Blunderov
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Phil Plait: Far-Right Planets: What's Next, Neoconstellations?
« on: 2006-09-15 09:43:33 » |
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[Blunderov] A guilty conscience always stands accused.
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Phil Plait: Far-Right Planets: What's Next, Neoconstellations?
14 September 2006, 04:17:50 PM - Phil Plait
As a scientist who dips daily into the festering cesspool of far-right antiscience (evolution deniers, creationists, Big Bang naysayers, and so on), I sometimes think I'm beyond the capability to be shocked by neocon wingnuttery.
Then something comes along that's so dumb I wonder how much lower the bar can be set.
A little background: when a new astronomical object like an asteroid, comet, or even a planet is discovered, a name can be proposed for it by the discoverer. There is a formal process to accept it, not unlike getting some pork passed through Congress. Eventually the new name is accepted, ratified, and announced.
The object 2003 UB313 was discovered by Mike Brown and his team of astronomers a few years back. The naming process takes a while, so tongue-in-cheek they nicknamed the object "Xena" (and when they found a moon for it, they called it "Gabrielle", of course).
On September 13 it was officially announced that the new names for the object and its moon are now Eris and Dysnomia. Eris is the goddess of strife and discord, and Dysnomia is the goddess of lawlessness (yes, this was in fact a pun on Lucy Lawless's name!). Names for objects past Pluto are traditionally darker and more evil, so these new names fit.
Still with me? Good.
To my scientific and reality-based mind, the story pretty much ends there. But if you drink the Koolaid, the obvious conclusion to draw is that this is a moonbat far-left eeeevil librul conspiracy.
Uh, what?
Enter far-right blogger Mike Janitch. On his blog, he seems to think that the new names are a left-wing jab at current world affairs and to the U.S. Seriously. He says:
Come on! The only obvious thing is that [Eris and Dysnomia discoverer Mike Brown] was taking a cheap shot at world affairs (and one can only assume at the USA). Why assume the anti-war vibe? Because of his own statements, coupled with the fact that he is from the California Institute of Technology.. located in far west Moonbat country.
[ ... me smacking my hand on my forehead ... ]
Of course! How could i have been so stupid? After all, Mike Brown is from California! What other possible explanation could there be for the name choice?
... unless Brown was commenting that the names are appropriate due to the strife and discord in the astronomical community over the redefinition of the word "planet"...?
Which is exactly what Brown meant.
Amazing, isn't it, how easy it is to twist science so far that it practically collapses into a black hole?
Sheesh. My work debunking bad science will never end.
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