, February 10, at 12 pm EST, 9 am PST, and 5 pm, UK and European time. The topic is Expansion Tectonics. Lead by new CNPS member James Grist of the UK, the group hopes to organize and advance theory, models, and computer simulations of expansion tectonics. James has been writing computer software for simulating expansion tectonics for many years and is a vocal leader in the area of expansion tectonics and software on this subject on Facebook.

The conference link (when live) is: Fuze ET Video Conference. For those who regularly watch the Saturday Morning Video Discussions lead by Franklin Wu, the Expansion Tectonics conference will follow immediately after it. The first Feb. 10 meeting was an organizational meeting. For more details: ET Video Conference

10. Project status

( The project status is discussed below after this general introduction)

The Project Status section summarizes the status of special projects of interest to CNPS members that have been chosen and given special attention by CNPS as an organization. This effort acknowledges two fundamental principles of CNPS as a society.

First, CNPS is much more than just a common identifier members use just to identify a special interest relationship we share. It is also more than a once-a year activity called the annual conference. As a “Society”, it represents the combined energy of hundreds of members and affiliates who work together for mutual support.

Second, because we have communication tools that provide almost instantaneous worldwide interaction, we have the ability to conduct a continuous effort that involves all the members, that is active throughout the entire year, not only at the annual conference.

With the Nov. – Dec. 2017 Newsletter, CNPS announced and launched THREE new projects: 1. GPS and the Speed of Light; 2. The 2018 Focus on Expansion Tectonics; and 3. Relational Mechanics.

What is a CNPS Project?

A CNPS Project is a formal effort of CNPS, as a whole society, to accomplish the following goals:

1. Identify a project that addresses a scientific issue of high importance to a broad section of the membership.

2. Create a true academic Project to address the issue.

3. Select narrow project goals, conduct problem definitions, literature research, and mathematical, physics and empirical studies to address the problems.

4. Write scientific papers and Critical Wiki’s to present the findings.

How will a project be conducted?

1. The members of the CNPS Board will take the pulse of the membership to determine member interest. This will identify high interest topics.

2. A formal Project planning, organizing, staffing, implementing, documenting, and publishing protocol will be used as a guideline for conducting projects.

3. The project will have the following general staffing breakdown: project coordinator, project facilitators, lead scientists, research teams, publication teams.

4. The project will be open to ALL CNPS members who offer their support, and participate in a professional manner. Special participation will be offered to CNPS affiliates, students, and appropriate members of societies that share CNPS principles as Forum “Guest Scholars”.

5. The primary platform for the project will be the new CNPS Forum, using the Structured Discussion approach. (This approach is described in the introductory section of the Forum).

6. Coordination of the project will be done in special sections for the discussion.

7. A running status report will be posted in the forum that shows: a. what the project is all about – its goals, challenges etc.; b. what has gone on so far (discussion summary); c. what issues have been resolved and what breakthrough conclusions have come up; d. what issues are hot; e. what stumbling blocks to resolution need to be addressed; etc.

8. A summary status report for all active projects will be posted in the Project Status section of both the Forum and the Newsletter.

9. As the project reaches milestones, periodic papers and Critical Wiki’s will be written and published. A CNPS Peer Review process will be developed and conducted for these papers.

10. ALL members and Guest Scholars who make significant contributions to the effort will be listed for their roles in the publications.

 

10a. PROJECT 1: GPS and the Speed of Light

GPS and the Speed of Light is a formal Project of CNPS to collect, organize, and publish the best current scientific concepts from CNPS members related to the physics of the Speed of Light.

(Project Progress is summarized after this general introduction)

Overall project objectives

1. The PRIMARY goal of the project is to summarize and evaluate the observation that signal timing data from the GPS program does NOT confirm the observer determined speed of light postulate that Einstein used to develop Special Relativity. The GPS data will be evaluated against the 3 major theories of light propagation hoping to advance the understanding of these 3 major theories and resolve which is the true explanation of how our universe operates.

2. A Structured Forum, category 1.1, has been established on the CNPS Forum to conduct this project. Project details and tracking are shown there.

3. The project Facilitator will be Bruce Nappi. Ron Hatch has agreed to be Chief Scientist for the program. Three physics Model Development Leaders will be sought to lead the model-specific geometry development. Matthias Grabiak has agreed to lead the Relativity team. Additional society members can join tasks where needed. ALL those contributing to the effort will be acknowledged appropriately in the published material.

