The Skeptics Guide to the Universe Forum

Yes, I thought that was optimistic too.

Quote from: Quetzalcoatl on November 26, 2023, 11:04:14 AMBob referred to the SGU subreddit and how he found his news item there. Bob and Jay do interact on that subreddit occasionally. I leave it to anyone's guess why that might not be the case for this forum...

What is it with your obsession with commenting about the state of this forum? Every argument you engage in, you bring up this forum as though it is somehow relevant to anything.

If you don't like it, leave. It's as simple as that.

Quote from: Belgarath on November 27, 2023, 11:41:55 AM

Quote from: arthwollipot on November 24, 2023, 11:25:05 PMIt is their actions that make them extremist, in my opinion. I recognise that other opinions might exist.

If someone takes action on an extremist view, then they are a terrorist.  By 'action' in this case, I do not mean protesting or posting their opinion on a willing site online.  I mean some form of violence to try to drive political change.

I'm not willing to argue this any further.

Quote from: Sawyer on November 24, 2023, 11:56:14 PMOkay I swear I'm not trying to pick fights here, but while we're on the subject, there are literally hundreds of popular books that you can pick up that completely demolish creationism.  There are a handful of them that are dreadfully boring, but with the exception of aforementioned Gould, I have never found an author who I feel truly stands alone as absolute "must read" on the topic.  People put WAAAAAAY too much emphasis on a handful of skeptic super-stars who were in the right place at the right time and had a really good relationship with a publisher.

Sure there are. Lots of them are good. I own several of them myself. But if we're talking about Dawkins, and we are, then The Blind Watchmaker is one of his best.

Quote from: elert on November 25, 2023, 10:50:23 PMScience says that acceleration is directly proportional to net force and inversely proportional to mass. Science says that an atom bomb is inevitable.

No it doesn't. Science says that E=MC². Humans decided to make a bomb out of that.

It is their actions that make them extremist, in my opinion. I recognise that other opinions might exist.

Quote from: Sawyer on November 24, 2023, 06:50:23 PMSo long as Quetz keeps bringing stuff like this up, I will continue to believe that this idiotic anti-woke circus show IS Richard Dawkins only real legacy.  So congratulations for helping me completely erase any real scientific work this guy ever did from my memory.

To remind you of what he once was, I recommend re-reading The Blind Watchmaker, which remains one of the best refutations of creationism out there.

Quote from: Friendly Angel on November 23, 2023, 10:50:32 AM

Quote from: Tassie Dave on November 22, 2023, 09:22:58 PMToday 60 years ago the BBC aired the 1st Episode of Doctor Who. 😎

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I saw that on TV.

In your living room, watching TV?

Quote from: daniel1948 on November 23, 2023, 02:43:34 PMIn other words, capitalism is evil. The only difference between Musk and other CEOs and billionaires is that Musk is a loudmouth.

Yes, I think this is accurate. We never hear much about John and Jacqueline Mars.

I've argued before that only billionaires have the resources to commercialise space. Governments won't do it. At best, governments will fund science and discovery.

If not Musk, then Bezos, or some other billionaire. It's just the way it is.

Quote from: Tassie Dave on November 21, 2023, 09:16:39 PM

Quote from: arthwollipot on November 20, 2023, 04:57:55 PMYeah, our Greens are relentlessly oppposed to nuclear energy too. And GMOs. I vote for them because I like all their other progressive policies, but on these two issues I disagree with them.

They're also opposed to Hydro-Electric schemes and many proposed Wind Farms.

A lot of NIMBYs in the Greens Party

True, a lot of the opposition to hydro is remnant of the Franklin-Gordon system which was the Greens' birthplace. And to be fair, hydro (as opposed to pumped hydro which is grid storage) is pretty destructive to the land you flood with dams. A whole town is now underwater in Lake Jindabyne because of the original Snowy scheme. It's understandable that they would be concerned about the flooding of pristine native forest.

Wind? Yeah, opposition to wind is pretty irrational. NIMBYs to be sure.

First Dog nails it, as usual.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/21/who-is-the-worlds-worst-carbon-foot-prince-we-name-and-shame

Quote from: daniel1948 on November 21, 2023, 10:31:23 AMCost is the real obstacle to space colonization. Making it just safe enough is obscenely expensive.

Which is why it is being done by billionaires, who aren't constrained by normal human emotions.

What does "michu kaku" mean?

ETA: Never mind, I'm just being disagreeable. I assume you mean Michio Kaku, the futurist and author.

Quote from: DevoutCatalyst on November 20, 2023, 08:14:47 AMSounds about right. I think we'll attempt to go to Mars and back and hopefully without much harm to the astronauts...

I don't think there's much chance of that. Space is dangerous, and people have already died doing it. It hasn't stopped us.

Quote from: DevoutCatalyst on November 20, 2023, 08:14:47 AM...I cannot foresee starships a la Star Trek with humans aboard in their present biological configuration ever.

Well that's because Star Trek starships don't function according to the laws of physics as we know them.