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Category Archives: Bad Science, UFO’s and Modern Myths

The Scream

Every day, I see more and more adverts and announcements promising apocalypse in the year 2012.  Some genius in Hollywood has capitalised on this with a blockbuster film about it, and I’m seeing more and more unrelated junk science theories being lumped together as proof that the Mayans were right.  But there’s a lot of other junk out there as well, everything from New Physics theories that get published in glossy paperbacks to UFO sightings.

Countering all this are a large number of skeptical science articles, using fact and logic to pour scorn on anybody who believes all that stuff.  And frankly, it’s counter-productive.  If you’re not sure what to believe and are looking for answers, I doubt you’re going to listen to the guy who insults you for asking.  So in these pages I hope to challenge most of the apocalyptic theories and the explanations behind them using facts and simple logic.  No ad hominem attacks, no jokes at the expense of believers.  With luck, people will actually read this, and maybe I can help dispel some of the darkness.

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Podcast #5: Mercury

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 29 Mar, 2017 by Allen Versfeld27 Jun, 2017
Microphone. Image By Jpcuevas (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to the 5th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! We’re well on our way in the grand experiment of deciding how exactly to format the show, and today we’re trying yet another combination! We’ll start off by answering the question first asked in a classic Urban Astronomer article, one originally written back in 2010 and that’s been consistently popular with our readers:  Will an astronaut explode if they take off their helmet? Our feature item introduces my new co-host, and … Continue reading →

https://media.blubrry.com/urbanastronomer/s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/constellationonline.net/media/Podcast/UrbanAstronomer/UA_Episode_5.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:27 — 12.3MB) | Embed

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Posted in Astronomy, Astronomy 101, Bad Science, UFO's and Modern Myths, News and Updates, The Solar System, The Urban Astronomer Podcast | Tagged Astronauts, Mars, podcast, Q&A, Space Travel | Leave a reply

Picking fights with a flat-earther

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 2 Jan, 2017 by Allen Versfeld21 Mar, 2017
Flat Earth Map

They tell us we’re living in a post-truth world, whatever that’s supposed to mean.  All I know is that there’s a growing number of people who look at the vast store of human knowledge, and reject it.  People who hear experts speak on science, politics, medicine, and say “Nope! I saw a YouTube about this, and I know better!”.  And there’s no starker demonstration of this than the modern flat-earther. How does this happen? What makes sane adults, with an education … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Bad Science, UFO's and Modern Myths | Tagged DIY, flat-earth, History, Moon, Myths, Outreach, Science, Sun | 10 Replies

Will the Blood Moon harm my unborn baby?

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 9 Oct, 2014 by Allen Versfeld3 Sep, 2019
Lunar eclipse, also known as a "Blood Moon"

Dear Urban Astronomer I am pregnant, and am worried that all these Blood Moons could harm my baby. I have asked around in my community, but everybody has their own scary story about what will happen to my baby if I go outdoors during the blood moon. Please let me know what precautions I must take. Yours, Hypothetical Reader   The blood moon will not hurt your baby Okay so nobody actually mailed this question to me.  But at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Astronomy 101, Bad Science, UFO's and Modern Myths, Questions and Answers | Tagged Lunar Eclipse, Mythology, Q&A, The Moon | 8 Replies

Why don’t scientists believe in UFO’s?

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 30 Apr, 2013 by Allen Versfeld4 Jun, 2016

A lack of any convincing evidence, mainly.  There have been countless thousands of reports of UFO’s over the last century, but most can be easily explained by natural phenomena or known human activity.  For example, the sighting of a mysterious spinning spiral in the sky above Norway turned out to be a malfunctioning rocket spinning out of control.  Other cases turn out to be the planet Venus (“There’s something hovering above the horizon, as bright as an aeroplane’s landing lights”), … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Bad Science, UFO's and Modern Myths, Questions and Answers, Short Questions | Leave a reply

Nibiru (part 2)

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 30 Apr, 2013 by Allen Versfeld5 Jul, 2016

Return to Part One Planet X New Worlds On 13 March 1781, William Herschel discovered a new planet, which would be named Uranus (God of the Sky, father of Saturn).  This was a huge deal, as it overturned millennia of established knowledge about the Solar System.  Uranus was studied and observed until astronomers were able to plot it’s orbit and predict it’s movements.  Unfortunately, no matter how carefully they refined their figures and checked their calculations, Uranus did not move … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Bad Science, UFO's and Modern Myths | Leave a reply

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