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About Bad Astronomy
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.
The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
Bad Astronomy was chosen as one of Time.com's Best Blogs of 2009. Science Getaways
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-- Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space- DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom
- A Planet of Viruses: Autographed Book Sale
- Animal Friendships: My cover story for Time magazine
- The Future of E-books–podcast of my interview on Wisconsin Public Radio
- Thursday, February 16: Science and social media panel in New York
- A Scientific Jonah: My profile of Joy Reidenberg in tomorrow’s New York Times
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August 30th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Please, please, please link to where you got that!!!! I have got to get me one! Thats just to cool.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:33 am
That’s funny, I saw that thing in a Toys for Boys store on Saturday, but I didn’t dare bring one home.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:36 am
I love this blog. That is the geekiest thing I have ever seen. LOL
August 30th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I prefer when you stick to science.
Oh, wait, no I don’t. Fun toy!
August 30th, 2007 at 9:42 am
Off topic:
Hey Phil, you still haven’t posted a Bad review of Sunshine.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:44 am
By the way, I always though the sound of the TARDIS reminded me of a toilet flushing.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:57 am
The sonic screwdriver link for me just opens the same video…
Phil, did you get the idea for that from Lee Graham by any chance?
August 30th, 2007 at 10:00 am
So funny, your personality shines through on these videos. So when are you going to start working on a 13 part series for PBS?!!
August 30th, 2007 at 10:03 am
I just ordered one myself, along with a sonic screwdriver. I had ThinkGeek email me as soon as they had more in stock.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Oh, and P=NP! :^P
August 30th, 2007 at 10:14 am
You know, I’d love to get one, I just don’t think I could handle having to always explain what it is…
However, it’s cool to know that we have the same Flash Drives! The little switch is entertainment in and of itself.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:21 am
*ahem*
NERD!
August 30th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Way to get your geek on.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:30 am
That pen drive is pretty sweet.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Ha. After watching the video my wife no longer thinks I’m the biggest nerd on the face of the Earth. That may change once I have my own TARDIS, though.
For those of you scoring at home, here is one way to score your nerdiness…at home. My apologies if this has been posted before.
http://www.nerdtests.com/fe_nq.php?im
August 30th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Rats! That link should have read:
http://www.nerdtests.com/ft_nq.php?im
Sorry.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Now I know what to get my wife for Christmas.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Oh! What a geek that makes you!!! Where can I get one of those!
August 30th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Oh, I
August 30th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Drat! I guess what I did was misinterpreted as coding, and it wiped out my comment. What I attempted to write was this, only with the leftward-pointing caret in place of the words “less-than”:
Oh, I [less-than]3 [less-than]3 that nifty toy!
Sadly, this takes a lot of the fun out of the comment, though, to do it this way.
~David D.G.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:25 am
That is so retardised.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Gee, I’m only in the 93rd percentile. Bummer!
I want a REAL Tardis,,,
Hmmm, I guess it’s back to the basement lab,,,
Gary 7
August 30th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Just had an idea for a memory stick and 1-port USB hub set.
The memory stick will be called Intelligent Design and the associated USB hub will be shaped like a creationist (looks like any other human but with a bible held above his head in a firm grip).
I’ll give you one guess as to where the USB port is located.
It’s poetry, you can tell people where to stick Intelligent Design and you can also show people where it got pulled from.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I don’t know if this is where he got it but…
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/9223/
And the sonic screwdriver is here:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/8cff/
August 30th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Best! Ever!
August 30th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
ohmigod! phil, you now owe me $40. this is all YOUR fault!
August 30th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
What is that? Please enlighten me.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Uhh…never mind. Just visited the link Ken B posted.
August 30th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
It’s the shameless mugging that makes me laugh!
August 30th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
This summer I was driving through a subdivision that was under construction and we drove past a blue jiffy johnny. My five year old daughter said, “Daddy! Look it’s the Tardis!”
She also wants to be a Dalek for Halloween.
August 30th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I got the sonic screwdriver toy. I was a little less than impressed, but the black light ink that came with it, as well as the slightly psychic paper was a nice touch.
I’m thinking of getting the sonic screwdriver torch (it’s on amazon).
