Thanks again to all.
As the contest comes to a close, I am gratified to see my work featured on the FQXi Forum page, as one of the top essays this week. I also see my friends Lawrence Crowell - who is on the editorial board with me at Prespacetime - and Ray Munroe - with whom I am writing what is shaping up to be a most excellent paper on Octonions. I apologize for my absence from the Essay discussions, throughout so much of the process, but I have been rather busy - academically and otherwise.
Of course; a subject like Octonions demands more than a little study for me, but our paper has made Ray do his homework too. I submitted three abstracts for FFP12 in Udine, this November; one on how we need whole-brain thinking to understand Quantum Mechanics, one asking if folks in Physics are responsible to help inform the public, and a third asking what the Mandelbrot Set can teach us about Cosmology. The first covers a lot of material from my FQXi essay, the second introduces people to the Azimuth project, and the third talks about a subject I've been exploring for quite a while.
I got to serve as Administrator for viXra, during a recent period of Phil Gibbs' absence, and that was quite educational. For those who don't know; he and I were guest editors for what turned into a two issue special feature on Cosmology for Prespacetime, last year. But I have also been assisting Floyd Holt, who was once 'America's Teacher of the Year,' to prepare his presentation for Udine. Floyd is planning to build a Science and Technology Center nearby, and I want to introduce him to B.G. Sidharth, who is one of the Frontiers of Fundamental Physics conference organizers, and who also founded a Science Center.
I wish the best of luck to all the finalists, and I thank all who visit this page for coming.
My thanks also to FQXi, Scientific American, and the Gruber Foundation.
Warm Regards,
Jonathan