Inaccuracy in reporting astronomy and science |
Inaccuracy in reporting astronomy and science |
Jan 8 2007, 07:15 PM
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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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Jan 12 2007, 07:27 PM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
...yeah, I'm convinced that Franky lacked the fine manual dexterity required for the job!
You know, that sure is part of the problem, though: the public fears science, in whatever form, and the media knows this & tries to make it warm and fuzzy, never placing any burden on the audience to think. Fear usually does result from (and I do not use the word pejoratively) ignorance. Sigh...I was going to write "how do we make people less afraid of science?", but that's definitely not a morally appropriate way to frame the problem. Maybe the question is how do we make science as interesting to the general public as the latest antics of Donald Trump & Rosie O'Donnell? (Surely some of the dogfights that inevitably occur during project development could at least compete with that! ) EDIT: Got it!!! How about a reality TV series called "The Mission"? Premise here is to follow the late developmental stages of a medium-class project (say Mars 2011?) all the way until launch, complete with headaches, squabbles, joy, and triumph. If done correctly, this would be truly compelling viewing and thereby a huge boon for UMSF. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Jan 19 2007, 12:35 PM
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14448 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Premise here is to follow the late developmental stages of a medium-class project (say Mars 2011?) all the way until launch, complete with headaches, squabbles, joy, and triumph. If done correctly, this would be truly compelling viewing and thereby a huge boon for UMSF. Well - technically the NOVA 'Mars Rocks' and 'Welcome to Mars' programs kind of did that - An anxious Steve watching one of the Mini-TES getting shock tested etc. Doug |
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Feb 9 2007, 02:25 PM
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#4
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Well - technically the NOVA 'Mars Rocks' and 'Welcome to Mars' programs kind of did that - An anxious Steve watching one of the Mini-TES getting shock tested etc. Doug That's true, but unfortunately PBS only reaches a very small audience here in the US, and they don't do much advertising. It would be a lot better if one of the major commercial networks here (CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox) did something similar with all the bells & whistles involved in the reality TV genre. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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