Blogs / Bad Astronomy

Last week I linked to some new NASA images of the Exploration vehicles, and commented how one looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster… and now that post is linked from the FSM main page!

Yea, verily, I am truly blessed. I may rename this site to Bad Pastronomy.

The wonderful Angela Gunn, who writes Tech_Space, a great blog for USA Today, is a BABloggee. She read the entries and comments on the Shannon Malloy affair (and the sequel) with some interest. I figured some other bloggers would have lived through similar situations, and it turns out Angela did. She made some interesting (and, for my money, right on target) observations about it on her blog Tuesday. For those of you who are still accusing me of being 1) too tough 2) too lenient 3) too wimpy 4) too overbearing 5) too whatever, read what Angela wrote. She gets it.

And I mean all of you!

As you may know the creationist liar Ken Ham is opening a mortuary of science museum of creation in Kentucky. Needless to say, this museum will have all sorts of lies, twisted reason (twisted into a Klein bottle), and misrepresentation of reality.

A peaceful protest is planned, as I wrote about recently. But we need more than that. Eugenie Scott, who is the head of the National Center for Science Education, has organized a Statement of Concern, and it needs signatures. They’re looking for scientists, and specifically physical scientists, to sign the statement.

Are you a postdoc or faculty-level astronomer, chemist, physicist, engineer, or geologist in Ohio, Indiana, or Kentucky? Do you care that science is being horribly abused by the likes of Ham? Then sign the Statement!

I am commonly asked if I believe in relativity, or if I believe in evolution.

I answer, no. I say I don’t believe in anything, but I do trust that they are right. Or, I say that as a scientist, it’s more a matter of my drawing fact-based or evidence-based conclusion. Awkward, but there you go.

But Sean at Cosmic Variance also tackled this matter, and does so very well, with excellent examples of proof versus belief. We can’t prove anything to be true in science, but sometimes, you know, it’s the way to bet. If I hold a rock over my toe and let go, I can pray all I want, but in the end gravity wins.

Believe it.

Well, that’s it. The end of the world is here.

First Hollywood decided that it was time to remake "The Day the Earth Stood Still", one of the finest science fiction movies ever made.

Now they’re going in the exact opposite direction. Think about it for a sec. What could that possibly be?

Yes!

It’s time for a remake of The Bionic Woman.

Lindsey Wagner will not be in it. My bro-in-law will be unhappy, but probably not too unhappy, as the new semi-mechanical woman, Michelle Ryan, is easy on the eyes. But I can’t imagine, given the environment of TV today, where shows like Firefly and Futurama get canceled, that this will be anything more than an unending crap-o-rama. I’ll be thrilled if it’s good, but I’m not hopeful.

UPDATE: Well, hey! I know this sounds like worse news at first, but it looks like Fox will run a Terminator TV series. Yeah, I know, I know, but Summer Glau will be in it! She played River in Firefly, and is not only a good actress, but as a dancer she’s a good pick for the part. That link has a trailer, and who know? It might be good.

Rebecca — the woman who had the nerve to put a naked (?) picture of me in a calendar — is trying to become The Next Public Radio Star. A contest is being held in which people can submit a two minute demo, and the winner will get their own radio show!

Rebecca’s entry is here. To vote, you need to register, which is free and fairly painless. Rebecca is many things, but is she hosty? We’ll find out when we hear the vox populi.

Rebecca and Randi at The Amazing Meeting 5 in January, 2007.

Did anyone catch Venus and the Moon together last night? Mrs. BA and I were out walking Canis Major and Minor right at sunset, and the two nearest celestial objects were also apparently next to each other in the sky. It was lovely! I would have taken some pictures, but things are getting packed up…

Never fear, though. Dave P. caught the pairing. Though I have to gloat a little: Venus and the Moon were closer together when I saw them, with Venus maybe a half degree below the lower horn of the Moon’s crescent. I caught Mrs. BA gawking at the scene too.