The Bogdanov Twins AKA The Bogdanoff TwinsΩ
[related: The Bogdanov Affair, Megatrend University]
Twin French physicists with the given names Grichka and Igor known largely for their bulbous chins and vision-limiting-ly high cheekbones [1]. The Bogdanov twins are credited in their home country for stoking considerable public interest in the outer reaches of physics, cosmology, and advanced mathematics. Times X, their extraordinarily popular science program aired weekly on French National Television from 1979 to 1989. Highly accredited, both brothers received doctorates from the University of Burgundy - Igor's in theoretical physics and Grichka's in mathematics. In the early 1990's, various Usenet discussion groups conducted a systematic analysis of the Bogdonav's collective publication of the seminal essay "Topological field theory of the initial singularity of spacetime" in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity (CQG). The paper was found to be almost entirely nonsensical, intermingling terminology from string theory and cosmology with generally representational but structurally meaningless equation after equation. The paper was peer reviewed and approved by publication by Roman Jackiw of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - an aging European physicist who stood by his recommendation despite "not being able to parse most of the maths". Ignatios Antoniadis of the École Polytechnique, the paper's other steward, later admitted to reading only the first few paragraphs of the document while on vacation in Seychelles. Smelling blood, the Usenet community continued its crusade, discrediting additional essays including "The KMS state of spacetime at the Planck scale", published in the Chinese Journal of Physics, and the related "KMS space-time at the Planck scale", featured in Nuovo Cimento. Both papers used advanced quantum theory to provide insight into the dawn of the universe - yielding a new model dubbed "neon dawn" after the prominence of said element in the aftermath of the big bang. Collectively, their published work, once highly touted, was found to be on par with the Sokal affair[2], leading to the untimely termination of the twin's television contract, a process of discreditation known commonly as the Bogdanov affair[3]. Subsequent to their fall from grace, both brothers accepted positions at Megatrend University in Belgrade, a high cost for-profit institution funded by Slobodan Milošević, who was later tried and found guilty of mass genocide by The Hague. The school's flamboyant and magnetic founder, Mića Jovanović, was later found to have plagiarized his doctoral thesis in its entirety. Following Megatrend's dissolution, the twins relocated to Los Angeles to more deeply explore recent advances in the fields of aerobics and kinesiology.
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- ↑ They deny ever having cosmetic surgery, instead attributing the lack of wrinkles and ripened facial structure to "topical cryogenics".
- ↑ AKA the Sokal Hoax - refers to the publication of a purposefully nonsensical essay by Alan Sokal entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity", published in the academic journal Social Text's spring/summer 1996 "Science Wars" issue. The paper, submitted in an attempt to discredit the widely employed peer review process, proposed that quantum gravity is a social and linguistic construct - a poorly supported but theoretically convincing argument peppered with leftist-leaning jargon that, despite its admitted falsities, continues to gain traction in the metaphysical and Buddhist-adjacent communities.
- ↑ It is worth noting that the twins were highly successful in litigating attacks on their work and character. Despite the conclusions put forward by the Usenet community, the Bogdanov's ideas were never formally disproven within the legal system - and numerous substantial settlements were awarded in their favor.