The new Skeptics’ Circle (#75!) is online now at Aardvarchaeology. There’s some good stuff there… but you needn’t believe me.
About Bad Astronomy
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
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 has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space- How to Become a Backyard Galileo (Minus the Church Trouble)
- Discover Interview: Space Is Getting Bigger, and It's Getting Bigger Faster
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December 20th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
HA! Loved the article on Divorce Is Bad For the Environment. Speaking as one that has just gone through a divorce, it is a safe bet to assume I would have been added to the already overpopulated prison system if I had stayed with that woman, because I would have probably murdered the woman if I had to live with her any longer. I’ll take my chances with Global Warming, thanks.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Where’s some skepticism on the GW issue?
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport
Short quote: “Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.”
Whether you support AGW, plain GW or nothing, you have to admit this is NOT what science is supposed to be about. Science is NOT consensus and intimidation. The whole “the only deniers are religious idiopts, politicians and oil company shills” is propaganda and demonization that ranks with the best of history’s madmen and dictators. I hope you who indulge in this are proud of yourselves for the oppressive situation you have created.
Another quote: “Many of my colleagues with whom I spoke share these views and report on their inability to publish their skepticism in the scientific or public media.” — Dr. Nathan Paldor, Professor of Dynamical Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of almost 70 peer-reviewed studies.
But it’s just a government report, so we can safely ignore it, right? Ignore all those voices of the scientists outside the Inquisition, oops, I mean the Consensus.
The situation is shameful. Utterly shameful. It is a massive blind spot for the skeptical community.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Great story about lucky charms on the podblack blog, well researched. Anyone here ever take a toy or gaming character with them to an exam? Looking at the results from my finals, I think I could have used a stegosaurus or a pikachu to cheer me up during the calculations.
December 21st, 2007 at 6:59 am
Racer X writes (amidst paragraphs of denunciation of mainstream scientists):
[[Science is NOT consensus and intimidation.]]
Consensus is very much part of how modern science is done. The scientific consensus is not a majority vote, it is a general agreement on what is already known. Sometimes the consensus has been wrong — but not as often as lone cranks and crackpots (like the global warming deniers) have been wrong.
December 21st, 2007 at 7:47 am
Eh, being Bad For The Environment is like Offending God: nigh unavoidable.
What is it that Pastor Lovejoy said in [i]The Simpsons[/i]? “Look, according to the Bible, going to the bathroom is a sin?”
December 21st, 2007 at 9:06 am
LOL@Centipede& Rev. Lovejoy.
In the words of Ned Flanders: “Hi dee ho Good Neighbor.”
December 21st, 2007 at 9:42 am
Only three things are certain for whatever you do:
1) It probably causes cancer of some sort.
2) It probably harms the environment in some way.
3) It’s probably a sin to someone’s god.
I <3 Reverend Lovejoy.