Several people sent me a link to a short and pretty little video showing two cycles in the sky: the Earth’s rotation, and that of Jupiter.
Nicely done! I was surprised to see the video was made by Thunderf00t, whom I didn’t know was an astronomer. Thunderf00t is well-known on YouTube for his great "Why People Laugh at Creationists" series, showing in very basic terms why creationists are laughably wrong. Well, it would be laughable if they weren’t trying to brainwash entire generations of schoolkids, but that’s another story.
I hope in between fighting for science he makes more astronomy videos like this one. It’s very cool.
September 4th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Thunderf00t is an excellent debunker, but there are several others on YouTube dedicated to debunking stupid “science” claims. Some of my faves are:
dprjones
Andromeda’s Wake (zeroes in on the big bang)
AronRa (mostly paleo-related, but very good)
Potholer54 and Potholer54debunks (ruler of the Crocoduck awards)
September 4th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Very cool video, I gotta get me one of those CCDs!
Oh, and you say: “brainwash entire generations of schoolkids” and I say: “empowering them to think for themselves by presenting them with more than a single circularly-referenced scientifically-based theory.” No biggie, I’m glad you find humor in it, though. :-/
September 4th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Thanks for the video. I guess I need to aff Thunderfoot to my channels.
@Scott #2, I hope you are joking! Seriously, what about dogma in any way shape or form “empowers” any type of thinking? And are you actually comparing creationism to anything resembling a theory, let alone science? Perhaps an evalutation of your basic ability to think and understand science is in order? It is a biggie, because the methodology and lack of critical thought required for creationism to flourish is the same type of mental power that is used to propegate extreemism. If you can get them to believe creationism, getting them to fly airplanes into buildings or murder doctors isn’t that hard.
http://factsnotfantasy.com/evolution.html
September 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I think Phil would love AndromedasWake (especially the welcome to the universe series).
September 4th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Okay, why does YouTube think I’d want to watch “99 words for boobs” after watching this video?
September 4th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
2. Scott Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Oh, and you say: “brainwash entire generations of schoolkids” and I say: “empowering them to think for themselves by presenting them with more than a single circularly-referenced scientifically-based theory.”
___________
Screaming “believe what we tell you to believe or you’ll spend eternity in Hell” isn’t empowering anyone, Jack. Just fyi.
September 4th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Tf00t’s channels are superb – both the main Thunderf00t one and the beautyintheuniverse one. I’ve been following his journey, and it’s always fascinating stuff! It’s great to see some of the fantastic scenery in the US, most of which I’ll probably never get to see in person.
He seems very knowledgeable about science in general.
Oh, and I want one of those remote controlled planes too!
D
#1 and #4 – I’d give a +1 for AndromedasWake and Potholer54′s videos too – especially the Golden Crocoduck nominations – Potholer54′s editing is absolutely superb! Damn funny stuff!
September 4th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Thunderfoot has done interesting vids on cosmic topics before. Check out his channel. Some good stuff there, Maynard.
jbs
September 4th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
@Ken B #5: Heavenly Bodies?
September 4th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Not as sciency as the rest, but astoundingly free thinkers are…
ProfMTH and Cristofer7.
Prof’s vids are mainly debunking religious beliefs, and are incredibly funny.
Cristofer7′s vids are simply him speaking to the camera, and are riviting. A fantastic mind on that man. I’d like him to raise my children. Wisdom and passion.
Check them out if you can.
September 4th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Thanks Kitty!
Will have to add them as well.
September 4th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I dont know if it’s been mentioned by the time I submit this, but Tf00t does quite a bit on his Beauty In The Universe channel, http://www.youtube.com/beautyintheuniverse
September 4th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Nicely appropriate, Jupiter having been the first target of newly arrived Galileoscope! Not quite as nice a view as the video, but spiffy enough to have made the 3 month wait worthwhile. An amazingly clear scope for 15 clams.
Now, if I could just get Saturn to cooperate…
September 4th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
[...] Via the Bad Astronomer, watch a cosmic ballet between Jupiter and the Earth. [...]
