Never doubt the power of the blogosphere. We can even change the heavens themselves. My congrats to Powerdroid for keenly spotting the problem. That’s very cool.

Now that’s secret. Talk an authority figure into changing the photo, and the heavens change with it. BA, this the core of a great new book for you. I bet you can flog it on Oprah when it’s finished.

Many eyes make light work.

And from a lightbulb joke:
“It’s OK. I’ll just sit here… in the dark.”

Um, the prize? How about a spare accumulator?

Or – perhaps Phil can fix a Doctor Who droid cameo? Wouldn’t that be cool?

Later.

-Powerdroid

I’m glad I could contribute.

-Powerdroid

:-/

Gonk, indeed.

http://www.dieselsweeties.com/shirts/gonkdroid/

But analysis of data for publication is also more closely combed, I would think, by the researcher than an image for the press. Also, there’s a reviewer combing over your stuff, too, not to mention collaborators. It helps mitigate mistakes. Also, when something is not repeatable or observable by other teams, that is a good hint that there is a mistake! I don’t think we can mistake ourselves into a wrong version of the universe, for the universe will correct us. If *anything* at all, the limited understanding that a human brain brings to the problem is the bias that I would worry about.

These questions are sort of rhetorical, but this situation demonstrates why I sometimes get uncomfortable with the reliance on “computer enhanced imagery” and computational models. Is it possible we’ve enhanced and simulated ourselves into a totally wrong understanding of the universe?