Ironically, I am too wiped out to blog after Science Online 2011! It was all kinds of awesome.
So, to further follow-up on the astrology nonsense of the week, here is my boss and all around cool guy at Discovery, Ian O’Neill, debunking the astrology bunk on Fox News, while an astrologer says it has to do with interpretations and resonances, while the reporter just keeps getting things wrong. (e.g. Rotation is not precession.) Good times!
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January 16th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
I have a low tolerance for inanity, so I can rarely watch things like this all the way through, but I do note that it’s not the Earth’s rotation which caused the zodiac/date correlations to shift as said by the anchor. It’s the precession of the axis which is responsible. Though perhaps that distinction is too difficult for Fox News?
January 16th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
The distinction between precession and rotation is too difficult for most people, I think….
I’m impressed that Ian was able to go on without directly saying that astrology was bunk, but he did sort of (very politely) manage to get it in there.
January 16th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Pope Gregory VIII removing 10 days from the calendar had as much change in the astrological signs as precession. I haven’t heard astrologers blame the Catholics.
January 17th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
LOL! Didn’t think of that…