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What Happens When a True Climate Skeptic Does the Science Himself

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Richard Muller should have known better, but he’s a physicist, and I know enough physicists to know that some don’t respect other disciplines as much as they should.  This is old news, but with a recent NYT op-ed, he’s laying it out much more clearly than last year: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, […]

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Fixing Prometheus (Spoilers)

Thursday, June 14th, 2012

It’s too late now, but it was possible, so let me explain how. Before I do that, let me note that some people loved Prometheus, like Roger Ebert, even though he takes issue with Creationist commenters who think the movie is pro Intelligent Design.  There are some who are willing to ignore the bad science, […]

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“Science” in The Astronomy Book

Monday, May 28th, 2012

My personal feeling is that religion is incompatible with science, but there have certainly been religious scientists capable of doing good science.  People compartmentalize and turn off their critical brains when it comes to certain topics.  I don’t see the difference between being critical about astrology and being critical about any supernatural claims.  Still, a […]

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After I’ve Considered That…

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

I’ve seen this on facebook recently, and another friend just emailed it to me, so let me post it here to launch a couple of points for discussion:   So how about if I knew all that already? And could even make some minor corrections? Do I get to be certain? A quick google fails […]

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Another Issue with Peer Review

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

I’ve written in the past about peer review (and links therein), particularly my annoyances with how some referees don’t seem to be constructive about it, and in fact can be condescending assholes.  I made my suggestions about improving it while keeping it anonymous.  Another option is to remove anonymity, which I think does have drawbacks, […]

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A Vile, Anti-Science Tactic to be Aware of and Repudiate

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

There’s a letter being widely posted on conservative blogs: March 28, 2012 The Honorable Charles Bolden, Jr. NASA Administrator NASA Headquarters Washington, D.C. 20546-0001 Dear Charlie, We, the undersigned, respectfully request that NASA and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) refrain from including unproven remarks in public releases and websites. We believe the claims […]

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We Need a Journal of Null Results in every Field!

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

I’ve been thinking more about some practical problems we’ve been developing in science.  Now, they aren’t as bad in my field of astronomy, since we’re relatively small, don’t involve huge sums of money, and rarely have results that are politically problematic.  But we still have the same problem:  null results don’t get published very often. […]

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Science and Science Fiction: “The Old Equations”

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Jake Kerr’s Lightspeed story, “The Old Equations,” has been nominated for the Nebula Award for best novelette.  It’s thematically related to Tom Godwin’s famous story “The Cold Equations” which I’ve written about at Lightspeed and on this blog. I basically got the gig to write a non-fiction article about “The Cold Equations” because the editor […]

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Astronomy Misconceptions in Literature

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Recently I highlighted an astronomical blunder by literary giant Ernest Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea. He is far from unique. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Dickens, James Thurber, Edgar Allen Poe, and others of similar literary greatness, have all similarly blundered.  A lot of the mistakes involve the moon: “Till clomb above the […]

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Science in Fiction: The Old Man and the Sea

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

There’s a fun, literary homework problem in the textbook I’m using this semester (Foundations of Astrophysics by Ryden and Peterson).  It’s a pretty good textbook overall, although it’s a bit calculus heavy for when some of our students take my course and it’s short on example problems.  One thing I do like is that the […]

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The Science in Science Fiction: Batman Gotham Knight

Friday, December 30th, 2011

Yesterday I watched the animated Batman movie, Gotham Knight:   It’s a collection of interrelated short pieces by different creative teams, which isn’t bad, but the different styles is a little jarring.  I mean, Bruce Wayne looks different in different sequences and it was a little hard to follow.  I can recommend the movie, but […]

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Ten Tips for Communicating Science to General Audiences

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

I think about communicating science to a wide variety of audiences, both as a professor who does research and teaches, but also as a science fiction author.  Knowing your audience is key, and knowing how to reach them better helps tremendously.  A lot of what I say will apply to both non-fiction and fiction, speaking […]

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