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PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 25: UFOs and Pseudoscience
PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 25: UFOs and Pseudoscience
Study: Chapter 20 in The Cosmos book
Next Lecture: None: Please take Online Final Exam
School: Michigan Technological University
Professor: Robert Nemiroff
Book: The Cosmos by Pasachoff & Filippenko
Online Course WebCT pages:
http://courses.mtu.edu/
This class can be taken online ONLY, class
attendance is not required!
You are responsible for…
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Reading the book
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APODs posted during the semester
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One chapter per “quiz period”
Anything from that chapter can appear on
quizzes or tests, even if I never mention them
during my lecture(s)
This quiz period covers Chapters 18
APOD review every week during lecture
Completing the Quizzes and Final
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Chapter 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18
& 19 quizzes already due
Chapter 20 Quiz incorporated into Final Exam
See WebCT at http://courses.mtu.edu/ for
details
UFOs
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Unidentified Flying Objects
Never yet confirmed to be
intelligent aliens from another
planet
“Extraordinary claims require
extraordinary evidence”
A Lenticular Cloud Over New Hampshire
Credit & Copyright: J. D. Rufo, J. Koermer, Plymouth State College
APOD: 2003 April 30
A Lenticular Cloud Over Hawai'i
Credit & Copyright: Peter Michaud (Gemini Obs.)
APOD: 2005 August 21
Pseudoscience
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Why is pseudoscience popular?
Scientists are unpopular authority
figures
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Unelected
Self-proclaimed, unavailable
“Not like you and me”
It is cool to say “they” are wrong
Urban Legends
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Eggs stand on end at equinoxes?
Egging On the Autumnal Equinox
Credit: Phil Plait (Bad Astronomy)
APOD: 2003 September 23
Examples of Pseudoscience
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Astrology
UFO-logy
Moon landing “hoax”
Creationism
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Intelligent design, etc.
Ask: Why don’t most universities teach
creationism?
Ask: Why does the Pope believe in evolution?
“Face on Mars”
Many recent criticisms of global warming
Goals of Pseudoscientists
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Create doubt
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Everything is “only” a theory
“My theory is just as good as yours”
“Scientists are trying to undermine religion”
Practiced sound bites
Hard data “is there,” will be presented “later”
Furthers own political agenda
Science:
Predictability and Reproducibility
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A scientific theory
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Makes testable predictions
Based on reproducible results
Passes “peer review”
Occam’s Razor
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A scientific theory should be no more
complicated than it needs to be
Mars Then and Now
Credit & Copyright: Tom Ruen, Eugene Antoniadi,
Lowell Hess, Roy A. Gallant, HST, NASA
APOD: 2003 November 12
A Face On Mars
Credit: The Viking Project, NASA
APOD: 1998 April 6
The Face on Mars
Credit: NASA,Viking Project,
APOD: 1995 July 22
Mars Express Close-Up of the Face on Mars
APOD: 2006 September 25
Mars Express: Return to Cydonia
Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR
APOD: 2006 September 26
A Waterspout off the Florida Keys
Credit: Joseph Golden, NOAA
APOD: 2005 January 20
A Strange Streak Imaged in Australia
Credit & Copyright: Wayne Pryde
APOD: 2004 December 7
An Unusual Event Over South Wales
Credit & Copyright: Jon Burnett
APOD: 2003 October 1