Blogs / Bad Astronomy

Funny coincidence– a few days after a COPV (fuel tank) dropped from space onto Brazil, a story has surfaced that looks like exactly the same kind of object was found in Australia last year (there is a picture with the article, too).

The article claims (without cites) that it is from a US rocket launched in 1998. I’m not sure how they know that precisely, but I suppose the ground tracks of known re-entries narrowed it down. The tank was discovered in November, and the farmer who found it just started looking into the mystery, which is why the story popped up now.

From Rebecca comes word that Genie Scott, a personal hero of mine, and her flunkies at the National Center for Science Education — a top-notch outfit that fights creationism — have created a new site called Expelled Exposed, debunking the garbage of the "Expelled" move.

Yay! This was a good move. All reality-based folks should make sure we link to this site, and steer people to it if this movie is able to bubble out of the murk and filth and into the public consciousness.

So earlier today I wrote about Skeptologists, which I’m doing next week.

Step 2 in The Plot To Grind Phil Into Dust is the Conference on World Affairs. This annual conference is held in Boulder, this year from April 7 - 11, and is really something extraordinary. Committees covering various topics — science, politics, music, and so on — choose people from all over the world to come to Boulder and spend a week sitting on panels talking over issues of the day. That may sound a little dull, but it’s anything but. The speakers are at the top of their game, chosen for expertise, breadth of knowledge, and really their wow-factor. An expert who is dull as a bowling ball won’t get invited, typically.

What you end up with are about 100 vivacious, interesting, smart people, all in one place. It’s incredible.

I am on the science committee, so I was able to invite some folks I know, including James Randi, Alex Filippenko, and Brian Cox (though Brian may not be able to come due to issues I’ll be posting about later; we’re working on that). But the list of others coming includes other luminaries like my buddies Andy Ihnatko and Seth Shostak, and (squee! squee!) Rachel Maddow. The complete list of panelists is on the CWA site.

It’s a solid week of hanging out with smart people, which is one of my all-time favorite things to do. If you live anywhere near Boulder, then this is an event you don’t want to miss.

Next, Step 3: Texas and the UK. Posts about those coming soon.

The newest Carnival of Space blogfest is up at The Martian Chronicles. As always, lots of cool spacey blog posts there to keep you entertained while you goof off at work.

You may have noticed, if you watch the TV machine, that there is an incredible — literally — glut of credulous antiscientific woowoo garbage infesting the airwaves. UFO hunters, ghost hunters, psychics, speakers to the dead, and the like. You can look for a long, long time and never see any shows that actually lend a critical eye to such nonsense.

Well, that may be about to end soon.

Next week, I am flying to Los Angeles to film the pilot for a new TV show called "Skeptologists". It’s the brainchild of Brian Dunning, the brain behind the popular Skeptoid podcast, and Ryan Johnson from New Rule Productions, an LA production company. Here’s a quick summary:

The Skeptologists will be a reality-based TV series that assembles a group of highly educated and skilled experts to research, verify and de-mystify claims of the paranormal, pop-culture phenomenon, and other radical claims of interest to the skeptical community. The project will assume a skeptical viewpoint and will endeavor to use critical thinking, science, experimentation and the scientific method to produce valid and conclusive results in a fun and entertaining format.

The cast is actually pretty impressive, if I may so so myself, and I just did. Skeptics Guide to the Universe has more details, but here’s the quick version: The Skeptologists are:

• moi,
• Michael Shermer (top banana at The Skeptic Society),
• Yau-Man Chan (Chief Technology Officer at UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry and contestant on "Survivor: Fiji"),
• Kirsten Sanford (neurophysiologist and host of This Week in Science),
• Mark Edward (mentalist), and
• Steven Novella (medical doctor, host of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, and professional Rebecca-reigner-inner).

We’ll be tackling claims that edge toward or wholly plunge over the cliff of antiscience. I can’t go into details here (it’s all hush-hush and sooper seekrit) but we’ll be revealing more as time goes on. It’s a reality show, but we won’t be locked into a house or forced to date each other or have to eat bugs. I hope. I’ll let Shermer eat the bugs if that comes up.

Mind you, this is a pilot we’re filming next week, and we’re going to shop it around to various networks. In other words, it has not been picked up and there is no guarantee it will. If any loyal BABloggees work at a network or have relatives at Discovery Channel, then by all means tell them how wonderful it would be to have a fun show about skepticism hosted by an incredible cast that should be showered with millions of dollars. Say.

Anyway, pray for us wish us luck send good thoughts let’s hope that some network out there is smart enough to realize that people want to be amazed, but that there is a deep need as well to see the world for what it is, and not how bamboozlers want us to see it.

As I wrote earlier, Florida creationists are trying to dumbify students by putting forward a bill that lets students say the Earth is 6000 years old, and the teachers can’t mark them wrong.

The bill passed committee yesterday.

It’s not too late to stop it though. PZ has details and ideas, good ones. If you live in Florida, don’t let this craptacular bill become a law! Get on the phones!