(Crank theories) always violated the first rule of a scientific model: they were uncheckable. - Gregory Benford

After weeks of indoor work it actually felt good to be doing something—clean, direct, muscles and mind.

All the way up through the academic world she had spent a lot of energy fending off the blandly patronizing efforts to enter her in what she termed the Oppression Sweepstakes. Now that she had done something worth noting, blackness attached itself to her like a lamprey.

Not sure. When don’t know, do experiment.