The Manti Te'o of Physics

theodp writes "When it comes to tales of fake girlfriends, Manti Te'o can't hold a candle to theoretical particle physicist Paul Frampton. In November 2011, writes the NY Times' Maxine Swann in 'The Professor, the Bikini Model and the Suitcase Full of Trouble,' Frampton met who he says he thought was Czech bikini model Denise Milani on Mate1.com. A Yahoo Messenger romance bloomed, at least in the 68-year-old Frampton's mind (Frampton's ex-wife was a self-described 'physics groupie'). But before starting their perfect life together, fake Denise asked Frampton for one little favor — would he be so kind as to bring her a bag that she had left in La Paz, Bolivia? Yep, bad idea. The UNC Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy soon found himself in a Buenos Aries prison, charged with transporting two kilos of cocaine into Argentina. Currently serving a four years and eight months sentence under house arrest, Frampton reportedly continues to supervise his two current PhD students by phone, and still finds time to post to the Physics archive."

Comments

Hey this is GossipDot, so

[Press2ToContinue]

let the personal Indictments on evidence presented by media coverage begin .... now!

(You may write below. Judging morals and boob-based motivational jokes are encouraged.)

Re:Hey this is GossipDot, so

[jhoegl]

Everyone knows women dont exist on the internet.
Therefore, you should know it is a hoax if they are interested.

Re:Hey this is GossipDot, so

[GameboyRMH]

The biggest surprise for me is that physicists have groupies! Do you have to be a rich successful physicist or just a competent physicist? Because it's not too late for me to change careers.

It doesn't really add up

[damn_registrars]

It's hard to believe that he could really be that oblivious to how the real world works. The messages he sent from Bolivia where he talks about the value of cocaine, and evading authorities, don't help his case, either.

Re:It doesn't really add up

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

What would be odd, though, about the 'it was deliberate' case is that(at least going by popular accounts and a rough survey of people who get caught) being a coke mule is kind of a shitty job. Lots of surplus value in the supply chain as a whole; but not a terribly compelling slice(especially given the legal, and in some methods lethal, hazards involved) of that actually goes to the peon doing the carrying.

I'd assume that squeaky-clean white Americans are rather more desirable mules than 'impecunious locals who don't have a convincing story for how they even bought a ticket', because they are less suspicious and more likely to bring the package to its destination, unless the sniffer dogs get them; but unless the premium paid is pretty good, it still seems like a strange career move, particularly for somebody sharp enough to hack it as a physicist.

It wouldn't be the first time that somebody did something moronic; but 'coke mule' is not high on the list of fantasy dream jobs...

Re:It doesn't really add up

[seyyah]

He may still have been manipulated by the 'woman', but knew a little more about what he needed to do (ie carry a suitcase full of cocaine rather than her sentimental suitcase) to get her.

Re:It doesn't really add up

[bitt3n]

It's hard to believe that he could really be that oblivious to how the real world works. The messages he sent from Bolivia where he talks about the value of cocaine, and evading authorities, don't help his case, either.

I'm struck by the astuteness of your observation. As a nubile lingerie-model, I've been looking for someone like you to help lift me up out of the downward spiral to which I've been doomed by my slightly unwholesome good looks and improbably bountiful bosom. I know it's beyond all reason to hope that some stranger on the internet might condescend to lift me from out of this maelstrom of sexually depraved antics and obscene luxury, but is there any chance that someone of your pronounced intellect and homespun charms might be able to love a poor thing like me? Bonus points if you have a peg leg and are too fat to fit in one of those backscatter machines.

Re:It doesn't really add up

[dywolf]

http://www.boobpedia.com/boobs/Denise_Milani

Man has good taste

Re:It doesn't really add up

[jjohnson]

Hans Reiser is the template for this sort of thing. His basic flaw is narcissism, which makes him a perfect dupe. He's genuinely unsurprised that a supermodel would want to make babies with him, a distinguished physics professor in line for a Nobel. And just like Reiser, he's genuinely shocked that the court didn't believe his "I'm aspie!" defence in court that he was just joking about those tweets.

Re:It doesn't really add up

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

It's hard to believe that he could really be that oblivious to how the real world works. The messages he sent from Bolivia where he talks about the value of cocaine, and evading authorities, don't help his case, either.

My impression of the story the author was telling is that the guy really was catfished, but he knew he was a drug mule. He just thought that muling was something he needed to do for the woman, to prove his love or to provide a comfortable life for her, something along those lines. He also thought that he was smarter than the cops and that if he got caught, he would be able to get off by pretending to have been fooled.

The guy probably never dealt with the legal system before, much less criminal legal system in a 3rd world country, and had the typical nerd belief that it was all just a system of rules, like theoretical physics or computer programming, and if he could just set up the 'equations' the right way the result would be the outcome he expected (I think the author hinted at that when she focused on his statements about how great it would be to have his theoretical predictions validated by a real experiment.)

Now, that is the story I think the author was telling, who knows how true that is to what really happened.

Re:It doesn't really add up

[ShanghaiBill]

Man has good taste

Perhaps it was just intellectual curiosity. As a physicist, he may have thought they could account for the Universe's missing mass.

