4 ms·

The author of the published paper in question is the Astrobiology Group Leader at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (http://spie.org/x17397.xml http://spie.org/

by jagtesh 16y ago

The author of the published paper in question is the Astrobiology Group Leader at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (http://spie.org/x17397.xml http://spie.org/x17397.xml) Why would he risk his career and put his reputation at stake?

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
araneae 16y ago
shrug Michael Behe did good work as a microbiologist and publishes in the Journal of Creation. I'm sure this guy really believes it.
ffumarola 16y ago
He has made similar claims before that didn't pan out. Why is it risking his career if he truly believes it? It may just be a case of seeing what he wants to see. We'll see!
- jagtesh 16y ago
  My point is, why would NASA employ him as a Group Leader if he were, dare I say, delusional? There's got to be some truth in it.
  - aheilbut 16y ago
    Because NASA is a big government bureaucracy, and he's been working there since 1966. Instead of thinking that there's got to be some truth to it, think that when there's a whiff of BS and it looks like the work of a bunch of delusional cranks publishing in their own vanity journal, it's nonsense and should be ignored.
    - _delirium 16y ago
      Strangely, it's not just him, though I agree it doesn't seem particularly likely to be true. The journal's editorial board seems to have people who do reasonably respectable work when it comes to their work that doesn't involve panspermia. The journal's editor-in-chief, for example, is a well-respected director at Harvard's observatory, and his "normal" papers (reporting on finds via the telescope) get published in normal journals.
      - aheilbut 16y ago
        It is pretty strange that there are so many big names playing along. On the other hand, there's quite a long tradition of eminent, tenured, (and often aging) scientists going a little bit off the deep end, especially in areas outside of their actual expertise. People say things for all kinds of weird reasons, which may range from pet theories to hawking books and getting speaking gigs.
        apl 16y ago
        > On the other hand, there's quite a long tradition of > eminent, tenured, (and often aging) scientists going a > little bit off the deep end, especially in areas outside > of their actual expertise. Look no further than Watson and Crick.
    - archgoon 16y ago
      >Because NASA is a big government bureaucracy, and he's been working there since 1966. To be fair, any other academic institution would have given him tenure. The point of tenure in those systems is precisely so that faculty can say batshit insane ideas with the hope that the odd lunatic will be right, or at least invite discussion.
gus_massa 16y ago
Copying a comment of jneal: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2292467 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2292467 This guy has some interesting information: http://m.gawker.com//5777460/fox-news-publishes-fake-exclusi.. http://m.gawker.com//5777460/fox-news-publishes-fake-exclusi.... Something seems odd here - the guy has made this same announcement in the past. --------------- Some additional research from myself: The link says that this is not the first time that Hoover made an announcement like this. So I tried to find some of them and got these: 1997: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover.htm 2004: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover2.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover2.htm and: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover3.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover3.htm 2010: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover4.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover4.htm (And just to be sure, the older of the articles is in Internet at least from 1998: http://web.archive.org/web/19981202091131/http://www.panspermia.org/hoover.htm http://web.archive.org/web/19981202091131/http://www.pansper... )
nollidge 16y ago
It wouldn't be the first time a smart, accomplished person has espoused a weird belief. See Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer: http://www.amazon.com/People-Believe-Weird-Things-Pseudoscience/dp/0805070893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299445012&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/People-Believe-Weird-Things-Pseudoscie...

by jagtesh 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

araneae 16y ago

shrug Michael Behe did good work as a microbiologist and publishes in the Journal of Creation. I'm sure this guy really believes it.

ffumarola 16y ago

He has made similar claims before that didn't pan out. Why is it risking his career if he truly believes it? It may just be a case of seeing what he wants to see. We'll see!

jagtesh 16y ago
My point is, why would NASA employ him as a Group Leader if he were, dare I say, delusional? There's got to be some truth in it.
- aheilbut 16y ago
  Because NASA is a big government bureaucracy, and he's been working there since 1966. Instead of thinking that there's got to be some truth to it, think that when there's a whiff of BS and it looks like the work of a bunch of delusional cranks publishing in their own vanity journal, it's nonsense and should be ignored.
  - _delirium 16y ago
    Strangely, it's not just him, though I agree it doesn't seem particularly likely to be true. The journal's editorial board seems to have people who do reasonably respectable work when it comes to their work that doesn't involve panspermia. The journal's editor-in-chief, for example, is a well-respected director at Harvard's observatory, and his "normal" papers (reporting on finds via the telescope) get published in normal journals.
    - aheilbut 16y ago
      It is pretty strange that there are so many big names playing along. On the other hand, there's quite a long tradition of eminent, tenured, (and often aging) scientists going a little bit off the deep end, especially in areas outside of their actual expertise. People say things for all kinds of weird reasons, which may range from pet theories to hawking books and getting speaking gigs.
      - apl 16y ago
        > On the other hand, there's quite a long tradition of > eminent, tenured, (and often aging) scientists going a > little bit off the deep end, especially in areas outside > of their actual expertise. Look no further than Watson and Crick.
  - archgoon 16y ago
    >Because NASA is a big government bureaucracy, and he's been working there since 1966. To be fair, any other academic institution would have given him tenure. The point of tenure in those systems is precisely so that faculty can say batshit insane ideas with the hope that the odd lunatic will be right, or at least invite discussion.

gus_massa 16y ago

Copying a comment of jneal: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2292467 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2292467 This guy has some interesting information: http://m.gawker.com//5777460/fox-news-publishes-fake-exclusi.. http://m.gawker.com//5777460/fox-news-publishes-fake-exclusi.... Something seems odd here - the guy has made this same announcement in the past. --------------- Some additional research from myself: The link says that this is not the first time that Hoover made an announcement like this. So I tried to find some of them and got these: 1997: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover.htm 2004: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover2.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover2.htm and: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover3.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover3.htm 2010: http://www.panspermia.org/hoover4.htm http://www.panspermia.org/hoover4.htm (And just to be sure, the older of the articles is in Internet at least from 1998: http://web.archive.org/web/19981202091131/http://www.panspermia.org/hoover.htm http://web.archive.org/web/19981202091131/http://www.pansper... )

nollidge 16y ago

It wouldn't be the first time a smart, accomplished person has espoused a weird belief. See Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer: http://www.amazon.com/People-Believe-Weird-Things-Pseudoscience/dp/0805070893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299445012&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/People-Believe-Weird-Things-Pseudoscie...