miscellany

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miscellanymiscellany
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How to debunk various levels of nonsense... from scientists in the trenches

How to debunk various levels of nonsense... from scientists in the trenches

Research published on how scientists can help stamp out the spread of disinformation

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+6+6
No aliens for Boyajian’s Star, and trees reach up to connect electrically with the sky
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No aliens for Boyajian’s Star, and trees reach up to connect electrically with the sky

The star seems to have settled its unsettling behavior down, and corona discharges from trees finally seen in the wild

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+4+4
CAPTCHA, ergo sum

CAPTCHA, ergo sum

I guess robots don’t know about Planck’s Law

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+3+3
The metric system is great, except when it isn’t
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The metric system is great, except when it isn’t

In which I am a millipedant

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+7+7
Dimming the sun is probably a very bad idea

Dimming the sun is probably a very bad idea

Global warming is a massive problem, but let’s not play games with our only planet’s ecosphere

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+3+3
How much carbon-14 is in the air around you?
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How much carbon-14 is in the air around you?

I was surprised to learn how little it actually is

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+6+6
The astronomer who discovered what the universe was made of

The astronomer who discovered what the universe was made of

Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin was an amazing scientist, and her work wasn’t all that long ago

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+4+4
How incomplete are we?
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How incomplete are we?

Completeness is an important concept for surveys in astronomy

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+2+2
Does scifi exist in a scifi universe?

Does scifi exist in a scifi universe?

A fun rabbit hole pondering of a metatopic

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
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Our Milky Way’s supermassive black hole has a hiccuppy past

Our Milky Way’s supermassive black hole has a hiccuppy past

It may erupt every few centuries, but don’t panic!

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+5+5
A spider web a million trillion kilometers wide: JWST’s view of IC 5332 (1)

A spider web a million trillion kilometers wide: JWST’s view of IC 5332 (1)

Also: How many near-Earth asteroids have been visited by spacecraft?

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+4+4
A spider web a million trillion kilometers wide: JWST’s view of IC 5332
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A spider web a million trillion kilometers wide: JWST’s view of IC 5332

Also: How many near-Earth asteroids have been visited by spacecraft?

Philip Plait
Philip Plait