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The Engineer
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Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/29/2016 7:02 PM

Vera Rubin, a distinguished Astronomer, recently died. Headlines proclaimed "Vera Rubin - Discoverer of Dark Matter Has Died";"Vera Rubin, Who Proved the Existence of Dark Matter, has died"; etc. The only problem is:

1. Dark Matter has yet to be observed and may not exist.

2. Vera Rubin didn't believe Dark Matter necessarily was at the root of what actually made her famous - observing that galaxies rotate unexpectedly.

Here's a link the delves into what she thought of her discovery
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lyn
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#1

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Journalism

12/29/2016 7:38 PM

Journalists/reporters are not well versed in science, as well as many other subjects.

After all they studied journalism and not science, mechanics, physics, astronomy or any other technical field in college.

I especially notice this in automotive, materials and firearms related news stories.

I shake my head knowingly and just read on.

I took some journalistic license and edited the title.
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Rixter
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#15
In reply to #1

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Journalism

12/30/2016 5:31 PM

Agreed. Most people that are good at writing are not technically oriented and most technically oriented people are not interested in writing. Sometimes you get lucky and find a technically oriented person who is able to write clearly and accurately.

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The Engineer
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#2

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/29/2016 8:44 PM

I'm dealing with a pretty brutal bout of bronchitis so please forgive #2 in the original post. It should read

2. Vera Rubin didn't believe dark matter necessarily was the cause of her famous observation that galaxies do not spin as expected according to Keplerian dynamics.
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lyn
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#4
In reply to #2

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/29/2016 9:27 PM

Hope you get better.

I suggest a hot toddy and bed rest.

Hot toddy - Wikipedia
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Bayes
The Engineer
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#5
In reply to #4

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/29/2016 9:56 PM

Good tip, I'll have to give that a try!
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Andrew Westman
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#7
In reply to #2

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 2:31 AM

I had that crap three weeks ago. Ugh. A steam vaporiser helped a lot, as did drinking lots of liquids.
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PWSlack
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#8
In reply to #7

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 2:44 AM

Alcohol free ones, surely?

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Andrew Westman
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#9
In reply to #8

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 2:51 AM

Yes, actually.

Had a couple of nice Margaritas with dinner tonight, tho. Mexican food. Not bad given the general quality of restaurant fare in this redneck, backwater, third-world Texas town. Hope springs eternal.

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JIMRAT
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#16
In reply to #9

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/31/2016 12:40 AM

"Hope springs eternal." sounds like an American address.

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Andrew Westman
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#17
In reply to #16

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/31/2016 1:30 AM

It does doesn't it?

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Bayes
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#10
In reply to #7

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 8:08 AM

Yeah, it hit me like a hammer on Christmas Eve. I've been drinking a lot of OJ, Apple Juice, and Water this past week.
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BestInShow
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#12
In reply to #10

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 8:41 AM

Just don't give it to your daughter!
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Bayes
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#13
In reply to #12

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 10:08 AM

Lol, my daughter? I think you mean patient zero! Don't worry, my daughter doesn't get colds/flu/bronchitis....she gives them.
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Tornado
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#3

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/29/2016 9:00 PM

There is a lot of unfactual and illiterate material on the Internet and other media these days. However, some recognition, even if off-key, might be better than no recognition at all.

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redfred
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#6

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/29/2016 10:16 PM

Yes, journalists often get the nuances wrong for the sake of a brief headline.

I remember meeting Vera Rubin near the turn of the millennia after a lecture at my work site. Even then she was starting to wonder when and if dark matter would ever be detected. As the wine bottles slowly drained, several alternative ideas instead of dark matter were speculated and discussed. Most of the speculations were one form or another of modified gravity at galactic and intergalactic distances. One idea that perked some ears was a non-mass dependent force that didn't reduce with the square of the distance between items. Vera ended the evening with an observation I'll have to paraphrase... Theorists suffer from a fundamental flaw, they think they understand or can explain everything without testing anything. Experimentalists suffer from their own fundamental flaw, they believe that as long as they can repeat an experiment and get the expected response they don't need to understand any theory to explain the experiment. Science only happens when these two camps agree on a path to follow and they both find what they want to see. Along the way its a fun journey.

As 2016 comes to a close this Saturday I will lift a glass to salute Vera and enjoy the journey.

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Bayes
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#11
In reply to #6

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 8:13 AM

Cool story, thanks!
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James Stewart
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#14
In reply to #6

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

12/30/2016 11:18 AM

Very interesting. It would almost seem as if light pressure from the inner galaxy pushes this {whatever it is} out to the periphery, and it may not be acting gravitationally {perhaps}, but rather through e-m force?

Anyway, ponder that as we phase out 2016, and enter 2017 with a nice hearty glass of one of the

Carmenéres of Chile

such as Casa Diablo, which is probably the least expensive good wine from Chile. About $8-9/bottle. Really.

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redfred
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#18
In reply to #6

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

01/01/2017 12:29 AM

With 2016 passing I wish to remind all that it contained a significant positive scientific discovery related to Vera's work. In 2016 gravity waves were detected from the combining of two primordial black holes not just once but twice.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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#19
In reply to #18

Re: Vera Rubin's Passing - A Study in Poor Science Journalism

01/01/2017 1:00 AM

That reminds me that one of the LIGO facilities is only about 15-20 miles away, but I haven't toured it yet.

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