Neil DeGrasse Tyson's _Cosmos_

https://imgur.com/59QM45S.jpg

just wondering what a non-arbitrary cosmological event would be

Solstices (June 21, December 21), equinoxes (March 20, September 23), perihelion (Jan 3), aphelion (July 4). Dates sometimes off by a few hours, as there are 365.242199 days/year.

The Gregorian new year happens to correspond to when the sun is transiting Sagittarius, interposing itself between the Earth and the galactic core, but it only makes a close path, getting to within about 3° of Sagitarius A* on December 18-19.

looking forward to his #metoo moment

why are you looking forward to news that neil degrasse tyson harrassed women

he has a reputation in the astronomy community that deserves to be better known

is one reason you're okay with the Defense Dept's Space Force because you're cozy with the US Defense Dept and serve on one of its boards https://t.co/ejBu0r9njP https://t.co/s2ysy7wK1i

— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) August 20, 2018

oh no they've got to Neil! Summon Sagan's ghost!

xp he did have a metoo moment

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nosacredcows/2017/10/neil-degrasse-tyson-accused-of-rape/

this show is great, Tyson's role in the broader culture is a good one

No it isn’t

He makes my kids excited about science, so mission accomplished afaic

He’s probably an incel

Haha um no

He’s better at being a “public science advocate” than Hawking was (we are only allowed one famous “scientist” at a time in the public consciousness)

I kind of think its better to not force science down the public's throat - just let the people with traditional minds slowly fade away in time - to be replaced by HUMAN 2.0!!

the amount of hate this dude gets online is kinda strange to me. he's a bit overly earnest and says goofy things sometimes and isn't really particularly great at using twitter (see the tweet above, which is a well-meaning sentiment spoiled by "i'm ok with a space force" -- i would assume that he probably isn't actually ok with the space force that trump wants, but clumsily used that to set up his "punchline"), but he seems generally ok and i don't see any hatefulness + ignorance coming out of him the way you get w/ dawkins, etc.

He just wants to be on the space force. who wouldn't ? Even now the International House of Space Station is up there preparing for battle! I would love to zoom about in a space racer firing at ufos

re: the accusation -- i'm guessing this won't get much traction if/until a major publication reports on it/vets it?

more like Neil DeAss Bison

the amount of hate this dude gets online is kinda strange to me.

His public persona is on the border between nerdy and goofy, but that persona connects well with a lot of people. Even if you don't much like him, there's no obvious reason to hate him.

obvious reason being one is on the internet

would ppl be hating on carl sagan if he were around and tweeting?

eh, who am i kidding, they probably would

would love to hear him read his Mean Tweets

There's always going to be a contingent of people who think that they need to define themselves by who and what they violently reject. I guess some people badly want to see themselves as the Anti-Neil Degrasse Tyson, whatever the fuck that means. See also: Westboro Baptist Church and Dick Dawkins' fanboys.

well, that's quite a leap.

Did Carl Sagan work for the Pentagon?

He doesnt work for the pentagon, do u even know what advisory boards are

I do, roughly... he may not get *paid* by them, but there are other forces at work.

Fine, let’s back up

Do u know what the word “work” means

actually carl sagan did work for the pentagon

and the rand corporation as a matter of fact

Sagan would get super-blazed on quality weed and then personally drop bombs on kids in east timor iirc

well, this is America, so that all makes sense

carry on running the Old Guard Pelosi fanclub, Οὖτις

Cheerio old chap

it doesn't seem like sagan was too friendly w/ the pentagon by the 1980s at least:

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-03-15/news/mn-34986_1_nuclear-winter

i personally worked for the pentagon from 1999-2001 when i was at the scripps institution of oceanography, we were working under a navy grant, studying the effect that the titanium paint flaking off of the warships at naval air station alameda had on the dissolved oxygen / nitrate / phosphate / etc in the water

i even took a federal oath of loyalty as part of the job. at one point i was going to visit lawrence livermore national lab to work with some dudes who had designed a kind of fish-tank simulator of the ocean floor (we wanted to build our own version) but it was determined by them and us that it wouldn't be too much trouble to get a naturalized citizen from iran the necessary security clearance to even visit LLNL

TLDR: lots of scientists "work for the pentagon" and it doesn't really mean what you think, the military-industrial complex is complex, to say the least

would be too much trouble, not wouldn't be

or rather, it was determined it wouldn't be worth the effort

Clearly u are a war criminal

thanks for that, tlg -- v interesting

I'm sure it means you pause before saying "i wouldn't like to see a Space Force launched with the Grifter as the Cmdr-in-Chief"

xxp

not really sure what you're getting at, nobody really gives a fuck what i - and neil de grasse tyson for that matter - think of the space force

i guess he thought his Twitter followers would

i think JD had it right - he's not actually providing an expert opinion on space force, he's just using it to set up the "truth force" punchline

the military industrial complex's relationship with astronomy is complicated. it is basically impossible to do professional research astronomy in the US without using military infrastructure and/or receiving military money. it's something a lot of US astronomers feel conflicted about, but consider the price of admission. if you want the data, you join (or you leave the US and go to a country where astrophysics and space program are less synonymous).

but tyson doesn't do research astronomy, and hasn't done for 30 years. which makes his decision to work with them ... less complicated. he literally has no incentive reason to sit on boards like that other than his own ego.

tyson's fine as a science advocate. his style grates on me a little, but at least he gets some people to pay attention and learn something.

i'm not sure about his idea for a Truth Force, though. who's going to be in charge of determining the truth? jared kushner?

Advisory board issue #1 for 2018 - send Trump to mars

Two more women come forward

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/nosacredcows/2018/11/two-more-women-accuse-neil-degrasse-tyson-of-sexual-misconduct/

on the scale of this kind of thing that doesn't seem that horrible but it does sound p creepy and unpleasant, which is disappointing.

i would just like to note that i have been otm on this thread.

I miss Carl Sagan pic.twitter.com/jUKrBgFSFs

— Oedipa Maas (@bridgietherease) August 22, 2017