Science stories of the week

[Pinball1970]

But this woolly notion of not trusting “the system”, whatever TF they think that means, is part of the problem.

I only took this seriously when I encountered COVID deniers online in 2020. I thought flat earthers, anti vaxers and 911 inside job people were just a few idiots and nutjobs.

I was surprised at the scale in numbers, the certainty in their claims and also the vacuousness of the arguments.
I had seen this with creationists but to me that was different, choose Jesus or Evolution and burn in hell is a strong motivator.

What was the motivation here? Just not trusting the system? NWO? Something to do with Bill Gates?

Crazy.

 

[exchemist]

I only took this seriously when I encountered COVID deniers online in 2020. I thought flat earthers, anti vaxers and 911 inside job people were just a few idiots and nutjobs.

I was surprised at the scale in numbers, the certainty in their claims and also the vacuousness of the arguments.
I had seen this with creationists but to me that was different, choose Jesus or Evolution and burn in hell is a strong motivator.

What was the motivation here? Just not trusting the system? NWO? Something to do with Bill Gates?

Crazy.

There is an entire internet ecosystem devoted to destroying people’s faith in society. That Bannon guy, who looks like a tramp, actually stated the plan was to “flood the zone with shit”, in order to do just that. Create a situation in which nobody can distinguish between truth and falsehood, they lose their grip on reality and thence their ability to make rational judgements.

 

[wegs]

I hope it won't be obscured by cloud coverage in my area.

Tonight Will Be the Perfect Time to Witness the Moon Illusion

 

[wegs]

I only took this seriously when I encountered COVID deniers online in 2020. I thought flat earthers, anti vaxers and 911 inside job people were just a few idiots and nutjobs.

I was surprised at the scale in numbers, the certainty in their claims and also the vacuousness of the arguments.
I had seen this with creationists but to me that was different, choose Jesus or Evolution and burn in hell is a strong motivator.

What was the motivation here? Just not trusting the system? NWO? Something to do with Bill Gates?

Crazy.

I think once people enter their respective echo chambers, it's hard to find an escape out of them. I'm definitely concerned about where the country is heading, as the echo chambers get bigger.

 

[Pinball1970]

I think once people enter their respective echo chambers, it's hard to find an escape out of them. I'm definitely concerned about where the country is heading, as the echo chambers get bigger.

What did these people do before the internet?? Where did they go to exchange information?

 

[C C]

What did these people do before the internet?? Where did they go to exchange information?

The internet provides a lot of free access, whereas one had to buy or subscribe to special-interest literature, newsletters, magazines, and books back then. But still, that didn't seem to hamper participation and recruitment -- lots of familiar, wild stuff circulating back in the 1960s. What has surely increased is the ability of devotees to speedily participate and interact. No more waiting weeks, months for mailed-in comments to be selected/published, or days for personal correspondence exchanges between conspiracy and UFO pen-pals.
_

 

[wegs]

What did these people do before the internet?? Where did they go to exchange information?

The internet didn’t create fear mongering and these types of ''beliefs" - it just amplified them, in my opinion.

 

[exchemist]

The internet didn’t create fear mongering and these types of ''beliefs" - it just amplified them, in my opinion.

The point about the internet is there is no editorial control of content. Every idiot’s opinion has as much weight as an expert’s. And then the algorithms amplify the more extreme opinions by highlighting them to as wide an audience as possible.

 

[Seattle]

The internet didn’t create fear mongering and these types of ''beliefs" - it just amplified them, in my opinion.

I think it's a little of both. It created an echo chamber and made crazy thoughts seem more common and therefore reasonable. "Other people are thinking like this too so I'm not crazy"

It's also a matter of degree. If all you get on TV is 30 minutes of the nightly news and it is relatively just unbiased news, you don't hear all the nonsense.

Now there barely is any unbiased news and it's all 24/7 drama filled click bait. "I knew the rich weren't paying their fair share and everyone else says that too so I can just keep repeating that" when the facts are that they pay most Federal Income taxes and the people complaining want more and more services and pay less and less.

It's not logical but people don't care. They think if we just taxed the rich a little more there would be no debt. If you just looked at the magnitude of the numbers, you would see that's not possible but no one looks at any numbers. They just emote. College tuition was more "affordable" before all the easy loans but no one talks about that or learns any economic lessons.

We want the benefits of capitalism, while "hating" it at the same time as not understanding it, and wanting wages to be based on how we feel rather than the free market of capitalism. It makes no sense but so what?

 

[wegs]

The point about the internet is there is no editorial control of content. Every idiot’s opinion has as much weight as an expert’s. And then the algorithms amplify the more extreme opinions by highlighting them to as wide an audience as possible.

