Nan:2007-02-13-sci.physics.foundations-announce
From Usenet Big-8 Management Board
From: The Big-8 Management Board <board@big-8.org> Subject: ANNOUNCE: sci.physics.foundations has been created Newsgroups: sci.astro.research, sci.physics.research, news.announce.newgroups, sci.physics.foundations, sci.physics.strings Followup-To: sci.physics.foundations Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 23:14:38 -0600 Organization: http://www.big-8.org/ On 07 Feb 2007, the Big-8 Management Board decided to create the moderated group sci.physics.foundations. The group was created on 13 Feb 2007. For more information on the proposal and history, please refer to the archives: ftp://ftp.isc.org/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/sci/sci.physics.foundations For your newsgroups file: sci.physics.foundations Fundamental and philosophical physics. (Moderated) CHARTER: Light moderation is intended, aimed not at restricting subject matter but at reducing noise. Under this guidance, the following sorts of material are deemed appropriate for sci.physics.foundations: Posts on any issue of the foundations of physics or philosophy of physics, in particular posts on unresolved or controversial issues. We are human beings before we are scientists; posts of a purely humorous or social nature, e.g. "thanks for the explanation" will be allowed. The following sorts of material are deemed inappropriate for sci.physics.foundations: Personal attacks (e.g. flames) and overly-scathing corrections; Discussion that isn't about or related to physics; Multiple responses which all say the same things; Advertisements unless deemed in the interest of the group; Posts about theories which are, in the opinions of the moderators, clearly inconsistent with empirical evidence; Posts about theories of nature with neither mathematical nor predictive content; Crossposts. Posters will be expected to maintain high standards of manners. We should recognize that we all make mistakes, and that making and then correcting mistakes is fundamental to scientific methodology. Crackpot physics starts not with making mistakes, but with a failure to recognize mistakes. Part of the function of the group should be to assist independent researchers in trapping and correcting mistakes in serious scientific research. Corrections should be phrased with due diplomacy. MODERATION POLICY: sci.physics.foundations Moderation will be aimed primarily at maintaining the level of debate. It is not intended for the moderators to trap errors in posts about research, since that is part of the rationale for the group. Speed of moderation is important for maintaining good discussion. It is intended to use ReadySTUMP which combines facilities with ease of use. Pre-approval for regular posters with a record of adherence to the charter will be considered, subject to the constraint that transgressions should result in rapid removal of pre-approval status. If white listing is used, posters will be asked to complain directly to the moderators about transgressions rather than by posting to the group. If a moderator has doubts about whether a post meets the policy described above, the post should either be allowed or referred to the other moderators for a consensus view. If a poster disagrees with the rejection of his post he may appeal to the team of moderators. If any moderator thinks the post should be allowed, it will be allowed. Posts enquiring about college physics will not be prohibited, but posters will be encouraged to send such posts to sci.physics.research when appropriate for that group. Posts on particular theories covered by other groups would generally be considered more appropriate in those groups. MODERATOR INFO: sci.physics.foundations Moderator: Charles Francis <charles@charlesfrancis.wanadoo.co.uk> Moderator: Jay R. Yablon <jyablon@nycap.rr.com> Moderator: Fred Diether <fdiether@mailaps.org> Moderator: Peter Enders <enders@dekasges.de> The moderators have, between them, extensive experience as posters on Usenet, and have an active interest in physics research supported by submissions to arXiv, which generally requires the endorsement of an established physicist, or by publications. Further information on the moderators and on this proposal may be found at: http://www.vacuum-physics.com/spf Article Submissions: spf-submit@stump.algebra.com Administrative Contact: spf-admin@stump.algebra.com PROPONENT: Charles Francis <charles@charlesfrancis.wanadoo.co.uk> CHANGE HISTORY: 2007-01-15 1st RFD 2007-01-24 2nd RFD 2007-01-31 3rd RFD/LCC 2007-02-07 Results
