sank as she heard this appraisal, but Johnson hadn’t asked for a comment so she didn’t respond.
Johnson went on, “ But , that is what we experimentalists do. We test crazy predictions by hare brained theorists just in case one of them is actually correct. Personally, I’m going to enjoy proving that this ‘wunderkind gymnast’ is an idiot. She’s gotten entirely too much attention at way too young an age. Probably thinks her crap doesn’t stink like everyone else’s.”
He paused, so Ell said in a small voice, “Yes sir.”
“All that aside, for you to be able to do experiments on her predictions, you’re going to have to understand her math backwards and forwards. So, in your spare time the rest of this summer, get yourself chin deep in that paper she wrote and learn how to work her math for actual testable predictions. Smythe thinks that the ‘low hanging fruit’ for a testable hypothesis is her absurd prediction that you can ‘spin bump’ an entangled molecule’s outer shell electrons and measure an instantaneous ‘quiver’ in the electrons of the distant molecule of the entangled pair.”
Bemused to be told she had to “study up” on a paper that she had written herself, Ell nonetheless said, “Yes sir.” with a straight face.
“Unfortunately, ‘spin bumping’ is a hypothesis that might be possible to prove correct if it worked. But, when it doesn’t work we won’t be able to be sure that it was because the theory is hogwash. There will still be the possibility that the ‘spin bumping’ apparatus we came up with didn’t work right. So, what I want you to do is look for other testable hypotheses that will be easier to prove wrong.”
“Yes sir.” Ell said quietly, immeasurably disappointed that she wouldn’t be allowed to try to prove that spin bumping did work.
“Now, I know you don’t know squat about experimental methods, so you’ll have to talk to me about what you think her theory predicts would happen and I’ll help you figure out whether we can test it. I suppose we’ll have to make a few runs at this ‘spin bumping’ crap too but, even though it’ll be a waste of time, it will be good practice for you setting up apparatus.”
“Yes sir.” Ell said, cheered.
“OK, head on over to admin, they should know about you by the time you get there.” He turned back to his screens without shaking her hand or saying goodbye.
“Yes sir.” Ell turned and left, not at all sure she wanted to work with this man? Maybe she could transfer somewhere else after a semester?
***
Hands on his hips Mr. Li looked critically around the basement of the house his team had rented in Goldsboro, North Carolina. “OK, it will do. We need desks to work at and some large monitor screens. Set up cameras at her father’s and grandmother’s houses in Morehead City and at the arrival areas in the RDU and ILM airports. At the airports we will have to rely on facial recognition software, but at her homes I want one of us to inspect the image of each person who comes or goes.
“Hao, you drive the roads here until you know them well.
“Xian, you rent us a house on the barrier island with a dock. Then rent a boat to put in that dock and practice taking the boat out to the various rendezvous points.
“Cho, you will obtain weapons, and a net jammer, and equipment to immobilize her. I know she is ‘just a girl’ but remember that she not only is said to have dealt successfully with those Arab terrorists, but that the team that preceded us was captured while trying to remove her from the country.
“We will over-plan and over-prepare so that we do not fail like that incompetent Chin.”
Chapter Four
While she was at home over the summer, Ell had found herself constantly looking over her shoulder, especially when she encountered people of Asian extraction. When she registered at NCSU in August her feelings of sadness at leaving home again were mixed with quite a bit of
Johnson went on, “ But , that is what we experimentalists do. We test crazy predictions by hare brained theorists just in case one of them is actually correct. Personally, I’m going to enjoy proving that this ‘wunderkind gymnast’ is an idiot. She’s gotten entirely too much attention at way too young an age. Probably thinks her crap doesn’t stink like everyone else’s.”
He paused, so Ell said in a small voice, “Yes sir.”
“All that aside, for you to be able to do experiments on her predictions, you’re going to have to understand her math backwards and forwards. So, in your spare time the rest of this summer, get yourself chin deep in that paper she wrote and learn how to work her math for actual testable predictions. Smythe thinks that the ‘low hanging fruit’ for a testable hypothesis is her absurd prediction that you can ‘spin bump’ an entangled molecule’s outer shell electrons and measure an instantaneous ‘quiver’ in the electrons of the distant molecule of the entangled pair.”
Bemused to be told she had to “study up” on a paper that she had written herself, Ell nonetheless said, “Yes sir.” with a straight face.
“Unfortunately, ‘spin bumping’ is a hypothesis that might be possible to prove correct if it worked. But, when it doesn’t work we won’t be able to be sure that it was because the theory is hogwash. There will still be the possibility that the ‘spin bumping’ apparatus we came up with didn’t work right. So, what I want you to do is look for other testable hypotheses that will be easier to prove wrong.”
“Yes sir.” Ell said quietly, immeasurably disappointed that she wouldn’t be allowed to try to prove that spin bumping did work.
“Now, I know you don’t know squat about experimental methods, so you’ll have to talk to me about what you think her theory predicts would happen and I’ll help you figure out whether we can test it. I suppose we’ll have to make a few runs at this ‘spin bumping’ crap too but, even though it’ll be a waste of time, it will be good practice for you setting up apparatus.”
“Yes sir.” Ell said, cheered.
“OK, head on over to admin, they should know about you by the time you get there.” He turned back to his screens without shaking her hand or saying goodbye.
“Yes sir.” Ell turned and left, not at all sure she wanted to work with this man? Maybe she could transfer somewhere else after a semester?
***
Hands on his hips Mr. Li looked critically around the basement of the house his team had rented in Goldsboro, North Carolina. “OK, it will do. We need desks to work at and some large monitor screens. Set up cameras at her father’s and grandmother’s houses in Morehead City and at the arrival areas in the RDU and ILM airports. At the airports we will have to rely on facial recognition software, but at her homes I want one of us to inspect the image of each person who comes or goes.
“Hao, you drive the roads here until you know them well.
“Xian, you rent us a house on the barrier island with a dock. Then rent a boat to put in that dock and practice taking the boat out to the various rendezvous points.
“Cho, you will obtain weapons, and a net jammer, and equipment to immobilize her. I know she is ‘just a girl’ but remember that she not only is said to have dealt successfully with those Arab terrorists, but that the team that preceded us was captured while trying to remove her from the country.
“We will over-plan and over-prepare so that we do not fail like that incompetent Chin.”
Chapter Four
While she was at home over the summer, Ell had found herself constantly looking over her shoulder, especially when she encountered people of Asian extraction. When she registered at NCSU in August her feelings of sadness at leaving home again were mixed with quite a bit of
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