4. CNPS member experts, representing all 3 currently postulated light speed models – source, medium, observer – will develop 3 model-consensus geometries, one for each model.

5. Primary and secondary reference material needs to be gathered to support ALL 3 model positions. Reference material for the GPS data needs to be gathered and annotated.

6. Theoretical tests shall be developed, using the consensus geometries for the GPS geometry, that are able to discriminate which of the 3 consensus models are supported by the GPS data.

7. The tests shall be run using the GPS data.

8. The results of the tests shall be documented in one or more publishable papers, which shall be subject to peer review.

9. The papers will be published.

10. Critical Wiki articles, CNPS blogs, articles and videos will be generated from the papers.

Project Progress

The project has moved into the modeling phase. Background is being assembled. To date, the following has been accomplished:

• The entire structure of the effort has been laid out in the Forum as section 1.1 Project 1 – GPS and the Speed of Light.
• The foundation for the 3 models for light to be studies has been described.
• Group leaders for 2 models have been chosen:  Medium (aether) – Akinbo Ojo;  Observer (Relativity) – Matthias. Bruce will act as the developer for the source (ballistic) model until a group leaders is found.
• A very long list of email posts (171) that Ron Hatch has posted explaining his theories and analysis of GPS data have been edited for applicability to this project and posted.
• A Q&A section has been started to extract knowledge and wisdom from posts throughout the project forum and organize that information into an easily accessible structure. This is a BIG effort. Anyone who can help with this, contact Bruce.
• To help organize model development, 2 simplified foundation models have been developed:
  1. A 2-D Flat earth, no atmosphere, no gravity, linear – non accelerating motion of all objects.
  2. A boat-on-river model, to study aether concepts
• Due to criticisms of the translation of Einstein’s 1905 from German to English, Matthias (who is doing the relativity model, and speaks German) will review SR criticisms against both English and German versions.
• The ballistic analysis for the ballistic flat earth model has been completed.

10b. PROJECT 2: Expansion Tectonics – 2018

(Project Progress is summarized after this general introduction. However, there has been minimal progress since the last Newsletter.)

Overall Project Objectives

1.2 Expansion Tectonics – 2018 is a formal Project of CNPS to support Dr. James Maxlow’s decades long research. The project will collect, organize, and publish his best current scientific understanding of the data on Global Tectonics.

James Maxlow was given a CNPS Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Annual CNPS Conference for his work on Expansion Tectonics. He presented a summary of his decades long work titled: Expansion Tectonics Its Implications for Physics.

To be specific, the project has the following organization, goals and tasks:

1. The PRIMARY goal of the project is to summarize the observations of Expansion Tectonics that suggest the earth was once quite a bit smaller than it is now, and is currently undergoing rapid size expansion. These observations will then be presented in numerous tabular and graphic forms in comparison to alternative concepts.

2. Last year, a Structured Forum category was already established to start the project, and preliminary activities have been completed. Project details and tracking are shown in the Structured section of that Forum (6.2 Expansion Tectonics).

3. The project Facilitators are Lloyd Kinder and Bruce Nappi. James Maxlow has agreed to be Chief Scientist for the project. Society members can join tasks where needed. ALL those contributing to the effort will be acknowledged appropriately in the published material.

4. The field of global tectonics is currently dominated by 6 theories: Expansion Tectonics, Plate Tectonics, Surge Tectonics, Electric Universe, Electrostatic Universe and Shock Dynamics.

5. Primary and secondary reference material needs to be gathered to describe ALL 6 model positions.

6. Theoretical tests shall be developed which discriminate the value of one theory over another.

7. The tests shall be run using the available data.

8. The results of the tests shall be documented in one or more publishable papers, which shall be subject to peer review.

9. The papers will be published.

10. Critical Wiki articles, CNPS blogs, articles and videos will be generated from the papers.

 

Project Progress

There has been little progress since the last Newsletter. Up to that point, the following had been done.

• An organized Q&A from last year’s ET effort has been copied into the project section.
• The bibliography has been started with over 146 entries.
• A comparison table for 8 leading global tectonics theories, created for this project, has been posted.

 

10c. PROJECT 3: Relational Mechanics

(No progress to report yet on this project.)

