What is this PH 1600 Introductory Astronomy Lecture

What is this? PH 1600: Introductory Astronomy Lecture 25: UFOs and Pseudoscience

PH 1600: Introductory Astronomy Lecture 25: UFOs and Pseudoscience Next Lecture: None: Thanks for watching! School: Michigan Technological University Professor: Robert Nemiroff Online Course Web. CT pages: http: //courses. mtu. edu/ This class can be taken online ONLY, class attendance is not required!

You are responsible for… ¡ ¡ ¡ Lecture material Listed wikipedia entries l But not higher math APODs posted during the semester l ¡ APOD review every week during lecture Completing the Quizzes l l l Homework quizzes 1 - 12 Final Exam released today at 4 pm, due next Wed at 5 pm. APODs from 2008 Sep 1 through 2008 Dec 10

UFOs Unidentified Flying Objects ¡ Never yet confirmed to be intelligent aliens from another planet ¡ “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” ¡

A Lenticular Cloud Over New Hampshire Credit & Copyright: J. D. Rufo, J. Koermer, Plymouth State College APOD: 2003 April 30

A Lenticular Cloud Over Hawai'i Credit & Copyright: Peter Michaud (Gemini Obs. ) APOD: 2005 August 21

A Roll Cloud Over Missouri Credit & Copyright: Dan Bush (Missouri Skies) APOD: 2006 January 17

Anticrepuscular Rays Over Colorado Credit & Copyright: John Britton APOD: 2008 November 16

Shelf Cloud Over Saskatchewan Credit: Jeff Kerr APOD: 2008 January 22

Mammatus Clouds Over Mexico Credit & Copyright: Raymundo Aguirre APOD: 2007 December 30

Pseudoscience Why is pseudoscience popular? ¡ Scientists are unpopular authority figures ¡ l l ¡ Unelected Self-proclaimed, unavailable “Not like you and me” It is cool to say “they” are wrong Urban Legends l Eggs stand on end at equinoxes?

Egging On the Autumnal Equinox Credit: Phil Plait (Bad Astronomy) APOD: 2003 September 23

Examples of Pseudoscience ¡ ¡ Astrology UFO-logy Moon landing “hoax” Creationism l l l ¡ ¡ Intelligent design, etc. Ask: Why don’t most universities teach creationism? Ask: Why does the Pope believe in evolution? “Face on Mars” Many recent criticisms of global warming

Goals of Pseudoscientists ¡ Create doubt l l l ¡ Everything is “only” a theory “My theory is just as good as yours” “Scientists are trying to undermine religion” Practiced sound bites Hard data “is there, ” will be presented “later” Might further a political agenda

Science: Predictability and Reproducibility ¡ A scientific theory l l l ¡ Makes testable predictions Based on reproducible results Passes “peer review” Occam’s Razor l A scientific theory should be no more complicated than it needs to be

Mars Then and Now Credit & Copyright: Tom Ruen, Eugene Antoniadi, Lowell Hess, Roy A. Gallant, HST, NASA APOD: 2003 November 12

A Face On Mars Credit: The Viking Project, NASA APOD: 1998 April 6

The Face on Mars Credit: NASA, Viking Project, APOD: 1995 July 22

Mars Express Close-Up of the Face on Mars APOD: 2006 September 25

Mars Express: Return to Cydonia Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al. , Mars Express, DLR APOD: 2006 September 26

A Waterspout off the Florida Keys Credit: Joseph Golden, NOAA APOD: 2005 January 20

A Strange Streak Imaged in Australia Credit & Copyright: Wayne Pryde APOD: 2004 December 7

An Unusual Event Over South Wales Credit & Copyright: Jon Burnett APOD: 2003 October 1