As the moonlight brightens this week from tonight ‘s sinuous crescent to the first quarter of Wednesday and gibbous wading later in the week, we will see more learning light in the our classes. The moon will be at full moon later on January 28. While the warm weather makes it seem like spring is here, the rising stars of Orion and the Dog Star, Sirius, in the evening at tell us that it is still very winter.
Go out at 8pm and look southeast. You can see a number of bright stars that are like the “winter hexagon. ”Starting at the top closest to the zenith and going clockwise, you will see Capella in Auriga, Aldebaran at Taurus eye, Rigel at Orion’s knee, Sirius at Canis Major’s neck, Procyon at Canis Minor headquarters, Pollux and Castor at Gemini twin heads and back to Capella. Inside the winter hexagon at Orion’s right shoulder is a high-red Betelgeuse.
Those with dark banded skies will see the Milky Way go between Canis Major and Canis Minor and continue up through the Gemini legs and central Auriga. The Milky Way band is the weakest in Auriga ‘s direction as we look in the road opposite the Milky Way center, which is in Sagittarius.
Understanding real science
The spring semester begins this week at Bakersfield College. Due to the still very high COVID-19 test results and few ICU rooms capable of handling COVID-19 patients, all Bakersfield College classes are online.
In the professional development week before the start of school, one of the most popular workshops our librarians ran was about helping us and our students point out incorrect information about COVID-19 . While the workshop focused on COVID-19, the techniques used can be applied in many other areas of our lives as well. Since my astronomy classes are general educational science classes, they include guidance on the scientific approach and the importance of the peer review process.
In the first week of the class I have students read an article by physicist Robert Park, former director of public information for the American Physical Society, entitled “Seven Bogus Science Warning Signs. ”The first two signs involve avoiding the peer review process: The recipient appeals directly to the media and the recipient is the recipient. out saying a powerful center is trying to suppress its work.
Science is a human endeavor made by humans who can make unexpected mistakes or intentions. Real science draws attention to human coincidence by using peer review to deceive ourselves. If the claim is valid, it will be kept under review by other scientists who have training and experience in that field of discovery.
Just because something is published in a peer-reviewed journal is not the last word, the whole truth. There will be times when something published in a peer-reviewed journal is found to be wrong. Prior to the publication of a paper, the peer reviewer will examine the author / authors’ methods of analysis and logical reasoning to capture any errors and may suggest a further interpretation of the data. Following the publication of the paper, other research teams will examine the claims, attempting to reproduce the data or collecting new data that contradicts the original conclusions or detects lost logic errors. the first reviewers. The peer review process includes review and revision, confirmation of any claims and prevention of psychological arrests of biased biases.
Last fall, I wrote about a remarkable claim about the discovery of large amounts of phosphine in the Venus atmosphere that would very likely have to undergo biological processes. The popular media jumped on the original claim and either shunned or downplayed the critics who followed. Both the original application and the application critics were in peer-reviewed journals. The original authors accepted the criticism and will conduct follow-up investigations. They did not complain about the criticism as part of a plot.
Real science allows the idea or finding to be judged on its own merits rather than “blaming the messenger” or trying to disparage the messenger. A true scientist will allow others to test the new idea or discovery because all scientists accept that reality is independent of us or our idea and desire. Careful observation of the physical realm is the only judge of scientific truth, which means that the intersection has ultimate power at the idea of a claimed idea or discovery. Reality kicks back.
The problem with the conspiracy theories of the (false) scientists is that anyone who disagrees with the false scientist is then just thrown into the conspiracy and therefore, there is no way there is proof to the false experts that there is no conspiracy. A true scientist will not claim conspiracy unless their idea or discovery is proven.
Having lived through the past few months, I sincerely wish that we all agreed on an independent reality and that we used something like the scientific method in our daily lives. I believe that our democracy depends on it.
Columnist Nick Strobel is director of the William M. Thomas Planetarium at Bakersfield College and author of the award-winning website AstronomyNotes.com.