1.3 Relational Mechanics is a formal Project of CNPS to explore physics alternatives to Newton and Maxwell. The project will collect, organize, and publish a review of alternative physics models, drawing primarily on the work of CNPS member Professor Andre Assis, currently professor of physics at the University of Campinas in Brazil.

To be specific, the project has the following organization, goals and tasks:

1. The PRIMARY goal of the project is to summarize the basis and methods of Relational Mechanics. These observations will then be presented in numerous tabular and graphic forms, comparing it to alternative concepts, showing its strengths and weaknesses.

2. A Special Project 1.3 Relational Mechanics is being created to conduct this project. Project details and tracking will be shown in that forum.

3. The project Facilitator is Bruce Nappi. David deHilster has agreed to be Chief Scientist for the project. Scientific support for Relational Mechanics will be provided by Professor Andre Assis. Society members can join tasks where needed. ALL those contributing to the effort will be acknowledged appropriately in the published material.

4. Primary and secondary reference material needs to be gathered to describe current and past foundational models for physics.

5. This project, like most others at CNPS, will be conducted as scientific research. A series of theoretical examples will be developed to show why each foundational model was developed to explain some observation of nature. Where “mainstream” examples are challenged by CNPS members, additional examples will be created to explain the challenges.

6. The results of the analysis shall be documented in one or more publishable papers, which shall be subject to peer review.

7. The papers will be published.

8. Critical Wiki articles, CNPS blogs, articles and videos will be generated from the papers.

All 3 of these projects need volunteers at all levels. So, go to section 1.0 of the Forum and find out how you can participate. ALL participants will be credited for their efforts in the publications.

11. Website updates

This section will capture updates for the development of the new website.

The only updates so far are those discussed by the David in section 1. What is the President up to? above.

12. The Forum

This section captures highlights from the most active and productive forums in the CNPS Forum and special efforts going on with the forum. The Forum can be found at: http://forums.naturalphilosophy.org.

12a. Category 8.  Definitions / Encyclopedia

With the transition to the modeling effort for the GPS and the Speed of Light project, the old clash between Special Relativity (SR) and everyone else has come up. This was entirely anticipated. In fact, the structure of the project was purposely designed to raise this issue and provide new tools to address it. The SR debate has always held a lead role in CNPS discussions, with very strong support for all sides.

Two of the significant issues behind the debates, which have raged for over 100 years in world science since Einstein’s paper in 1905, are: 1. the definition of critical scientific terms; and 2. the interpretation of empirical test results.

For example, what is even meant by the term “Special Relativity”?  Shouldn’t we all know this?  In the introduction to the June 30,  1905 paper, it says, “We will raise this conjecture (the purport of which will hereafter be called the “Principle of Relativity”) to the status of a postulate… ” The term “Special Relativity” did not appear until Einstein’s second paper was published on November 25, 1915. The term was coined at that time to separate the “special cases” for which the equations of the 1905 paper applied. The term “special cases” is important. The analysis Einstein presented in the 1905 paper were very narrowly applicable. People still don’t want to acknowledge that, and it has created a lot of problems.

A lot of analysis has been done based on the “principles” suggested in the 1905 paper. Those analyses began to be lumped under the “Special Relativity” term. This has resulted in widespread disagreements for many reasons:

• Some of the analyses are just poor science or math. But since it is popular and valuable to be associated with Einstein, the SR term has a lot of shoddy baggage hanging on to it.
• Einstein’s analysis, as stated in the paper, hangs on just 2 postulates (verbatim from the 1905 paper): 1. the same laws of electrodynamics and optics will be valid for all frames of reference for which the equations of mechanics hold good; and 2. light is always propagated in empty space with a definite velocity c which is independent of the state of motion of the emitting body.
• Note the highlighting of the term “postulates”. This is not a trivial issue. The term “postulate” is defined as (Oxford Dictionary): “a thing suggested or assumed as true as the basis for reasoning.” The definition tells us, the thing postulated is only held as speculation. It is NOT a statement that the thing is true. And many critics of SR claim Einstein strongly rejected postulate 2, and published his 1905 paper to discredit it. So, most importantly, scientists should be very careful not to turn SR on its head. That is, SR analysis should not be claimed as a proof of the postulates. There is no basis for that.
• Beyond the postulates, the paper relies on many other terms, like: rods, clocks, synchronization etc. These lead to assumptions based on what the reader understands as their definitions. Choosing a definition, that lead to other terms and more assumptions. To understand what SR is really trying to say, ALL of the terms it uses need to be narrowly defined.
• If a newly created scientific principle or mathematical formula relies on any of these terms, then the definition of those terms used is critical to the understanding and validity of the new item.

