Quality (lack of) in popular press

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kibatme
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Quality (lack of) in popular press

Post by kibatme »

It's always important to communicate in terms that your audience will understand.

But when it comes to space and science reporting it seems we're 'dumbing things down' to point of being useless.

This thread is a place to post examples of this trend, and vent regarding them.
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Post by kibatme »

On CNN.com's coverage of STS-124
The inspection is one of the safety measures put in place by NASA after the 2003 Columbia accident. Columbia was destroyed during re-entry as a result of a gashed wing.
Would it have been 'too technical' to describe the physical characteristic and location of the damage? "Gashed wing" means nothing and borders on sensationalism.
The 37-foot lab, about the size of a bus, is the biggest room at the space station. Kibo also has a storage closet and a 33-foot robotic arm. A final section -- a "porch" for exterior experiments -- and a second, smaller robotic arm will be delivered next year.
I'm sure the designers and builders of the lab's logistics module will be happy to learn that the results of their labors will be used to hang the crews winter coats and store baseball bats and other 'storage closet' junk. And will there be zero-G rockers out on the 'porch' for the older astronauts to use?
On Friday, NASA continued investigating what caused extensive damage at the launch pad used to shoot Discovery into orbit two weeks ago.
We 'shoot off' fireworks. We 'shoot off' our mouths. We 'launch' rockets no matter the size -- even my little Estes model rockets are 'launched' not 'shot'.
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Post by RussD »

This sort of dumbing down is a personal and professional pet peeve of mine.

I saw a documentary the other day that called rockets engines on the X-15 "jets". I just about jumped out of my skin. I actually yelled at the TV.

I think what we are seeing is a direct result of the poor state of science education in our schools. The people writing this stuff came through a system that does not teach science effectively...and the science it does teach is little more than rote learning and so called "lab experiments".

The writers dont know any better because thier editors dont know any better. These people were likely taught science by poorly trained teachers or worse yet, had little real science education at all.

RussD.
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Dick Jacobson
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Post by Dick Jacobson »

Just a few nights ago on the PBS show "Nova", in an otherwise excellent program about Isaac Newton, the actor was shown looking through the mirror end of Newton's telescope! Does this mean the actor couldn't tell an eyepiece from a wing nut? Or did the producers know how a Newtonian telescope worked, but didn't want to "confuse" the public by having Newton look through the telescope the "wrong" way? I suspect Newton would be dismayed to think that, 300 years later, people who are supposedly well educated don't know how to use his telescope.
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Post by kibatme »

Dick Jacobson wrote:Just a few nights ago on the PBS show "Nova", in an otherwise excellent program about Isaac Newton, the actor was shown looking through the mirror end of Newton's telescope! Does this mean the actor couldn't tell an eyepiece from a wing nut? Or did the producers know how a Newtonian telescope worked, but didn't want to "confuse" the public by having Newton look through the telescope the "wrong" way? I suspect Newton would be dismayed to think that, 300 years later, people who are supposedly well educated don't know how to use his telescope.
Next year is the 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope and the 'International Year of Astronomy' -- might be a good opportunity to drag all such offenders into the public square and flog them with a driver corrector cord! :wink:

Yes, this is all, all too common. In fact, I think I saw this in passing during a Stargate SG-1 episode earlier this evening. It passed pretty quickly, but the Newt was definitely pointing 'mirror up' with the finder at the descending end.
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Post by Dale Smith »

At least the Nova people knew it was a telescope. I once heard of an amateur astronomer who got a visit from the police. They said a neighbor lady had phoned in a report that a man was in the field 'hugging a pipe'.

