He has also appeared in several science documentaries, including phil plait s bad universe on the discovery channel. Im also a writer, and in fact in mid2007 i decided to write fulltime about astronomy. Welcome to the first episode of crash course astronomy. In the pictures taken of the lunar lander by the astronauts, the tv show continues, there is no blast crater. He debunks myths and misconceptions about astronomy.
The sun is sending them out in all directions though, to be fair, more along the suns equator than at the poles, which well ignore, and your little net is. Besides new material on old bad astronomy, there is also quite a bit of new bad astronomy. 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 cant mark. When someone driving a car pulls into a parking spot. A step in the right direction but there are many more steps to go.
Phil plait is behind the bad astronomy on slate, where he deconstructs misconceptions and explores the wonder of the universe. Sep 22, 2018 in phil plait s excellent book, bad astronomy, 5 mr. The change in distance of the earth to the sun is a very minor player. The talk then branches off into a dissection of hollywood movies, using specific clips from wellknown movies. Now, i know i shouldnt expect to be able to speak fluent chemistry gibberish after reading a couple of books overnight.
Sep 24, 20 phil plait, who goes by the name of the bad astronomer, has now written three articles in slate attacking two of my columns in the wall street journal on the topic of climate change. Black holes growing faster than expected democratic. Bad astronomy is phil plaits answer to dozens of myths and misconceptions people have about stars, the moon, the planets, meteorites, asteroids, comets, the universe, and the observers of all those things. Plait points out that very simple math shows that our noncircular orbit counts for at most a 7f 4c difference, summer or winter. The seasons are mostly due to the axial tilt of the earth. Introduction to bad astronomy debunking common misconceptions stay safe and healthy.
He has written two books, bad astronomy and death from the skies. Jan 12, 2015 phil plait writes slates bad astronomy blog and is an astronomer, public speaker, science evangelizer, and author of death from the skies. Phil plait, who goes by the name of the bad astronomer, has now written three articles in slate attacking two of my columns in the wall street journal on the topic of climate change. Your host for this intergalactic adventure is the bad astronomer himself, phil plait. He has also appeared in several science documentaries, including phil plaits bad universe and how the universe works on the discovery ch. I was amused the other day to get a message on twitter that basically said the writer was surprised i was on facebook. Dec 27, 2016 vera rubin, a pioneering astronomer who discovered dark matter, has died. A guy in canada fell asleep in such a way that he developed a serious condition in his leg. Phil plait writes slates bad astronomy blog and is an astronomer, public speaker, science evangelizer. George church, harvard university space elevators, gold asteroids, and fusion. Philip plait is an astronomer who also runs the excellent bad astronomy website. Phil plait, at the bad astronomy blog is celebrating carl sagan day. Its more than 100 times wider than the earth, and more than a million earths would fit inside it.
The seasons are caused by the change in the distance of the earth to the sun. Bad astronomy page 386 of 7 discover magazine blogs. Phil plait had no logical or scientific response to my questions so rather than attempt to answer them persuasively he just deleted the questions. Appalled that millions of americans dont believe in the moon landing, or that an egg stands on its end only on the vernal equinox, plait hilariously spills the truth and infor. You should read this book, sooner than soonish alexis ohanian, cofounder of reddit i love this book so much i 3d printed myself a second heart so i could love it more dr. Mar 01, 2002 philip plait is an astronomer who also runs the excellent bad astronomy website. I have no problem with mr plait disagreeing with me, but i am a little taken aback by his name. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. If a little kid ever asks you just why the sky is blue, you look him or her right in the eye and say, its because of quantum effects involving rayleigh scattering combined with a lack of violet photon receptors in our retinae. I know that acquiring that type of collegelevel knowledge and expertise takes time. Phil plait writes slates bad astronomy blog and is an astronomer, public speaker, science evangelizer, and author of death from the skies. Jan 15, 2015 welcome to the first episode of crash course astronomy. Bad astronomy by philip plait goodreads share book. He has also appeared in several science documentaries, including phil plait s bad universe and how the universe works on the discovery channel.
Jul 28, 2017 artwork depicting a gas giant exoplanet with a gas giant exomoon. There are chapters about ufos, astrology and creationism, why you cant see stars during the day, and why small meteorites are cold when they hit the ground, not hot. Death from the skies these are the ways the world will end. Philip cary plait, also known as the bad astronomer, is an american astronomer, skeptic, writer and popular science blogger. Dark matter is invisible, but it has mass, and affects the cosmos on a large scale. The reply to the bad astronomer phil plait that slate. Oct 03, 2018 in a paper published in 2017, astronomers reported analyzing known exoplanet data to look for exomoons. If im on twitter, why be surprised that i use other s.
The idea is that if an exoplanet has a moon, you might see an irregularity in the transit data, an extra dip before or after the main one, if the moon leads or trails the planet at the time of the transit. My columns, and responses to critics are here and here. Welcome to our new pup, whom we brought home today. In addition to setting the record straight on hundreds of astronomical errors, he also gives us a lesson on human perception, with and without the aid of lenses and mirrors. Phil plait, astronomer, author, writer of the bad astronomy blog playful, yet deep dr.
Soonish dr kelly weinersmith, zach weinersmith bok. I didnt find his first book very engaging, and the strident skeptical tone that he sometimes adopts in that book and his blog is completely absent here. Her work in astronomy ushered in a revolution in how we saw the universe. Plait has worked as part of the hubble space telescope team, images and spectra of astronomical objects, as well as engaging in public outreach advocacy for nasa missions.
Censorship science ive been banned from posting comments on the aptly named censorship advocacy website bad astronomy. Who is this guy who calls himself the bad astronomer. Misconceptions and misuses revealed, from astrology to the moon landing hoax by philip c. First, yes, i am a real live astronomer when people ask me what astronomers do, i tell them they astronom. Which is no excuse for dialing in some lazy attempt at a short, droll, photoladen leasteffort article. The bad astronomer is an astronomer and skeptic who runs the website. As of today monday, november 12, 2012 the blog has a new home at slate magazine. He subtitled misconceptions and misuses revealed, from astrology to the moon landing hoax, this book discusses misconceptions related to astronomy. November 9 is the 76th anniversary of carl sagans birth, and is celebrated across the globe as carl sagan day in general, places that celebrate the day do so on the saturday previous.
Ive noticed over the years that internet traffic in general drops precipitously on this day, so as a scientist i can assure you that the odds youre reading this right now are very low. Jul 14, 2016 phil plait writes slates bad astronomy blog and is an astronomer, public speaker, science evangelizer, and author of death from the skies. They have found evidence of the possible existence of an exomoon, a moon orbiting a planet orbiting another star. Plait sets the record straight on many modern hoaxes and myths. Sep 14, 2018 in phil plait s excellent book, bad astronomy, 5 mr. He formerly worked at the physics and astronomy department at sonoma state university. Still a favorite after five years and i update it when i can, this talk starts off with me standing an egg on end and discussing this legend and using it to talk about misconceptions in general. Plaits bad astronomy blog, then you are already aware that hes an excellent writer and adept at explaining complex topics simply. From august 2008 through 2009, he served as president of the james randi educational foundation. Shutterstock jurik peter in a paper just published on the astronomy preprint server called arxiv, a group of astronomers has made an astonishing claim.
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