Another example is the term “LIGHT”?  Light, of course, is critical to SR, because it is used both as a term in postulate 2, and a measuring instrument throughout the paper. Does “science” agree on what the term “light” means?  That is, does physics have a “well settled” definition for light? The answer to that is clearly NO! Why do I say that?

The scientific study of light is very far from a modern endeavor. Experiments and relatively astute concepts were already well documented “in the literature” (if you can read Greek) by 380 BC! In fact, giving credit where it’s due, the ancient Greeks already had the basic principles pretty well outlined. By 380 BC, there were three schools of philosophy exploring the same 3 fundamental concepts about the nature of light that current science still hasn’t resolved. The Greeks modeled light as part of a system that communicates vision. That is, in any communication system, three categorizing functions are typically included: a source, a transmission medium, and a receiver.

Pythagoras, about 530BC, taught that the eyes of animals were the key to light. The eyes reached out with miniature invisible hands on long, thin, invisible arms. These hands reached out very quickly in the direction that the eye was aimed, being bounded by the pupil of the eye to form narrow cones. The hands felt objects that they ran into like a blind person would feel an object. The tactile feelings of these hands gave animals the perception of vision.

Democritus, in 460BC, taught that the key to light was its source. Democritus believed that everything in nature was composed of tiny particles he called atoms. The atoms of an object acted like a source, shedding skins of themselves that flew through the air. When the skin hit an animal, it shriveled up and went into the animals eyes, causing the animal to have a perception of the object that shed the skin.

Aristotle, about 380BC, who accepted the atom model, taught that all surfaces had vibrations. But they did not shed skins. Instead, atomic vibrations caused waves in the “aether”, (which is the Greek term for space or the upper regions of the air beyond the sky). The waves traveled outward like ripples in water. When the vibrations hit an animal’s eyes, the perception of the object that caused the vibrations was formed.

After 2398 years, science is still debating whether the speed of light, and therefore what controls the speed, is dependent on the source, the medium, or the receiver (observer). Science is still debating these 3 fundamental principles of light: whether it is a particle, ballistically launched by a source, a wave, propagating in an aether, or some unspecified set of “magic hands” that reach out from the eyes of an observer, or the atoms of a sensing instrument, that reach out and sense the source.

While the previous sentence about “magic hands” clearly begs the defense of poetic license, some sort of outreach from an “observer” is needed to provide a mechanism for Einstein’s Special Theory. Many adherents of SR believe they can explain it, and that the “magic hands” are, in fact, just the use of light itself, within the observer’s own frame of reference, to make the measurements. This is what makes the speed of light “appear” unique to each individual who observes it from an “inertial” frame. Or, in other words, each observer actually needs to employ the response of the inertial frame they reside in to be reaching out. That is the only way every individual observer can simultaneously have their own unique experience.

Another irony related to SR is that, in basic form, no more than the math needed to determine the relationship of the sides of right triangles is needed to develop the Gamma formula ( 1 – v² / c² ). The irony is, Pythagoras already had that figured out by 530BC.

(This short Greek history of light can be found at http://forums.naturalphilosophy.org/showthread.php?tid=423 )

The Definitions / Encyclopedia category of the Forum now has 31 entries. Unlike the case of conventional dictionaries and encyclopedias, the entries there are NOT presented as “truth” for the reader. They are there as coordinating headings for members to discuss and debate what they mean. The headings also provide a place to define FUNCTIONAL DEFINITIONS.  These are specific explanations that can be referenced elsewhere for coordinating discussions. Readers, please jump in here and help build this section of the Forum.

12b. The Guest Scholar program

(This entry is duplicated from the previous issue for use by readers wanting to join the Guest Scholar program. )

As an outreach and membership growth effort, continuing the offer started with the publication of the 2017 Nov. – Dec. issue of this Newsletter, continuing for 6 months from the current issue, until August 10, 2018, CNPS has opened Forum access for both reading and writing to ALL 1100+ names on the distribution list for the CNPS Newsletter. For friends of Newsletter readers, or those who get the Newsletter from another source, you can also participate in the program by signing up for the free Newsletter at: http://www.naturalphilosophy.org . Look for a grey box at the top of the right panel that says, “Subscribe to our Newsletter”.

