What was new at Bad Astronomy in 2002?

November 20, 2002
Note added Feb, 2003: What I originally wrote for Nov. 20 is out of date, so I include here more about what happened after the radio interview. The old stuff is in italics below.

I just finished an interview on National Public Radio about the Moon Hoax. Also on was be Jim Oberg, the author of the Moon Hoax book that NASA decided not to fund, and Moon Hoax curmudgeon Ralph Rene. The show aired live but is archived on their website. On the show's main page are links to summaries, highlights and a forum where people are posting on the topic.

Old Stuff from Nov. 20, 2003:
Right on the heels of the MSNBC fiasco comes an invitation to be on the National Public Radio program "The Connection". Also on will be Jim Oberg, the author of the Moon Hoax book that NASA decided not to fund. We'll be talking about the Hoax, of course, and other things. They have arranged a special guest: Moon Hoax proponent Ralph Rene. Rene (as he calls himself) is quite a character. For one thing, he thinks pi = 3.1463 and not 3.14159. This assertion is so ridiculous that it's difficult to know how to counter it! But one way is to figure out how hard it would be to make a circle if our knowledge of pi is off by 5 parts in 1000. That means that a circle two meters around would be off by a full centimeter from calculations. I suspect engineers would have noticed that by now...

The NPR show is live, and airs at 11:00 to noon (Eastern US time) on Friday, which is today as many of you read this. Sorry about the late notice; I've been busy. The show will be archived at "The Connection" website, so you can always listen to it later. Knowing how confrontational both Jim and Rene are, this could be fun...

Here are the links:

• The Connection's website
• A list of stations carrying the show
• Rene's website (better be sitting down when you read it, and preferably not have anything in your stomach).

Also, the transcripts and streaming video of an interview of Moon Hoax flagellator Bart Sibrel and me are up at the MSNBC website. Here is the transcript, and here is the video.

November 15, 2002:
I will be interviewed live on MSNBC today on "The Abrams Report" at 6:15 p.m. Eastern (US) time. They invited Moon Hoax flagellator Bart Sibrel on, and wanted someone else to be on who actually has a rational view. They settled for me. You can read about Mr. Sibrel and his excruciatingly erroneous claims on my web page about his shameful antics.

November 13, 2002:
I have added a new section to the website! Called "In Print", it's a list of a lot of the articles I have written for other venues like magazines, newspapers, and websites besides this one. The new section is now in the menu on the left hand side of every page on this site.

November 11, 2002:
Looking for info about the Moon Hoax guy who got punched in the face by Buzz Aldrin? Read all about it.

October 31, 2002:
Happy Halloween! In the spirit of the holiday, here is a picture of me from long ago, at a party when I was in grad school. That's a homemade costume, I'll add, and it took me ages to get it right! If you can't see it, it's Hubble Space Telescope made of chicken wire, aluminum foil, wood and cardboard.

October 18, 2002: ALERT: Last night I gave a talk at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland. I signed a copy of a well-thumbed book for a young boy before the talk. If you are that boy, please email me (badastro@badastronomy.com)! I want to ask you a question. Thanks!

October 16, 2002
ALERT: Moon Hoax advocate and astronaut irritant Bart Sibrel will be mocked mercilessly on the TV show "The Daily Show", a program that satirizes the news and is well-known for skewering cranks, kooks and weirdos. The show airs at 11:00 p.m. Eastern (US) and Pacific time tonight, Wednesday night. There are no specifics on the show's website, but you can check it out anyway.

September 15, 2002:
Moon hoax advocate Bart Sibrel (37) was punched in the face by astronaut Buzz Aldrin (72) after Mr. Sibrel did an "ambush interview" of Mr. Aldrin, claiming that Aldrin never walked on the Moon. I will restrain any editorial comments here. However, I have created a page with more info and links. Read all about it.

I was interviewed for the TV station TechTV about this, and the segment will air tonight, Tuesday September 17, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern (US) time. Here is a TechTV page about the segment.

August 22, 2002: Have you heard about a rogue planet called Planet X or Nibiru that is supposed to pass by the Earth next year and cause all sorts of calamities? It's becoming pretty popular on the web right now from all manners of doomsayers, whose grasp of basic science might be best described as tenuous. If you want actual facts about the situation, then read my pages debunking this latest non-event.

August 11, 2002:
My first thought was "Finally! A movie about trigonometry!" but then I realized "Signs" wasn't spelled "Sines". Oh well, I reviewed the movie anyway.

July 22, 2002: If you are coming here from the "A.M. Coast to Coast" show, welcome! If not, then you should know that from 11:00 p.m to 2:00 a.m. (Pacific time) on Monday night/Tuesday morning I will be on the radio show "A.M. Coast to Coast" (you can also listen on the web). Here are some links on this site that may interest you:

July 6, 2002

A Bad Astronomy Two-fer! Two reviews for you to peruse:

The original!	The sequel!

June 12, 2002: Yahoo!News reported about a planet discovered around a nearby star. Somehow, though, in their report, it's not a planet, nor is it nearby.

