Hi Mark Martin ,
  Re:  Sergey Karavashkin's idea that a planet might
  be formed from something similar to sun spots ,
You comment ,
" With no subsequent delta-V an ejectile at 
    less than escape velocity will follow 
    a ballistic trajectory which brings it 
    right back into the Sun "

Right ,  but I think Sergey's idea was that 
  some stars might be spinning so fast that 
  a particular kind of  " sun spot "  would be 
  enough to reach the escape velocity .

Remember ,  he's suggesting that the heat and compression
  inside a planet or star creates a new state of matter 
  which is positively charged locally ,
  but negatively charged outside the planet or star .

I also think he's saying that the magnetic nature of 
  sunspots and the sun itself help explain how
  The ejected matter would then form stable orbits ,
  creating something like  " Quanta " ...  i.e. planets .
  ( But I could be wrong about that )

It's a very interesting idea ,
  but I don't know how to confirm that observationally .

Re:  That refinement to general and special relativity :
  " The laws of physics ,  including the speed of light ,
    are the same regardless of one's hypothetical scale .
    Where :
    _  Space ,  time ,  and heat are all scaled .
    _  Heat is fundamentally random mass-energy .
    _  It's always one's incomplete information 
         that causes any apparent randomness . "

You observe ,
  " It's only a refinement at long last if 
      it happens to pan out observationally .
    Does it ? "

Yes it does in fact ...  
  And I'll soon be getting my Nobel .
  And when I do ,
  I'll buy everyone here a round of drinks .

No ,  seriously ,  I haven't thought it through that much .
  but we'll know it's true if Karavashkin gets a Nobel .

But this is exactly the kind of thing that
  I like to think about .