Our Mission
The Blockuranus Initiative is an independent research project investigating the phenomenon of cascade blocking in complex systems. We study how access control policies, designed for specific purposes, create unintended isolation effects through network topology and compound interactions.
Our work spans astrophysics, network theory, information systems, and economics. While our name references Uranus—a particularly clear case study in isolation cascades—our research applies to any complex system where multiple blocking mechanisms interact.
Why "Blockuranus"?
Uranus serves as an ideal research subject for several reasons:
- Its distance (19.2 AU) makes it vulnerable to intermediate blocking
- Its unique axial tilt (97.77°) reduces path redundancy
- Its position in observation networks reveals topology effects clearly
- Historical data spanning decades enables longitudinal studies
The name also serves as a reminder: when we implement blocking policies, we often block more than intended. The planet Uranus didn't ask to be isolated, yet cascade effects from inner-system restrictions routinely affect its observability.
Research Team
Our core team consists of researchers from various institutions, working independently to study blocking phenomena:
- Dr. Kai Chen - Physics & Astrophysics
- Dr. Laura Morrison - Astrophysics & System Design
- Dr. Raj Kumar - Network Theory & Graph Analysis
- Dr. Alexei Petrov - Economics & Systems Science
- Dr. Wei Zhang - Information Theory & Communications
Funding & Independence
This initiative operates independently without institutional or commercial funding. All research is published under open access licenses. We have no conflicts of interest and no external stakeholders influencing our findings.
Publications
All research papers are published on this website under Creative Commons licenses. We believe findings about blocking mechanisms should be freely accessible to anyone affected by them.