June 9, 2002: If you are coming here from the "A.M. Coast to Coast" show, welcome! If not, then you should know that from 11:00 p.m to 2:00 a.m. on Sunday night/Monday morning I will be on the radio show "A.M. Coast to Coast" (you can also listen on the web). Here are some links on this site that may interest you:

June 6, 2002: I am currently attending a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There is usually a lot of good news stories from these meetings, and this one is no exception. I have written two stories so far for astronomy.com, the online version of Astronomy Magazine:

• Hubble's Infrared Camera Back in Action
• The Milky Way Eats One of Its Own

I'll probably have another one written soon, perhaps in two weeks, so check back here for more info.

May 18, 2002:
The Bad Astronomy review of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is online for your perusal.

May 15, 2002: On Friday, May 17 I will debate the infamous Bart Sibrel on WRUV (FM 90.1), a station out of Burlington. This should be... interesting. Check out Mr. Sibrel's (grossly incorrect) website first, and then the rebuttal at www.clavius.org, as well as Jim McDade's rebuttal to Sibrel.

The show will be live on Friday, May 17 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern (8:00 a.m. Pacific). You can listen to the debate live on WRUV's website as well. You'll need RealPlayer (which is free), and you can download from WRUV's website.

April 8, 2002 Evidently, the chapter in my book about UFOs ruffled some feathers in the UFO community. Take a look here.
Also, I'll be giving a pair of talks in Pittsburgh this weekend, on the 13^th and 14^th. See my calendar for more.

March 28, 2002: I have updated my calendar, including several public events where I will be speaking.

March 17, 2002: If you came here after watching the Pax TV show "Encounters with the Unexplained", welcome! If you want more info about the Moon hoax, and exactly why it is wrong (despite what Kaysing and Sibrel say), read my Moon hoax debunking page.

Also, I have opened up an online Bad Astronomy store, where you can buy shirts, mugs, a baseball cap or even a mousepad with the Bad Astronomy logo on it. I have ordered the mug and shirt myself, and the logo transferred pretty well! This is pretty good quality stuff, care of CafePress.

March 16, 2002: I will be on TV Sunday night on the Pax TV show "Encounters with the Unexplained", debunking the Moon Hoax. See my calendar for more info.

Also, an article I wrote about the Moon hoax was recently published in Muse Magazine, a wonderful kids 'zine. I've written for them a few times and it's always been fun.

March 10, 2002
It is with much pride and joy that I announce that my book, "Bad Astronomy", is now available! Published by Wiley and Sons, the book has actually gotten quite a bit of nice advance praise, and has been selling fairly briskly. It has a few topics already here on the website, though with more detail, and also has new topics, including astrology, UFOs and creationism. I have created a page for it with more info, or you can order a copy right through this wesbite.

UPDATE! January 31, 2002: From the NASA website: "NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at approximately 11:15 p.m. EST Wednesday. According to calculations made by the United States Space Command Space Control Center, EUVE re-entered the atmosphere over central Egypt... The object was not designed to survive re-entry intact and was expected to break apart and mostly burn up in the atmosphere. U.S. Space Command cannot confirm if any pieces survived re-entry. "

January 29, 2002: Two big items today!

• NASA wants you to help steer its policy! The National Research Council wants to know what you think about NASA planetary exploration policy. Fill out the form and let them know.

• The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite will deorbit sometime between 10:00 p.m. EST January 30^th and 7:00 a.m. EST the following day. Most of it will burn up on the way in, but a few pieces (perhaps weighing up to 100 pounds) will survive to impact the ground. The danger of anyone getting hit is minimal. Check out NASA's homepage for more info (especially around 8:00 p.m. EST on the 30^th for current info about when and where it will hit), and this press release from NASA.

January 21, 2002: I'll be on TechTV again on Thursday. Read my calendar for more info.

January 9, 2002: I have started a Bad Astronomy email newsletter! It contains website updates, news, dates and locations of any public appearances I'll be making, etc. You can check it out, or click the fancy Yahoo!Groups button on the right to sign right up for it, or just plop your email address into the form below.

Update (March 10, 2002): Over 1000 people have joined since January! Remember, I tend to send these out before I update the website, so you can get pertinent info early that way.

January 7, 2002: I'd like to personally thanks everyone who emailed me about a small error in an article on CNN's website. They had erroneously referred to the "the dark side of the Moon" when they meant "far side" (the CNN article can be found here, and an explanation of the difference between dark and far side is on my own website). I emailed the editors at the CNN website and they quickly fixed the article. My kudos both to my Bad Readers and to the good folks at CNN for their response. It's nice to know that it is possible to make a difference.

January 5, 2002: I'd like to give my readers a head's up on a new skeptical show called "The Conspiracy Zone". It airs on TNN Sundays at 9:00 p.m., and the premier is tomorrow as I write this. I have a bit of inside knowledge about this show and I think it is very funny. Kevin Nealon hosts, and it presents both sides of conspiracies, including UFOs, Elvis' death, JFK, you-name-it. I don't know if they will do a Moon Hoax show or not, but I hope to find out soon. The show has a website too, so check it out!