Comments on: A step towards warp drive

By: podrock

podrock — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 03:59:15 +0000

Further studies on the turbidites have suggested it is more small singular events, such as La Palma. I’d have to do some digging on the latest research from Hawai’i.

On the other, more catastrophist, hand. Simple collapse of a continental shelf might make quite a wave. There is evidence of this happening at the end of the last ice age as Doggerland (Brittan, Ireland, etc.) were being inundated by sea level rise.

By: RL

RL — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 01:55:06 +0000

The Hawaiian islands have a history of breaking off large Manhattan sized chunks into the ocean, don’t they? Aren’t those events thought to generate immense tsunami? Or is the process more gradual than I was led to believe?

And I know there is next to zero chance it will happen ‘soon’ – but in the next million years?

By: RL

RL — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 01:10:16 +0000

I first became aware of him when he was one of the leading voices opposing the Cassini launch- this was back during the proto-zone days I think- he made a wild claim that the RTG power supply contained enough radioactive material to kill every human on Earth…

I was just a grad student in those days, but I did a calculation, assuming you could divide up the material evenly among all the people of the world and calculated the dose they would receive and showing there was NO way it would be remotely fatal…

I then dug up his email and sent it to him telling him he should be ashamed of himself… I may have also referred to him as a ‘media whore’…

Of course he has become wealthy with his career path, so I doubt he regrets his choices… but he should be deeply ashamed.

By: podrock

podrock — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 23:27:24 +0000

Ward and Day’s 2001 article about catastrophic tsunamis from a collapse of the volcanic edifice of the Canarian island of La Palma has been widely criticized, but its ripples continue 20 years later, continuing to show up in breathless newscasts and excited chatrooms.

(The original:
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2001GL013110)

Or, it is claims of Yellowstone about to blow. Or something like that.

Really, geology doesn’t have a celebrity voice. John McPhee was a great writer, but didn’t have a huge following, as he never made sensationalist claims. There are many geologists with YouTube channels that are very good, but few subscriptions. The crappy, click baiting, we are all going to die channels don’t have any real geologists, and lots of subscriptions. Fear sells.

Otherwise, most debates in geology are so esoteric nobody gives a damn.

And yeah, Michio Kaku. Heavy Sigh.

By: RL

RL — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 22:49:50 +0000

In every field there are some ‘scientists’ that are more obsessed with getting publicity than they are with getting the science rigorously correct. In their defense, sometimes their organization’s Public affairs office is to blame- writing a press release that greatly oversells the work, but often the blame falls squarely on the ‘scientist’ in question… Given Harold White’s repeated history of dubious claims along these lines I suspect the blame falls entirely on his shoulders.

I would not take him very seriously…

Of course Ethan is also engaging in self promotion as well, but- from what I have seen- he does so in the service of educating the public- unlike some self-proclaimed educational celebrity scientists ( Yes, I am looking at YOU Michio Kaku) he seems to take his responsibility seriously…

By: podrock

podrock — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 19:34:26 +0000

Thanks for the link. I found the article thoughtful and well written.

Remember, extraordinary claims and all that.

By: RobVG

RobVG — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 18:48:27 +0000

Who is this "Ethan Siegel"? I'm starting not to like him. He's the same guy who recently shot down Nobel prize winning Roger Penrose's ideas on the expanding universe. I wonder how the peer review process works. Is there a committee that reaches a consensus or is everyone free to lob grenades? I wrote the book on warp drive. No, we didn’t accidentally create a warp bubble.

By: podrock

podrock — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 20:48:14 +0000

Interesting. Thanks