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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Feb 15 2007, 12:14 AM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Yeah...I've noticed that too.
I think they're trying to squeeze every last bit of return-on-investment from these old chestnuts, accuracy/currency be damned. Unfortunately, they almost certainly won't ever get called on it. Specialized cable channels like this are designed for relatively small audiences, so informed criticism from the knowledgeable few among those is unlikely to amount to much pressure to reform from their viewpoint. People like UMSFers are watching these shows already knowing the details of what they should tell us & hoping for a few nuggets of new information. The real tragedy is that the majority of the audience (which is watching out of genuine curiosity & a desire to learn) is getting outdated information which will warp their understanding and potentially diminish their interest/arouse suspicion if they later receive contradictory information. In this way, it's a real disservice. -------------------- 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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