 

Frampton came alive

[ShaunC]

Do you, you... Feel like I do?

Re:Frampton came alive

[Anonymous Coward]

Woke up this morning in a Buenos Aires jail.

What jail?

Whose jail?

Where the hell is my bail?

Re:Frampton Comes Alive!

[snspdaarf]

... in rock (outside of disco) ...

You have no credibility

Re:I don't get it

[queazocotal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Nowak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_reiser
Are a couple of examples that spring to mind.

Being very smart, especially if you're somewhat sheltered from the real world can lead to really, really bad decisions.

Dude Doesn't Deserve to be Called a Physicist ...

[pollarda]

Clearly here is one guy who lacks the sense of curiosity that is supposed to be the hallmark of all physicists. What is in the bag? Is the cat in the bag alive or dead?

--
This comment will not be saved until you click the Submit button below.

AN OMG moment

[MouseTheLuckyDog]

I did not meet Frampton but In the 80's I knew several of his students. So that's 2 degrees.
All I can say is wow.
This guy not only was a professor, he was one of the guys inventing the thing that eventually became String Theory only at the time it was called Dual Resonance Models. He also wrote a book on QFT that was generally on everyone's suggested reading list. Virtual every high energy physicist has heard of him.

Re:Why aren't drugs legal?

[fafalone]

What exactly are those repercussions, that don't arise only as a consequence of legal status? Here's a hint, they're about the same as those of people taking high doses of other opiates prescribed by physicians; and those under heroin maintenance programs in Europe: virtually nil.

Pick another drug to make that comment about, because medically speaking, opiates (which includes heroin) are among the safest drugs out there when used legally.
And before you bring up 'liver problems', remember that is a consequence of the Tylenol put into opioid preparations as a deterrent to recreational use.

And as a sanity check, I have to assume you believe the taxpayer should not be responsible for the repercussions of legal alcohol and tobacco use? Because if that's not the case, well, you know what that would make you. Oh and by the way, the burden on taxpayers will be less if it's legal regardless of the drug. The drug war sure as shit isn't free, and the non-drugwar costs are already there- and there's no good reason to believe untold masses of people are going to rush out and become heroin addicts just because it's legal.

Re:Why aren't drugs legal?

[serviscope_minor]

One could argue lots of other things too.

People should be free to fuck themselves up with drugs, just like they're free to fuck themselves up with other things. Why should drugs be special?

People fuck themselves up with alcohol (OK it is a drug), but many more people can use it responsibly and legally.

People are free to drive as much as they want even though it is a huge cause of injury, disablement and death. Yet we support them.

Likewise people are free to do many dangerous recreational activities (mountain biking, snowsports, whitewater rafting etc).

People are also free to eat themselves into a 450lb food coma.

Why should drugs be any different?

Why do they get singled out aginst the no-harm (if you do no harm to others, then it sould be allowed) principle? Many things currently illegal are harmless if used responsibly, and many legal things are harmful if not. The key is pursuing the people whi cannot use them responsibly. And a large part of why drugs cause so much harm is the massive association with crime BECAUSE they are illegal. If they were legal, they wouldn't be de-facto associated with crime.

I have yet to hear a good, coherent argument as to why drugs should be illegal compared to other dangerous recreational activities.

Re:Hmm...

[Geeky]

We are. But I still feel like a newbie.

I have a long and personally relevant story about how an otherwise reasonably intelligent man can allow himself to be fooled by a younger attractive woman. I'll outline it here.

He gave in to the temptation to see escorts. He met one who he started seeing regularly, and after a while she told him she was getting out of the business but would keep seeing him. By seeing her more regularly, she could get by, financially. When asked she hinted that she might be interested in a relationship, but wanted to get her life sorted out - that she wasn't "ready". She was trying to start a legitimate business first, and wanted to focus on that.

Two years go by. He keeps seeing her. He puts some money towards her business, even some technical assistance. She meets him outside of "work" but only when she wants a favour. They chat online almost every day, and he sees her for the other stuff every couple of weeks. There has been no progress towards a relationship, and he suspects she has a partner who is actually running the (legitimate) business, or is still working, or both.

Despite all this, he still holds out hope. He's aware of the cognitive dissonance, and the doublethink required to stick with it, and has even asked her to just tell him, so they can carry on happily as they are without that false hope. He'd accept that. Despite it all, he genuinely likes and cares for her.

Luckily this post is buried in a reply several deep in an older thread, so I doubt many people will read it and raise eyebrows at the obvious "a friend of mine..." nature of the story.

Re:Dude Doesn't Deserve to be Called a Physicist .

[Locke2005]

He knew damn well what was in the bag! After being warned by a friend that it probably had drugs sewn into the lining, he opened it up and (supposedly) decided it was empty. Then he filled it with his own clothes to make it look less suspicious. Kinda hard to miss 2Kg of coke, isn't it? This is a guy that was so delusional he actually thought if he smuggled coke for this Milani chick, that she was going to fall in love with him and marry him... despite the fact that he had never spoken to her in person.