September 4th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A093z2cSHY
Please support DPR
Kind regards,
Rhysz
September 4th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Please, give me a mail for the show we’re doing the 12th of September. I hope you support Doctors Without Borders and I hope you will consider making a guest appearance.
Kind Regards,
Rhysz
September 4th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
@2: I call Poe. Way too trollish to be an actual troll; it lacks the subtlety.
Thunderf00t’s vids are reliably good on both sites. There are only a few duds in the lot and if I recall correctly he features some first person soaring or hang gliding footage in a few of them over amazing terrain. This was a beautiful clip.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:08 am
OT: Boooo at Google… Check their little “unexplained phenomenon” thing today.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Aewsome video!
Loved it – a big thanks to the BA & Thunderfoot.
(Thunderfoot is the literal meaning of ‘brontosaurus’ right?
)
Just one small thing you could have added too – its not just “Earth rotates” & “while Jupiter rotates” but also Jupiter’s moons rotate too – around Jupiter.
I saw three there, one faintly and briefly on the right, and two on the left. Which of the four Galileans were they – anyone know?
September 5th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Hmmmmm – “whom”?
D’oh! Of course those were moons! I was amazed that one could see Jupiter move relative to the background stars in that short a space of time.
September 5th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Off topic but this could be important – Betelguex looks *very* bright right now. 3.41 am South Australian time.
Its cloudy-ish but fairly high in sky – looks like its nearly or equally as bright as Sirius and is very vividly red. Can anyone confirm or check this please?
Conditions here are not ideal with strong moonlight & clouds.
Its probably nothing, of course, but still … if something is happening then I’d love ppl to be checking ASAP! Its got me excited.
I know its possibly, probably even, a false alarm & that Betelguese is a variable star, perhaps just having an unusally bright maxima but still ..
Just clouded over o/s but Betelguese is just punching through the clouds -very bright and red making a distinct first & negative mag triangle with Sirius & Rigel. I would estimate its much brighter than Rigel and approaching Sirius in apparent mag. I could be wrong but .. please check this out anyway if you can…
September 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I find Thunderfoot uses too many strawmen and stereotypical arguments which weaken his position and statements greatly (2nd video in the series is especially egregious). Entertaining yes, accurate no. They propagate misunderstandings which is something we castigate creationists for.
DonExodus2 youtube evolution videos though are very educational and I consider them excellent, based on my limited knowledge. Of course someone who has more knowledge than me might find DE’s videos inaccurate. And shanedk’s 6 series of videos that tackle 6 creationist claims about evolution and evolutionists are good….video 6 has links to 4 or 5 other sets of videos from other people (like DonExodus). Highly recommended that you follow those links if you’re interested in the material.
Here’s a link to hDonExodus2′s youtube page:
www_dot_youtube_dot_com/user/DonExodus2
Disclaimer: I have no connection to DonExodus, shanedk or Thunderfoot in any way, shape or form.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Another one to add is JaguarJ0nes. He specifically goes after Young Earth Creationists, henceforth known as YECs (pronounced “yehks). He constantly references a fictional book (YEC Owner’s Manual) for rebuttals and for defining fallacies. He has but one flaw and that’s his bigotry. It seems he dislikes pangolins and dismisses then as “totally gay.” (There’s nothing wrong with being a pangolin or being gay. Being a YEC, that’s a different matter).
(Okay, JJ has his tongue-in-cheek moments, especially about those gay pangolins.)
But not matter which one of these guys you subscribe to, you must still think about it. These guys are still human and will get things wrong every once in awhile. They are fellow skeptics so they welcome the corrections.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Good rhythm, good editing, catchy. Woo hoo! Let’s make science cool again!
September 6th, 2009 at 8:00 am
21. StevoR Says:
September 5th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Off topic but this could be important – Betelguese looks *very* bright right now. 3.41 am South Australian time.
Its cloudy-ish but fairly high in sky – looks like its nearly or equally as bright as Sirius and is very vividly red. Can anyone confirm or check this please?
_____________
No worries – probably just a Hrung collapsing or something. That happens sometimes in the vicinity of Betelgeuse.
Also – I had no idea you could see Betelgeuse from the southern hemisphere. I thought it was just us northerners.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
[...] Visto en: Bad Astronomy. [...]