I am reminded of when I grew up in California. The California Academy of Sciences (a science museum) used to be one of my favorite spots in San Francisco. A lot of the exhibits were well done and depicted science and technology in all its glorious complexity. However, in the 15 years between when I graduated from college until I moved to Massachusetts it rapidly declined. It was depressing to watch it gradually become sort of a glorified version of the Nature Company. Many of the old exhibits were removed and replaced with ones that had been dumbed down. It would have been one thing if they had not known any better, but to actively replace the good with the bad? Please! I was not heartbroken to hear that earthquake damage forced its closure a few years ago. I hope the re-built version that opens this fall returns to its roots rather than what it had become.
Last edited by Dale Smith on Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by merle »

Dale,

Looks like it will be quite a place: http://www.calacademy.org/index.php

I especially like the planetarium and pendulum. Let's get the road trip SIG working on a field trip!!! :wink:
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Post by Dale Smith »

The pendulum looks like it is still the original that used to be just outside the planetarium. The shape of the planetarium looks totally different. The two story sphere inside the main building looks like it will be similar to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. I will be curious to learn what they put immediately outside the planetarium. The area outside the old Morrison Planetarium used to have a fair number of astro related exhibits and then they got rid of a bunch of them and replaced them with - well, not much.

A trend I have noticed is that at the popular level a disproportionate amount of the TV programming and coverage in general is geared toward things that are a) visually appealing and b) require no background knowledge. This means that photographs of wildlife, galaxies and geologic formations abound - sort of the cotton candy of science. Any aspects of these subjects that require any math, chemistry or physics to understand are generally ignored. Yet these are precisely the types of things that separate the dilettante from the professional.
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Post by Dick Jacobson »

Dale Smith wrote:The pendulum looks like it is still the original that used to be just outside the planetarium.
I'm curious about how they will get the thing to swing in a 220-degree "graceful arc".

Speaking of "dumbing down", I wonder what the Science Museum of Minnesota's latest exhibition, "Star Wars", has to do with science. A few years ago I was impressed to see that they had an exhibit about calculus (which, of course, they didn't publicize since it would have kept the public away in droves.)
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Post by kibatme »

There's no doubt that science can be, and for popular consumption probably should be entertaining.

But we've crossed the line where it's shifted from 'entertaining' to 'entertainment' with little or no 'science'.

I know this is going to date me, but 'Mr. Wizard' comes to mind as a shining example of 'entertaining'. He never shied away from the science. But he made it interesting and entertaining for a generation. The scientific method was there in all its glory -- observation, hypothesis and theory, experimentation.

The modern day Mr. Wizards, such as Bill Nye, teeter on the edge of the 'entertainment' precipice. The facts are there...somewhere. I accept that the generation comprising his target audience is accustomed to media characterized by a rapid-fire pace, quirky context and random connections. But that's not 'science', that's 'entertainment'. Science is a methodical, process-focused activity. Even times when a blinding flash of insight, a bolt out of the blue triggers some new understanding, its proven and expanded by adhering to the scientific method.

My experience with my own son bears out the challenge -- "Don't bother with process or method. Just get the answer in the quickest way possible and move on to something else."

It's a big challenge for Big Science institutions such as science museums and planetaria who depend on bodies through the gates and butts in the seats for funding. I don't envy them.

But their challenge is all the more reason that grass roots, all-volunteer organizations like the MAS need to survive, thrive and keep alive the science behind the entertainment. We can still have fun doing it. We can still be fresh and engaging doing it. But we don't have to cave-in to the pressures of the culture and the trends of the popular media to do it.
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Post by RussD »

Speaking of "dumbing down", I wonder what the Science Museum of Minnesota's latest exhibition, "Star Wars", has to do with science. A few years ago I was impressed to see that they had an exhibit about calculus (which, of course, they didn't publicize since it would have kept the public away in droves.)
I worked directly on both of those exhibitions developing and building exhibits. I left that job a few months ago after 10 years of working hard to keep as much science as possible in the exhibits I worked on. It was not easy.

We built the anamatronic theater in the Star Wars show under contract with the Museum in Boston and Lucas Films. I worked on a tiny part of it...the robot thet crawls over C3P0s leg. What does it have to do with science? Two things...it is meant to inspire and it is guaranteed to make the host lots of money. Lots of money. Did I say $? Remember the corpse show from a few years ago? $$$$$$$ These kinds of blockbuster shows keep the museum running so that it is able to compete for your dollar against other venues...like the Mall of America.

