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Grrr... scientific mistake on NPR

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TXlib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:16 AM
Original message
Grrr... scientific mistake on NPR
This morning, on Judy Muller's commentary on Pluto, Judy claimed, "some astronomers reclassified Pluto as a brown dwarf." This is incorrect; a brown dwarf is a massive object, larger than Jupiter; a star that failed. Rather, Pluto was reclassified as a Kuiper Belt object. (Although some still consider it a planet.)
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pmbryant Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:18 AM
Response to Original message
1. LOL
Too bad I didn't hear that one.

When is Jupiter going to be re-classified as a supernova? ;-)

:bounce:

--Peter
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CO Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:21 AM
Response to Reply #1
4. Or a Chevy Nova?
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SnowGoose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:20 AM
Response to Original message
2. I noticed that too.
Yea, I noticed that too (before coffee even!). I would have thought that the garden-variety science reporter would not make such a mistake.
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northzax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:20 AM
Response to Original message
3. and you know what?
of the 37 people in the US who can tell you that, 36 of them were probably listening. And will write irate letters chastising NPR on making a minor error (ok, to people who care, probably not a minor error) all those people will now start listening to the Morning Zoo for intellectual enlightenment.

ok, probably not.
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TXlib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:31 AM
Response to Reply #3
6. There are a lot more than 37 people in the US who
can differentiate between a brown dwarf and a kuiper belt object. Percentage-wise, it's still a miniscule fraction of the population.

There are probably far more people who would assume "brown dwarf" is a slang term for an ethnic Little Person.
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northzax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 10:12 AM
Response to Reply #6
10. so I rounded down
we'll make it an even 38.
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pmbryant Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 10:41 AM
Response to Reply #10
12. Why even bother with accuracy in reporting then?
Edited on Wed Aug-20-03 10:42 AM by pmbryant
Why even bother reporting it if only "38" people are interested enough to care about accuracy? :eyes:

Albeit harmless, this was a really stupid mistake and is way too typical of popular science journalism. It is partly because of sloppy reports like this that so few people know much about scientific issues. And that, I think, is quite harmful in the long run.

--Peter
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MUAD_DIB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:23 AM
Response to Original message
5. I heard that too!
That one made me do a doubletake.

If Pluto is a brown dwarf then does that make Jupiter a red giant?

http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/browndwarf_fg.html
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JHB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:31 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. It makes Jupiter a Foozball...
...or to use the technical term, a zesty, scrumptious foozball.

:silly:
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punpirate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:38 AM
Response to Original message
8. Pretty goofy...
... since there's no object in the solar system (except our little star, the sun) massive enough to be considered stellar in any form (whether Jupiter or Pluto).

Pluto a brown dwarf? Methinks the reporter has been watching "Red Dwarf" a bit too often.... The word rubbed off....
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BurtWorm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 09:48 AM
Response to Original message
9. Brown dwarf?
She must have been talking about the Pluto the dog.
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Rabrrrrrr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 10:18 AM
Response to Original message
11. Wow - that's just irresponsible
Or a slip of the tongue. But either way, sheesh, not even in the same ballpark.
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