Do many people even know the difference though, between an “idiot” and an “expert?” (from a social media point of view)

The algorithm cares about popularity and outrage because it makes money. If an expert can go viral, then they’ll be listened to, but an “idiot’s” content might be pushed strictly because they’re cool, or have a certain charm or some outlying trait that gets them views. Not because they even know what they’re talking about, but they’re entertaining. It’s a problem.

 

[wegs]

I think it's a little of both. It created an echo chamber and made crazy thoughts seem more common and therefore reasonable. "Other people are thinking like this too so I'm not crazy"

It's also a matter of degree. If all you get on TV is 30 minutes of the nightly news and it is relatively just unbiased news, you don't hear all the nonsense.

Now there barely is any unbiased news and it's all 24/7 drama filled click bait. "I knew the rich weren't paying their fair share and everyone else says that too so I can just keep repeating that" when the facts are that they pay most Federal Income taxes and the people complaining want more and more services and pay less and less.

It's not logical but people don't care. They think if we just taxed the rich a little more there would be no debt. If you just looked at the magnitude of the numbers, you would see that's not possible but no one looks at any numbers. They just emote. College tuition was more "affordable" before all the easy loans but no one talks about that or learns any economic lessons.

We want the benefits of capitalism, while "hating" it at the same time as not understanding it, and wanting wages to be based on how we feel rather than the free market of capitalism. It makes no sense but so what?

That’s true! On the internet, reality seems skewed. Social media tends to amplify whatever drives engagement (even if it’s lies, or pseudo-science, etc) feeding us mostly content that confirms our existing views. Before long, your once-crazy opinion feels like a widely accepted truth. And then I feel validated because how could so many people be wrong?

 

[Seattle]

No one seems to think of consequences or ask "what could go wrong?" or even "what are the likely consequences?".
Defund the police...crime will go up. Don't prosecute shoplifting...shoplifting will go up and shops will close or move. Cut government spending indiscriminately while cutting taxes and what's the point...the deficit will go up.

Enable high tariffs on every country on Earth and ultimately it will hurt the economy by raising prices and then reducing demand.

What have we learned? Buy Bitcoin

 

[Pinball1970]

Three years of Webb this week. Technically JWST has two birthdays because the launch was on 25th Dec. All of the mission goals have had a huge amount of data put their way and there is more to come. Happy B day Webb!

 

[Pinball1970]

Cats Paw Nebula (I can't see that either) NGC 6334.



Distance wise this is a next door for Webb at a mere 4000 light years.
A zoom in, just to give perspective with some LOTR back ground music.

For me I see a serpent at 33 seconds with the body then a seal at 38 seconds. Cats Paw from underneath is around 45 seconds. Imagine you are asleep on the sofa, you wake and your cat is just about to smack you in the face.

 

[Wizard of Whatever]

If you look at the first picture there is a face lower center. Definitely two eyes, nose and a mouth.

 

[Pinball1970]

If you look at the first picture there is a face lower center. Definitely two eyes, nose and a mouth.

On the vid? Yeah it looks evil.

 

[Wizard of Whatever]

On the vid? Yeah it looks evil.

On first glance it reminded me of the face on the Shroud of Turin. After, not as much, but a little.

 

[Pinball1970]

Some sad news, Dr Becky Smethurst has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.
In terms of YouTube she is one of the good guys and an active researcher in Astrophysics.

Having had a "drive by" myself this year I can relate (just a little - not the same scale) to this and this diagnosis must be terrible for a young person (she is 35)

22 minutes in but check out the whole time stamped video, you will learn a lot.

Good luck Dr Becky.

 

[wegs]

The work comes as the Trump administration slashes staff and funding at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, potentially hindering its ability to forecast hurricanes. The sharks aren’t meant to replace human forecasters in any way, but they could add to the stream of data that forecasters analyze. To read more:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...-ask-the-sharks/ar-AA1J7YjX?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Without getting too political, not sure why Trump is defunding oceanic research, especially related to global warming initiatives. Regardless of why he doesn't believe that global warming is a priority, why he would cut funding for this area of weather research is ignorant to me, especially in light of the dramatic uptick of natural disasters that continue to plague the US.

 

[exchemist]

The work comes as the Trump administration slashes staff and funding at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, potentially hindering its ability to forecast hurricanes. The sharks aren’t meant to replace human forecasters in any way, but they could add to the stream of data that forecasters analyze. To read more:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...-ask-the-sharks/ar-AA1J7YjX?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Without getting too political, not sure why Trump is defunding oceanic research, especially related to global warming initiatives. Regardless of why he doesn't believe that global warming is a priority, why he would cut funding for this area of weather research is ignorant to me, especially in light of the dramatic uptick of natural disasters that continue to plague the US.

Haha I immediately thought of Sharknado. Trump is obsessed with sharks (at least according to Stormy Daniels) so maybe he will allow funding to continue on that particular programme.