The Calculus show on the other hand was a little known jem. I worked on almost every exhibit in that show. You are EXACTLY right though, the marketing department gave up promoting it. I was present at the meeting when their eyes bugged out. The museum eventually even took down the sign that said "Calculus" on the exhibit floor. In any case, most of the exhibits I made are still there and I am very proud that they teach solid calculus concepts. It is very popular with HS math classes. "My" primary Exhibits in that show are the "Motion Tracker" which graphs your position/time or first derivative vs/time and my favorite...the Flow Integrator which teaches the concept of integration.

The "problem" in my view is that the majority of the folks making these exhibitions lack any training, experience and most importantly...a love of science. Throw in the need to make $$$$ to keep the doors open and it often results in a "dumbed" down product designed to appeal to a mass audience.

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Post by Dick Jacobson »

During the latest Shuttle mission, it seemed to me that the press devoted more words to the problems with the ISS toilet than anything else. While I admit that a functioning toilet is important to the astronauts, I would have liked to learn a little bit more about the Kibo lab module that was installed, or the problems with the solar array rotary joint.

If we ever send astronauts to Mars, I hope that a reliable space toilet has been developed. Not only for the benefit of the astronauts, but also so the rest of us who stayed behind don't have to endure three years of daily toilet updates. This may be the most important purpose of the ISS. It sounds like a joke, but having a big sanitation problem when the nearest plumber is 100 million miles away is no laughing matter.

So okay, the ISS toilet is important. I just don't need to hear about it every day. Enough said!
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Post by Dave Venne »

RussD wrote:The Calculus show on the other hand was a little known jem. I worked on almost every exhibit in that show. You are EXACTLY right though, the marketing department gave up promoting it. I was present at the meeting when their eyes bugged out. The museum eventually even took down the sign that said "Calculus" on the exhibit floor. In any case, most of the exhibits I made are still there and I am very proud that they teach solid calculus concepts... The "problem" in my view is that the majority of the folks making these exhibitions lack any training, experience and most importantly...a love of science. Throw in the need to make $$$$ to keep the doors open and it often results in a "dumbed" down product designed to appeal to a mass audience.
I was a very peripheral consultant on the calculus project, and I can remember the meetings at which there was no lack of passion for the content. You're right to be proud of what you created -- the exhibits do a good job of conveying the concepts.

Unfortunately, the subject was one that seems to have an invisible repulsive field associated with it. I recall strolling by the calculus exhibit area during visits to the museum; it was always unoccupied, unused. Now if only we could have worked in some plasticized cadavers or a droid or two, the thing would have been a smash. Strangely, it never occured to us to do so.

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Post by Dick Jacobson »

Here's another classic example of ignorance in the on-line press. Today Google News steered me to an article about the Mars Phoenix lander at http://www.dbtechno.com/space/2008/06/2 ... bout-life/.

In this very brief article of 10 short sentences I count two incorrect statements and one that, while correct, is really, really dumb.

The article starts out with the first erroneous sentence: "A major discovery was made last week by the Phoenix Mars Lander, as it revealed that the red planet did contain ice, showing there is water." Wrong, it has been known for decades that there is water ice in the polar caps. Phoenix merely confirmed that, as expected, there was ice near the surface at its landing site.

The second error: "This confirmed that the white chunks were indeed ice, which melted away to water and then evaporated." Wrong, the ice sublimed, meaning that it went directly from solid to gas without becoming a liquid.

Finally: "There is nothing that says to this point that there is no chance of any signs of life being found." Well, duh. What would it take to prove that there is no trace of life anywhere on Mars? You could make the same statement about the Earth.

I looked to see who the author was, and at the bottom it says "Written by admin". I hope in the future Google News will be a little more careful about promoting Mr. or Ms. admin's profound writings.

As the latest Atlantic Monthly asks on its cover, "Is Google making us stoopid?"
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Post by Dave Venne »

Dick Jacobson wrote:The article starts out with the first erroneous sentence: "A major discovery was made last week by the Phoenix Mars Lander, as it revealed that the red planet did contain ice, showing there is water." Wrong, it has been known for decades that there is water ice in the polar caps. Phoenix merely confirmed that, as expected, there was ice near the surface at its landing site.
Good spotting, Dick. Definitely another entry for the Hall of Shame.

