The interview I did with the folks at Skeptically Speaking is now online on their website. Funny– while I was on, it seemed like I was just babbling, but listening to it now I seemed lucid enough.
We talked about the JREF, the Million Dollar Challenge, NASA, Star Trek, and then I had to field a bunch of much tougher questions from the audience than usual. Hopefully that part made some modicum of sense. Well, either way, I had a lot of fun!
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.
 | ||
 | Bad Astronomy was chosen as one of Time.com's Best Blogs of 2009. |
 |
DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom
Copyright © 2012, Kalmbach Publishing Co.
Privacy - Terms - Reader Services - Subscribe Today - Advertise - About Us
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Phil Plait:
Err… Phil, that should be than, not “then”.
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
@IVAN3MAN
Maybe he meant “much tougher questions from the audience, then [the] usual [stuff]“?
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm
@ Todd W.,
Like, er… “… much tougher questions from the audience, then [the] usual [stuff from creationists and 'Electric Universe' nutters got on my tits!]”
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Phil, It’s the wonderful quality of your “babble” to convey so much understandable information and excitement about your subject that we love so much. Keep on babbling!
I listened in while you were on the air and was really impressed with how cool headed you stayed. Each new “big” question I thought, “he will never manage to explain this on the air” and you proved me wrong again and again. I learned a lot.
The live podcast crapped out about 2/3 of the way through for me so I will have to go listen to the rest. *and FYI to Skeptically Speaking the volume of everybody really was too low on the internet broadcast.
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Yeah, babbling is always a problem when you’re excited and passionate about your subject. I just try to remember to “Breath, Idiot, Breath,,,”,,,sometimes that will slow me down just enough,,,
GAry 7
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 pm
The difference between babbling and lucidity is called editing.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:40 am
Hi Phil,
Hopefully this is a good place to take issue with something you said on the show.
I haven’t seen the recent Star Trek, for which I am shameful, but you described diving from a spaceship hundreds of kilometers up. Then you said heating would not be an issue. As a spacecraft developer I have to take exception. The rule of thumb for heating is that a capsule falling straight down from 300km sees the same peak heating rate as an orbital capsule reentering the atmosphere and a fall from 500km sees the same peak heating rate as an Apollo capsule returning from the Moon.
You could posit materials and thermal management advances in spacesuits, but I don’t think they will ever be good enough to jump from a craft hundreds of kilometers up with just a spacesuit.
Anyway, just thought I’d let you know, and also other than that technical nit, I thought you did well!
Dave