off topic The Science Thread

[IKnowPhysics]

 

Note: The results are obviously very questionable

 

 

This this this this this.

 

Propellantless thrusters with regard to spaceflight are generally thought of by scientists to be on the same plane as cold fusion with regard to commercial energy production.

 

I don't have the time or energy to debunk all of the crackpot theories that exist, but for educational purposes, I'll instead point people towards a well-written blog entry from a while back that succintly details the Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science.

 

 

1. The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media. 

 

2. The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work. 

 

3. The scientific effect involved is always at the very limit of detection. 

 

4. Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal. 

 

5. The discoverer says a belief is credible because it has endured for centuries. 

 

6. The discoverer has worked in isolation.

 

7. The discoverer must propose new laws of nature to explain an observation.

 

The first two are often the easiest to spot.  For #1, if the information isn't presented in a peer-reviewed journal, or if one isn't linked to in a press-release or news article, that should be an enormous red flag.  For #2, that's usually the big sign of the conspiracy theory crackpot ######.  The others can be more subtle, depending on the scientific literacy of the reader, but understanding #1 and #2 is a great start for most readers.

 

As for the EMDrive, a wiki entry on the device has been around for a while:

 

 

The device, its mode of operation, and theories attempting to explain it are all controversial. As of 2015, there are still arguments about whether the EmDrive is genuinely a new propulsion device, or whether its experimental results are simply misinterpretations of spurious effects mixed with experimental errors. The proposed theories of its operation have all been criticized because they seem to violate the conservation of momentum, a fundamental law of physics, though Shawyer asserts that EmDrive does not.[9]

Edited April 26, 2015 by IKnowPhysics

[WildCard]

So is it help me out here. Is it

 

1) The beams actually didn't travel faster than the speed of light in the EMDrive

 

2) I should be skeptical until the results are repeated because the media creamed over what could be nothing

[MattPie]

So is it help me out here. Is it

 

1) The beams actually didn't travel faster than the speed of light in the EMDrive

 

2) I should be skeptical until the results are repeated because the media creamed over what could be nothing

 

1: Until there's independent confirmation it could very well be measurement error or a flaw in the "expected" results.

2: You should always be skeptical until the results are verified. :) The media is trying to drive clicks and eyes, so they're not going to wait months to publish "that thing we heard about but didn't publish actually works" or "poorly set up experiement that suggested FTL travel turned out to be wrong" because some other media will have already published it.

[sabills]

Modern (?) science lucks into one.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/medieval-potion-kills-antibiotic-resistant-mrsa-superbugs-1.3020735

 

Can you imagine how fun that day at the lab was? I know things like that don't happen in an instant, but at some point someone took this weird mixture, threw it in a test tube with some bacteria, measured the bacteria count after, and there were fewer bacteria than before. I can just imagine them standing up from the scope with a big ****-eating grin and saying "no way...". Awesome.

[IKnowPhysics]

Paging IKnowBiology.

[MattPie]

Paging IKnowBiology.

 

I hope some day to meet you so I can change my screen to IKnowIKnowPhysics.

[WildCard]

So a man with a rare muscle disease wants to have his head transplanted onto another body, and is schedule to do so in 2017 by an Italian surgeon accompanied by a slew of others provided he can raise the $11 million needed. 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/worlds-first-head-transplant-one-5553496

 

http://rbth.com/science_and_tech/2015/04/15/programmer_spiridonovs_head_transplant_10_amazing_facts_45261.html

Edited May 30, 2015 by WildCard

[ubkev]

So a man with a rare muscle disease wants to have his head transplanted onto another body, and is schedule to do so in 2017 by an Italian surgeon accompanied by a slew of others provided he can raise the $11 million needed.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/worlds-first-head-transplant-one-5553496

 

http://rbth.com/science_and_tech/2015/04/15/programmer_spiridonovs_head_transplant_10_amazing_facts_45261.html

I'm gonna go ahead and bet against this one. I'll even bet against the surgery ever happening. Not that I'm trying to be a wet blanket or anything.

[shrader]

Modern (?) science lucks into one.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/medieval-potion-kills-antibiotic-resistant-mrsa-superbugs-1.3020735

 

Sorry, I'm late to this party as I'm just seeing the thread now.  "Lucking into one" is very standard practice in modern science.  Just ask the folks over at Pfizer and their use of Viagra.  They're just recently trying to use it again for its originally planned purposes.

[WildCard]

I'm gonna go ahead and bet against this one. I'll even bet against the surgery ever happening. Not that I'm trying to be a wet blanket or anything.

That's what they told the Wright Brothers too!  :nana:

[LGR4GM]

Renewable Energy in California.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/15/california-clean-energy_n_7578810.html

[WildCard]

Google makes a machine, talks with said machine, machine is surprisingly philosophical and religious

http://www.businessinsider.com/google-tests-new-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-2015-6

[darksabre]

SpaceX had a bad morning.

[TrueBlueGED]

SpaceX had a bad morning.

Bad year, really.

[bunomatic]

Anyone interested or following the bright spots on Ceres ? Intrigued by this which could turn out to be nothing more than ice crystals but letting my mind run wild I can envision any number of things. Any thoughts ? Someone put up a picture of Los Angeles at night from the same distance in space as the Ceres shots and it was very similar except for overall shape.

[IKnowPhysics]

SpaceX had a bad morning.

 

But I got to watch a great fireworks show.

[ubkev]

Google makes a machine, talks with said machine, machine is surprisingly philosophical and religious

http://www.businessinsider.com/google-tests-new-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-2015-6

Do these people not see T2? A**holes!

[Doohicksie]

Renewable Energy in California.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/15/california-clean-energy_n_7578810.html

...and Buffalo will soon have the largest solar cell manufacturing facility in the western hemisphere.

[darksabre]

...and Buffalo will soon have the largest solar cell manufacturing facility in the western hemisphere.

I have a vision for Buffalo. A rebirth of the City of Light.

[wjag]

The God particle has been discovered.

 

Is this the greatest scientific discovery of our era?

Edited July 14, 2015 by wjag

[That Aud Smell]

An excellent read. Also a bit of a long read. Scary as all hell.

 

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

[Drunkard]

The God particle has been discovered.

 

Is this the greatest scientific discovery of our era?

 

Are you referring to the Higgs Boson? I thought that got discovered a couple of years ago. They made an episode of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman about it.

[wjag]

Are you referring to the Higgs Boson? I thought that got discovered a couple of years ago. They made an episode of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman about it.

 

 

Yes.  Not sure about exactly when, but it was confirmed today.

[MattPie]

An excellent read. Also a bit of a long read. Scary as all hell.

 

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

 

My wife lived in Oregon for a long time and loves it there. I sent the link to her yesterday. I'd probably consider moving there anyways, just keeping an eye on where I settled down.

[Drunkard]

Yes.  Not sure about exactly when, but it was confirmed today.

 

Cool. Do you have a link to the article? I'd be interested in reading it.