By offering this service at no cost for a limited time, those interested can experience most of the features of CNPS without having to become a full member. If you like what you find, please go to the CNPS home page and join. Membership fees are nominal.

There are two different ways to register as a Guest Scholar:

1. Register using your natural name. This is the preferred way. It allows a more personal interaction with CNPS members and other Guest Scholars because it allows the inclusion of your academic and public backgrounds to be shared. For example, a person with extensive publications for a topic can reference those in discussions.
2. Register using an alias. CNPS is well aware of the social and professional pressure put on academics for presenting views that go “too far” outside mainstream dogma. To respect this limitation, a person can register using an alias name and an alias identity email address. Special steps are required, however, to prevent use of this approach by bots and Trolls.

The details for each form of registration are shown here:

Natural name registration

1. Open: http://forums.naturalphilosophy.org/ You should see a black rectangle at top left that says Natural Philosophers Forums. If it says Natural Philosophers Community in a black banner that goes all the way across the screen, you somehow got to the old forum which is no longer active.
2. Look for “Hello There, Guest! Click Register
3. A registration agreement will open. Read it. If you agree with it, then click “I Agree” below the agreement
4. This will get you to the registration page.
5. Enter your user name as follows: First-name space Last-name space “Guest Scholar” (without the quote marks)
6. Enter a password
7. Enter your contact email
8. Fill in the security sections
9. The account preferences are preset with typical entries. You can change these if you want during registration or anytime later using a member Control Panel (CP). The Forum has a lot of customizable features which are explained in user guides on the Forum.
   There is one important feature that can be set during registration: “Default Thread Subscription Mode”. This feature sets how you want to be notified of activity going on in topics you are interested in. Unlike email discussions, you have a choice. For each topic you are interested in, this setting controls if and how you will be notified when a post is made to the topic.
10. Set your time zone. CNPS has members from around the world. “DST” means Daylight Savings Time corrections.
11. Click Submit Registration!
12. When you submit the registration, the program will send a message to the email address you entered to verify the registration was not made by a robot. Reply to that message. The program will then send a message to a Forum administrator asking to activate you. That will be done as quickly as possible. Your name will be verified against the Newsletter distribution list.
13. A “Welcome” letter will be sent to you. You can then log in. Your user name will be set to First-name space Last-name. The “Guest Scholar” flag you entered will be removed.

I’m sorry this is a little complex. But we have already been hit by multiple spam attacks. The forum is open to any live human (in good standing – i.e. no Trolls) as Guests for READING only. Only full CNPS members and Guest Scholars in good standing can post threads and replies.

 

Alias name registration

1. Open: http://forums.naturalphilosophy.org/ You should see a black rectangle at top left that says Natural Philosophers Forums. If it says Natural Philosophers Community in a black banner that goes all the way across the screen, you somehow got to the old forum which is no longer active.
2. Look for “Hello There, Guest! Click Register
3. A registration agreement will open. Read it. If you agree with it, then click “I Agree” below the agreement.
4. This will get you to the registration page.
5. Enter your user name as follows: Alias-name “Guest Scholar-A” (without the quote marks)
6. Enter a password
7. Enter your contact email (this can be your normal email or your alias email)
8. Fill in the security sections
9. The account preferences are preset with typical entries. You can change these if you want during registration or anytime later using a member Control Panel (CP). The Forum has a lot of customizable features which are explained in user guides on the Forum.
   There is one important feature that can be set during registration: “Default Thread Subscription Mode”. This feature sets how you want to be notified of activity going on in topics you are interested in. Unlike email discussions, you have a choice. For each topic you are interested in, this setting controls if and how you will be notified when a post is made to the topic.

