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OT: The F*cking Science Thread

Volcanologist said:
Wow, how's it feel to be in the lucky 2% man?
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images
 
msun30 said:
do you really need 3 hours to debunk this guy?

ancient-aliens-guy-big-hair-giorgio-tsoukalos.jpeg


im' pretty sure i just did it in the ~30 seconds it took me to image search on google and type up this post.
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I watched a little bit of it, for shits and giggles. I came away with two things. First, he says that people should view it with an "open mind", prior to slamming all nonsense. Weird, IMO. Is he directing that to his former community of paranoids who shiver in the New Mexican nights or hang around grassy knolls in Dallas? He must be. Also, part of his refutation largely based on the scholarly work of, ya know, professional archeologists/anthropologists who have produced a litany of scholarly works in peer reviews trade publications that explain how all of this happened. The body of knowledge has been there or was in train... so as self-professed former ancient alien cultist, does he not come across as a naive rube who suddenly had an epiphany that wouldn't have occurred if he didn't have a fevered mind?
 
Not really. He just confirmed that people who really know about this stuff, um, understand how it happened.

Aliens not required.

That could have summed up in 5 minutes.
 
Most people have no idea how most of those monuments were constructed. Showing the actual methods at places like Baalbek and other sites takes a little longer than five minutes.
 
Well, it seems to me he spends most of his time point out these people are charlatans and kooks. Even without any training in archeology or anthropology, I think a large majority of people figure these structures weren't built by aliens using levitation technology.
 
You'd be surprised at how many people have such low opinions of our predecessors in other societies that they do in fact attribute marvelous ancient engineering and construction to extraterrestrial forces.

These are also the type of people who would claim that some sort of hidden knowledge is being suppressed or that there is a collective conspiracy designed to hide the truth. That's why addressing each of their specific claims on a point by point basis is so effective. If one just casually dismisses them they don't learn anything new or they don't question their beliefs. People like the video's creator eventually altered their foolish beliefs because they were challenged and then taught the actual techniques at each site.

It's important knowledge if even just a few of the subscribers to the ancient astronaut hypothesis re-evaluate their belief system. That makes everything worthwhile for traditional archaeologists and experts in these fields: they no longer have to try and shout through the crazies who attempt to detract from their work in the field and the lab.
 
So... recommendations for good science reading for amateurs like me? I'm aware of the giga classics, like Cosmos or Six Easy Pieces. I also have Einstein for Dummies, which has done nothing except make me feel really stupid.
 
Michio Kaku's books are pretty entertaining...."Hyperspace" "Parallel Worlds", "Physics of the Impossible"....

Brian Greene's "Elegant Universe" and "Fabric of the Cosmos"....

Brian Cox' "Why does E=mc2"...


...and absolutely anything by Richard Feynman.
 
I did buy a collectors edition, a very nice one, of the Origin of the Species when our first kid was born.

It serves as the family bible.
 
There are few things better, that a parent can do for their kid, than fill the house with as much knowledge as possible...
 
As it flares out of the distant Oort Cloud, the newly discovered comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) appears to be heading on a trajectory that could make for one of the most spectacular night-sky events in living memory. Why is this comet expected to be so unique? Two reasons:

Astronomers predict that the comet will pass just 1.16 million miles from the Sun as it swings around its perihelion, or closest approach. (This may seem like a lot, but remember—the Sun is big. If we were to scale the Sun down to the size of Earth, the comet would pass well within the orbits of dozens of satellites.) The close approach will melt enormous amounts of the comet’s ice, releasing dust and gas and forming what should be a magnificent tail.

After it loops around the Sun and forms this tail, the comet should then pass relatively close to Earth—not near enough to cause any worry, but close enough to put on a great show. Viewers in the Northern Hemisphere will get the best view as the comet blooms in the weeks approaching Christmas 2013. The comet could grow as bright as the full moon.
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http://blogs.scientificamerican.com...earth-next-year/?WT_mc_id=SA_CAT_SPC_20121011
 
Astronomers find diamond planet Cancri 55 e, twice the size of Earth Scientists have reported the existence of a "diamond planet" twice the size of Earth, and eight times its mass, zooming around a nearby star.

In fact, this is not the first diamond planet ever discovered, but it is the first found orbiting a sun-like star and whose chemical makeup has been specified.
The discovery means that distant rocky planets can no longer be assumed to have chemical constituents, interiors, atmospheres, or biologies similar to those of Earth, said lead researcher Nikku Madhusudhan, a Yale postdoctoral researcher in physics and astronomy.
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http://www.news.com.au/technology/s...he-size-of-earth/story-fn5fsgyc-1226494069968
 
lecoqsportif said:
So... recommendations for good science reading for amateurs like me? I'm aware of the giga classics, like Cosmos or Six Easy Pieces. I also have Einstein for Dummies, which has done nothing except make me feel really stupid.
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There is a biography of the world's most famous equation E=MC^2 that is really great. It goes through each component and tells a little of the history for each. For example it has a chapter on the equal sign. Pretty easy read with some cool tidbits.
 
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