Post by Catsmate on Jan 21, 2015 12:30:29 GMT
I'm sticking this in W&W because it's odd but I haven't done enough on the incident and its potentialities to justify a scenario seed.
Most people, even those who've studied physics have never heard of the brilliant Italian physicist Ettore Majorana nor of his strange disappearance. Born in 1906 he studied physics and mathematics in Italy (under Enrico Fermi who considered him one of his best students) and under Werner Heisenberg in Germany and Niels Bohr in Denmark.
During this time he was the first person to correctly interpret the results of the Joliot-Curie experiment and predict the existence of the neutron, Chadwick's later proof of the neutron's existence won him the Nobel Physics Prize.
In 1937 he was made professor of theoretical physics at the University of Naples where he continued work on neutrino masses, gravity waves and the existence of a theorised group of sub-atomic particles called Majorana Fermions.
Recent research has suggested that the latter may indeed exist.
In March 1938 Majorana disappeared, supposedly while on a boat trip from Palermo to Naples.
He had emptied his bank account and sent a number of messages indicative of an intention to commit suicide or disappear. No body has ever been found.
However there are suggestions, including testimony from witnessed and a photograph, that he left Italy to go to Argentina. There is a photograph, taken in 1955, showing a man strongly resembling Majorana. A Majorana who hadn't aged visibly in 17 years.
In 2011 as part of an investigation by the Carabinieri into the disappearance the photograph was analysed and found to have common point with Majorana.
So what happened? Was Majorana seeking to escape academic stress? Had be presciently theorised about a atomic bomb and wanted to avoid involvement? Had someone told him about the atomic bomb?
Or was his disappearance linked to his research into gravity waves and/or anti-matter? Dis he travel in time? Or did someone exile him to avoid him developing even more destructive technologies for WW2?
There are several categories of scientists in the world; those of second or third rank do their best but never get very far. Then there is the first rank, those who make important discoveries, fundamental to scientific progress. But then there are the geniuses, like Galilei and Newton. Majorana was one of these.
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Most people, even those who've studied physics have never heard of the brilliant Italian physicist Ettore Majorana nor of his strange disappearance. Born in 1906 he studied physics and mathematics in Italy (under Enrico Fermi who considered him one of his best students) and under Werner Heisenberg in Germany and Niels Bohr in Denmark.
During this time he was the first person to correctly interpret the results of the Joliot-Curie experiment and predict the existence of the neutron, Chadwick's later proof of the neutron's existence won him the Nobel Physics Prize.
In 1937 he was made professor of theoretical physics at the University of Naples where he continued work on neutrino masses, gravity waves and the existence of a theorised group of sub-atomic particles called Majorana Fermions.
Recent research has suggested that the latter may indeed exist.
In March 1938 Majorana disappeared, supposedly while on a boat trip from Palermo to Naples.
He had emptied his bank account and sent a number of messages indicative of an intention to commit suicide or disappear. No body has ever been found.
However there are suggestions, including testimony from witnessed and a photograph, that he left Italy to go to Argentina. There is a photograph, taken in 1955, showing a man strongly resembling Majorana. A Majorana who hadn't aged visibly in 17 years.
In 2011 as part of an investigation by the Carabinieri into the disappearance the photograph was analysed and found to have common point with Majorana.
So what happened? Was Majorana seeking to escape academic stress? Had be presciently theorised about a atomic bomb and wanted to avoid involvement? Had someone told him about the atomic bomb?
- Either of these would only be about a year early; the Hahn/Strassmann experiments that showed fission happened late in 1938 and the Meitner/Frisch interpretation would be published in December. Szilárd had developed the idea of a neutron induced chain reaction, and its potential for an explosion, back in 1934.
Or was his disappearance linked to his research into gravity waves and/or anti-matter? Dis he travel in time? Or did someone exile him to avoid him developing even more destructive technologies for WW2?