Inaccuracy in reporting astronomy and science |
Inaccuracy in reporting astronomy and science |
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#401
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 117 Joined: 7-December 06 From: Sheffield UK Member No.: 1462 ![]() |
I have just watched the BBC's report on the newly created 3D map of dark matter using Hubble data; and it made my heart sink.
I applaud the BBC for giving airtime to such discoveries, but for such a respected organisation their research was awful. It's no wonder the vast majority of people are either bewildered or disinterested the the universe as a whole when the facts they are given are completely wrong. It's a shame that tonight 60 million or so people in the UK and many other people around the world were told Hubble shone a beam of light out into the depths of the universe and studied how it was bent by the gravity of dark matter billions of light years away! And this was a report from the BBCs science correspondant! I remain downhearted that perhaps the most important story of the week was reported in such a shoddy manner. Does anyone else feel space is being let down by TV coverage? -------------------- It's a funny old world - A man's lucky if he gets out of it alive. - W.C. Fields.
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#402
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 593 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 279 ![]() |
An almost pointless story:
Guardian Website: QUOTE Russian meteorite 'could have hit UK' The meteorite that caused devastation in the Urals on Friday could have struck Britain if it had entered the atmosphere at only a slightly different time of day, astronomers revealed yesterday. The region around Chelyabinsk hit by the meteorite impact is 55 degrees north, the same latitude as northern England. Had the meteorite's timing been only few hours different, it could have caused widespread damage in the British Isles, astronomers at the University of Hawaii said yesterday. Now - while I'm glad the Guardian is raising the risk of impacts - had the meteorite's timing been "only a few hours" different, the Earth wouldn't have been in the way at all. And the latitude in this context is quite meaningless. Andy |
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#403
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 ![]() |
Per the Guardian story, in Cosmos, Carl Sagan makes a very similar point about how if the Earth had rotated a bit more the Tunguska event might have leveled Moscow and if it had happened during the Cold War, that might have started a nuclear war.
Counterfactuals are always subject to scrutiny regarding their relevance ("if π were 2.5...", "if the Queen were a man...") but if Carl Sagan saw a point worth making, I can't blame The Guardian for making a similar one. |
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