Reissued in HD. Alien Planets Beware! Black holes vent their rage. Recommend Phil Plait’s amazing book “Death from the Skies,” now available in paperback via Amazon.com.
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 27th, 2010 at 6:57 am and is filed under Astronomy.
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25 Responses to “Bad Astronomy: Black Hole Death Rays”
Wouldn’t it be more … Wouldn’t it be more accurate, and to the point (if you’ll pardon the pun), to refer to these things as “Singularities” rather than “Black Holes”?
Although I too find the term “Black Hole” to be an entertaining and engaging way to teach the public about these objects, I cannot help but recognize that it has also become somewhat of a show-boating distraction from what has got to be the most incredible and fantastic objects in our universe, the Singularities at the bottom of these so-called holes.
Logic suggests that … Logic suggests that they aren’t.
The evidence is only in the form of red shift, which may well prove to be not attributable to Doppler. If it is attributable to doppler then most of the universe is moving away from us at several times the speed of light.
So you have a contradiction in your theory either way.
Belief in and support of hypothetical physical and metaphysical structures for the purpose of explaining phenomena in the universe, with no null hypothesis, is called Religion.
The first thing you’d want for your theory is reproducible phenomenon. The second thing you’d want is predictability and consistency with empirical results. The third thing you’d want is consistency with the known laws of physics.
I agree totally, … I agree totally, the scientific community can be very pig-headed sometimes and get what I see as intellectual ‘tunnel-vision’, not being able to see outside of the realm that you are studying. It is a real shame really because we all have this natural intuition and we should use it, trying not to get too stuck in one concept for too long.
Your comments are … Your comments are well said with one exception. Some of the scientific community have trouble seperating facts from fiction. Sometimes it is sincer beliefs in something like the Christains of Galileo’s time the scientific community can be come belinded to the truth of real observational work and reproduceable test for their own sincerly held faith in their belief. Even when all imperacl evidence an points to some other truth or when the facts they belive are made up to prove those beliefs.
Galileo … Galileo precipitated this condemnation, but none of his works were mentioned in the text itself. The document condemned the belief in the motion of the earth as contrary to good reason and to Scripture. It prohibited Copernicuss book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres “until corrected” and completely condemned several other books by theologians who advocated that the earths motion was not contrary to Holy Scripture
So are human … So are human characteristics based on the universal flow in uncanny aspects ? Can the vast unexplored seas of earth be compared to as the miniature version to the infinite universe?
Science has given … Science has given us answers to the greatest questions in the world, with proof . The Bible teaches you not to question the world around you and accept that it’s all God’s doing because people couldn’t answer these questions when it
was written. Now we can. Science has helped us uncover the mysteries of our Earth and our cosmos and even ourselves. The Bible is rigid and unchanging, it never grows like our world,
our societies, our beliefs or our Universe.
observations and … observations and flawless mathematical proof to the majority of their claims. The Bible is an unchanging document from over 2000 years ago, from a time where people didn’t understand volcanoes, or atoms, or electricity, or biology, or modern medicine or millions of the things we know today and take for granted in our everyday lives. Science has given us answers to
and that inside
… and that inside
our galaxy there are millions and millions of other solar
systems. We are not the centre of the Universe or even of
our own solar system or galaxy. In essence I believe that
the scientific community can be arrogant, stubborn, un-bending
to outside concepts and rigid in their approach to anything that
breaks away from mainstream science, however what they do
accomplish with great certainty are theories backed with almost
infinite evidence,
Wow man your … Wow man your spelling is appalling. The Christians during Galileo’s time firmly believed that it was blasphemy to insinuate that the Earth orbited the Sun (Heliocentricity) and told him that he would be killed if he did not revoke his claim. This is because the
Christians at the time interpreted the Bible as certifying that
the Earth was the centre of the Universe. We now know, mainly
because of the invention of the telescope, that the Earth is
not only not the centre of our solar
Wouldn’t it be more …
Wouldn’t it be more accurate, and to the point (if you’ll pardon the pun), to refer to these things as “Singularities” rather than “Black Holes”?
Although I too find the term “Black Hole” to be an entertaining and engaging way to teach the public about these objects, I cannot help but recognize that it has also become somewhat of a show-boating distraction from what has got to be the most incredible and fantastic objects in our universe, the Singularities at the bottom of these so-called holes.
@Individualism101 …
@Individualism101
null hypothesis could be that galaxies are not moving away from one another. evidence shows they are.
what a load of bunk.
what a load of bunk.