Not that I want to cut whoever "admin" is any slack, but I'm not sure that it's been known for decades that there's water ice at the poles. I thought it was measurements by Mars Odyssey (2002) and Mars Express (2004) that confirmed what had been thought to be the case for decades.

It may just be a case of clumsy writing on the part of "admin," probably because their brain melted and then evaporated while trying to dumb down the press releases from JPL, etc.
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Post by RussD »

Last night on WCCO they answered the question...Why do we see the moon in the daytime?

If that was not bad enough...they went to the "University of Minnesota Department of ASTROLOGY" to find out.

Ugh.

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Post by Bill Bynum »

RussD wrote:Last night on WCCO they answered the question...Why do we see the moon in the daytime?

If that was not bad enough...they went to the "University of Minnesota Department of ASTROLOGY" to find out.

Ugh.

RussD
You sure they went to U of M and not Unseen University?
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Post by Dick Jacobson »

What's beginning to bother me is how much the people on "Good Question" resemble the people on "Jaywalking".

Regarding Astrolomy, or Astronogy, or whatever: I have boycotted Waldenbooks ever since the day, many years ago, that I walked into one of their stores and found the Astronomy and Astrology books grouped together.
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Post by Bob Young »

Regarding Astrolomy, or Astronogy, or whatever: I have boycotted Waldenbooks ever since the day, many years ago, that I walked into one of their stores and found the Astronomy and Astrology books grouped together.

Bwahahahaha indeed you HAVE to draw the line somewhere !!!!!!
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Post by FF2Rydia »

RussD wrote:If that was not bad enough...they went to the "University of Minnesota Department of ASTROLOGY" to find out.
It sounded to me (from the link RussD posted) like "... Professor Larry Rednik [not sure of spelling - ED] over at the U of M's Department of Astronomy."

However, the reporter's explanation (which was credited to the professor) used the term "rotate" instead of "revolve."
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Post by merle »

RussD wrote:If that was not bad enough...they went to the "University of Minnesota Department of ASTROLOGY" to find out.

In the story, I heard "Department of Astronomy"... unless in the lead-in Don Shelby said Astrology.
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Post by RussD »

merle wrote:
RussD wrote:If that was not bad enough...they went to the "University of Minnesota Department of ASTROLOGY" to find out.

In the story, I heard "Department of Astronomy"... unless in the lead-in Don Shelby said Astrology.

THEY UPDATED THE STORY today at 12:59! Good for WCCO. You can tell at about 32 seconds into the story the audio changes.

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Post by Dick Jacobson »

I can't help myself, these howlers just keep on appearing day after day.

From this morning's Star Trib article about oil wells in Beverly Hills, the following: ""In the Middle East, you might have 300 barrels of oil per cubic acre, but in the Los Angeles Basin you might have 4,000 barrels per cubic acre," says Mike Edwards, vice president of Denver-based Venoco Inc...."

Cubic acre??? Let's see, an acre is a two-dimensional unit, so a cubic acre must measure six dimensions. If there's oil in those three new dimensions of space that they've discovered in Southern California, our energy problems may be over with! Just re-orient your drill string perpendicular to the three usual dimensions, and you'll be richer than Jed Clampett.

I could make a joke about English-major journalists, but this was supposedly a quote from an oil company executive. Maybe the reporter "corrected" him.

Another example of the utter lack of comprehension of math, geometry, and physics, which I see over and over again, was the recent statement that a wind energy farm provided enough energy for 3000 homes "per day". This must mean 6000 homes in two days, 21,000 per week, etc. etc.

I suppose the basic problem is that journalists are hired and promoted by other journalists. An editor feels more comfortable hiring someone with solid journalistic credentials and no knowledge of science, than a scientist who happens to be a good writer.
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Post by kibatme »

From an article at http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=wor ... ing-saucer :

He anticipates that the craft's body will be made from a material that is an insulator such as ceramic, which is light and a good conductor of electricity.

I can buy into the flying saucer concept easier than ceramic material that's an 'insulator' AND a 'good conductor of electricity'? How does that work?
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