August 30th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Well, when that young guy in sneakers is finished, he becomes me.
And I drive (well, I say drive, more….guide, generally) the thing in the right tempo-spatial direction.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m double parked.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
You can go here for a free tardis card model (lots of other stuff as well).
http://web.mac.com/michaelhaggard/ALBIONRISING/Free_P.M..html
August 30th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Baby?
You. Are. Beautiful.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
So, does it make the data on the USB memory stick dematerialize or something?
August 30th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Phil, it’s your random expressions that really make the video. Ha ha.
August 30th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
You should contact ThinkGeek–I bet they would throw that video on the page.
August 30th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Me want! But I want the screwdriver more. I just want to point it at people who aren’t Doctor Who fans and freak them out.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I’m a nerd wannabe, ABR. But hey, I’m still young. Today at orientation, I ran to the library and looked for astronomy books. They have The Cosmic Connection. I’m gonna have a good year. One beef with that quiz- the best use of canned air is SCUBA DIVING, duh! I’ve tried to see Doctor Who, but it’s never been on at convienient times. I did learn a lot from the Wikipedia pages on it, though, so I know what a TARDIS is. Which reminds me of a joke:
Knock, knock
Who’s there?
Doctor.
Doctor Who?
Yeah, have you seen my time machine?
August 30th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Great! It’s finally in North America!. There’s an online store near Toronto I can get it from now!
Oh, and my nerdiness is 94%! Who’d a thunk?!
August 30th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
To use the internet parlance popular in blogs:
WANT.
Oh, how very much I WANT.
I love the Doctor Who writers’ philosophy: Fling a the audience a bunch of stuff that sounds like it makes sense until you think about it, then run away! I propose that we find Michael Piller and EVERY writer of Star Trek: Voyager and make them write “This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ‘bing’ when there’s stuff” one thousand times.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
HAHA I Love it!
August 30th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
I once saw a USB razor… oh wait. Phil does the scruff look… Um… I’ll try to think of something else you can plug into a USB port I guess..
August 30th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
For those unaware, I totally stole the style of this from Erin whom I love with all my brain.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:48 am
Heheheh very, very cool.
August 31st, 2007 at 6:53 am
did you notice someone on the youtube comments called you “NEEEEERRDDD!!”? …hey, wait a minute, I know what Doctor Who is despite it has never aired in my country! what am I then??!!
August 31st, 2007 at 11:42 am
How about a rocket powered call box?
http://www.squirrel-works.com/catalog/callbox/callbox.html
August 31st, 2007 at 12:39 pm
they left a question off on that nerd test: is any room in your house decorated to look like the interior of the TARDIS (any configuration)?
I finally got my own TARDIS working last week. Currently the chameleon circuits are configured to make it look like a 1995 Lincoln Continental. It was pretty easy, for the most part, but getting it to behave interdimensionally was awkward. The darn thing kept materializing in the bathroom. I finally figured out that I had to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.
I’ve managed to outfit it with a set of 500Mm railguns and antimatter ammo, too. Just in case I run across some Serpentis pirates.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I have GOT to get me one of them. Though my Intended has just walked away muttering darkly something about “Bring any more geek stuff into this house and the wedding is off”, or something along those lines. If I get jilted when we get to Vegas in October for our date with Destiny and Elvis, then it’s gonna be your fault, Mr. BA.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:07 pm
WANT.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:09 pm
You people want toy vids? I got your stinking toy vids!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l3UwpLI_IE
http://erin-obrien.blogspot.com/2007/02/loverboy.html
http://erin-obrien.blogspot.com/2006/11/sweet-sound-of-halloween.html
September 1st, 2007 at 8:43 am
I hate Doctor Who. It’s so naff. Start Trek forever!!!!
September 2nd, 2007 at 9:27 am
So… friggin… jealous.
It’s on my ThinkGeek wishlist, along with the Sonic Screwdriver.
WANT!!
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 am
WANTED….got. I hope you get a kickback from Think Geek.
September 2nd, 2007 at 12:40 pm
SWEET!
Now they need a bluetooth remote control Davros or Dalek..
April 10th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
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February 24th, 2010 at 4:11 am
Love it. priceless!