Logic suggests that …
Logic suggests that they aren’t.
The evidence is only in the form of red shift, which may well prove to be not attributable to Doppler. If it is attributable to doppler then most of the universe is moving away from us at several times the speed of light.
So you have a contradiction in your theory either way.
Don’t need a better …
Don’t need a better one.
Belief in and support of hypothetical physical and metaphysical structures for the purpose of explaining phenomena in the universe, with no null hypothesis, is called Religion.
The first thing you’d want for your theory is reproducible phenomenon. The second thing you’d want is predictability and consistency with empirical results. The third thing you’d want is consistency with the known laws of physics.
Big bang cosmology fails all three.
I do I just send …
I do I just send you a link in your In Box.
Oh right, I heard …
Oh right, I heard differently… do you have a link to support what you’re saying? Thanks very much for the correction btw!
I agree totally, …
I agree totally, the scientific community can be very pig-headed sometimes and get what I see as intellectual ‘tunnel-vision’, not being able to see outside of the realm that you are studying. It is a real shame really because we all have this natural intuition and we should use it, trying not to get too stuck in one concept for too long.
What do you think …
What do you think is flawed about the theory?Do you have a more plausible idea?
What a stupid …
What a stupid theory.
Your comments are …
Your comments are well said with one exception. Some of the scientific community have trouble seperating facts from fiction. Sometimes it is sincer beliefs in something like the Christains of Galileo’s time the scientific community can be come belinded to the truth of real observational work and reproduceable test for their own sincerly held faith in their belief. Even when all imperacl evidence an points to some other truth or when the facts they belive are made up to prove those beliefs.
and SpaceRip has an …
and SpaceRip has an amazing video. Keep it up. I love science especially astronomy.
Galileo …
Galileo precipitated this condemnation, but none of his works were mentioned in the text itself. The document condemned the belief in the motion of the earth as contrary to good reason and to Scripture. It prohibited Copernicuss book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres “until corrected” and completely condemned several other books by theologians who advocated that the earths motion was not contrary to Holy Scripture
@ Badgerinthenight, …
@ Badgerinthenight,
Galileo was execommunicated not condemned to death. The condemnation of March 5, 1616, by the Congregation of the Index
yes,and you are …
yes,and you are under paragraph arrest,you have the right to remain SILENT! Ha!
@joshmor4u .. What …
@joshmor4u .. What are you.. the paragraph police?
So are human …
So are human characteristics based on the universal flow in uncanny aspects ? Can the vast unexplored seas of earth be compared to as the miniature version to the infinite universe?
That black hole is …
That black hole is firing its LAZ0R!
You’re going to …
You’re going to for sure. Might want to accept Jesus before it’s too late.
@badgerinthenight, …
@badgerinthenight,wtf,too much man,say it in 1 paragraph or less,otherppl want thier comments up here too,lol,jeesh,shut up!
Science has given …
Science has given us answers to the greatest questions in the world, with proof . The Bible teaches you not to question the world around you and accept that it’s all God’s doing because people couldn’t answer these questions when it
was written. Now we can. Science has helped us uncover the mysteries of our Earth and our cosmos and even ourselves. The Bible is rigid and unchanging, it never grows like our world,
our societies, our beliefs or our Universe.
observations and …
observations and flawless mathematical proof to the majority of their claims. The Bible is an unchanging document from over 2000 years ago, from a time where people didn’t understand volcanoes, or atoms, or electricity, or biology, or modern medicine or millions of the things we know today and take for granted in our everyday lives. Science has given us answers to
and that inside
…
and that inside
our galaxy there are millions and millions of other solar
systems. We are not the centre of the Universe or even of
our own solar system or galaxy. In essence I believe that
the scientific community can be arrogant, stubborn, un-bending
to outside concepts and rigid in their approach to anything that
breaks away from mainstream science, however what they do
accomplish with great certainty are theories backed with almost
infinite evidence,
Wow man your …
Wow man your spelling is appalling. The Christians during Galileo’s time firmly believed that it was blasphemy to insinuate that the Earth orbited the Sun (Heliocentricity) and told him that he would be killed if he did not revoke his claim. This is because the
Christians at the time interpreted the Bible as certifying that
the Earth was the centre of the Universe. We now know, mainly
because of the invention of the telescope, that the Earth is
not only not the centre of our solar
Oh god, there’s an …
Oh god, there’s an elliptical galaxy just like that at my work. I hope it doesn’t come in one day and start shooting everyone.