TV review: 3 Body Problem (2024)

My recent two posts on UFOs and the possible existence of life emerging on other planets in the universe generated quite a bit of interest. Those interested in this topic may enjoy the new series just released on Netflix that deals with this. I recently finished watching all eight episodes (each roughly an hour long) of this show.

It deals with a group of five friends who were together at Oxford University and were all the proteges of a physicist Vera Ye who herself was the daughter of an accomplished Chinese physicist Ye Wenjie, whose father, also a physics professor, was murdered by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution for teaching Einstein’s theories. While remaining good friends, the careers of the five have diverged. Two of them (Jin Cheng and Saul Durand) are hotshot physicists, one (Auggie Salazar) is the chief scientific officer of a nanotechnology company. One (Jack Rooney) dropped out to start a snack company that has made him very wealthy, while the fifth (Will Downing) became a physics teacher, feeling that he did not have what it takes to be top-rank research scientist.
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How you can support Freethoughtblogs

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Basically, PZ Myers over at Pharyngula, one of the founders of the network, does it as a labor of love. He does have a Patreon account and the money that people donate to that account helps to defray the costs.

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Why we should not have people routinely carrying guns

If you believe the gun fanatics, we are all safer if we carry guns around with us because then if someone starts shooting, then you or others with guns can shoot them first. The problem with that logic is that when people go around carrying guns, they are tempted to use them to resolve conflicts that could have been settled amicably or with at worst a fistfight. The latter, while undesirable, usually does not end up with someone dead or seriously injured unless the beating is carried to an extreme. When there is a crowd, others will usually step in to stop it. But when guns become involved, bystanders will understandably flee the scene or lie low..

We see another example of what can happen when people unnecessarily carry guns around when last night, seven juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 were shot outside a mall in Indiana because a conflict arose among them.
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