10. Set your time zone. CNPS has members from around the world. “DST” means Daylight Savings Time corrections.
11. Click Submit Registration!
12. When you submit the registration, the program will send a message to the email address you entered to verify the registration was not made by a robot. Reply to that message from the email address entered in step 7 above. The program will then send a message to a Forum administrator asking to activate you. That will be done as quickly as possible. Your name will be verified against the Newsletter distribution list.
13. A confirming verification letter will be sent to the email address provided in step 7.
14. At this point, we require that you send us a reply to the verification letter that includes your real name. An appropriate place will be specified in the verification letter. This reply should be sent from an email address associated with your real name. Both your real name and your name associated email address WILL NOT be made visible on the Forum or be accessible from the Forum. They will be held in a confidential secure location by separate software for the sole purpose of screening out fraudulent bot and Troll registrations.
15. When the verification letter is received, a “Welcome” letter will be sent to your name associated email. You can then log in. Your user name will be set to the alias name used for registration. The “Guest Scholar-A” flag you entered will be removed.

I’m sorry this is so complex. But we have already been hit by multiple spam attacks. The Forum is open to any live human (in good standing – i.e. no Trolls) as Guests for READING only. Only full CNPS members and Guest Scholars in good standing can post threads and replies.

13. Wiki’s and member publications

This section will provide a summary of all CNPS Critical Wiki’s being developed, and their status. It also lists recent member publications, including those published on the CNPS website and externally. All members are encouraged to provide citations for these announcements. To do so, look for the “9. CNPS Work Groups” category of the Forum, the “Wiki Working Group” and the “CNPS Newsletter Member Publications” thread.

The wiki is currently being restored after being hacked along with all the CNPS sites. Please be patient as we try to get it all working and back online.

14. Blogs, videos, Facebook

CNPS provides numerous capabilities for members to directly publish material. Each member can have their own blog. This allows them to post comments and short articles and have discussions about their posts with readers. This section will summarize current activities for Blogs, videos and Facebook.

(No entries this issue)

15. References for this Newsletter

When there are special articles in the Newsletter which cite references, those references will be repeated here for reference.

(No entries this issue)

16. Closing matter – contact info, submissions, CNPS policies etc.

Contacts

To reach the editor directly, send an email to: ( CNPSforum )( at )( aol )( dot )( com )

To make the Newsletter a truly interactive tool, most of the Newsletter sections have a directly linked section in the Forum! To comment on any of the sections of this Newsletter, for those readers who are CNPS members or Guest Scholars, go to the CNPS Forum and look for category 9. CNPS Work Groups CNPS Newsletter . There are multiple threads in that forum that deal with different sections of the Newsletter.

No more “letters to the editor” needed. You have a direct “open line” to the editorial desk. Since a guiding policy of the Newsletter is to be inclusive of member inputs and opinions, if you have something to say, the Newsletter will do as much as possible to communicate your views to the membership.

Submissions

Submissions for the Newsletter are only accepted from CNPS members or Guest Scholars. There are no set time limits on submissions. Submissions will be used, when accepted by the Newsletter editor, on a time available basis. Submissions shall be made through Forum category 9. CNPS Work Groups CNPS Newsletter .

The Newsletter does NOT accept any advertising. For any special situations, contact the editor.

CNPS Newsletter Policies

User-Generated Content. Much of the writing of articles in the Newsletter is done by members or special guests. When submitting User-Generated Content, submitters have agreed to abide by the Code of Conduct described in the CNPS Forum registration agreement and on the CNPS website. CNPS does not claim ownership of content submitted. Submitters own and have rights to use the User-Generated Content. Therefore, submitters are also fully responsible for the User-Generated Content they submit. However, by submitting User-Generated Content, the submitter grants to CNPS a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use, download, duplicate, display, distribute, modify and create derivative works of the User-Generated Content, unless a specific, written, mutually acceptable agreement is established otherwise.

Limitation of Liability.
CNPS shall not be liable, and disclaims any liability, for any claim, loss or damage, direct or indirect, including, without limitation, compensatory, consequential, incidental, indirect, special, exemplary or punitive damages of any kind whatsoever in connection with, as a result of, or arising (i) out of the use of, reference to, or reliance on any Newsletter content; or (ii) out of any content inaccuracy of information; or (iii) out of any other matter relating to CNPS websites or content. In the event you are dissatisfied with, or dispute these Terms of Use, CNPS websites and/or CNPS Content, your sole right and exclusive remedy is to terminate your use of CNPS websites, even if that right or remedy is deemed to fail of its essential purpose. You confirm that CNPS has no other obligation, liability or responsibility to you or any other party.