Black Holes and Empty Heads
Michele Bachmann is a 'barking mad' Republican Senator and darling of the Tea Party in America, so when I read this report on her views about the supposed 'danger of listening to scientists' I knew immediately that the poor, deluded woman was talking 'mince'.
Ms Bachmann clearly doesn't like science or scientists which is presumably why she wants to ignore all the scientific evidence about climate change and evolution, for example.
So I checked up on what Stephen Hawking had actually said on the subject and it turns out that Senator Bachmann doesn't know what she's talking about when it comes to black holes and event horizons speaking, as she does, as a committed 'creationist'
Stephen Hawking’s Blunder on Black Holes Shows Danger of Listening to Scientists, Says Bachmann
BY ANDY BOROWITZ - The New Yorker
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Dr. Stephen Hawking’s recent statement that the black holes he famously described do not actually exist underscores “the danger inherent in listening to scientists,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) said today.
Rep. Bachmann unleashed a blistering attack on Dr. Hawking, who earlier referred to his mistake on black holes as his “biggest blunder.”
“Actually, Dr. Hawking, our biggest blunder as a society was ever listening to people like you,” said Rep. Bachmann. “If black holes don’t exist, then other things you scientists have been trying to foist on us probably don’t either, like climate change and evolution.”
Rep. Bachmann added that all the students who were forced to learn about black holes in college should now sue Dr. Hawking for a full refund. “Fortunately for me, I did not take any science classes in college,” she said.
Bachmann’s anti-Hawking comments seemed to be gaining traction on Capitol Hill, as seen from the statement by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Science Committee, who said, “Going forward, members of the House Science Committee will do our best to avoid listening to scientists.”
No, Stephen Hawking Did Not Say Black Holes Don't Exist
By Robert Sorokanich - Gizmodo
You've probably seen plenty of headlines this week proclaiming "Stephen Hawking Says Black Holes Don't Exist," and heard people who read those headlines chattering excitedly about this seemingly huge shift in astrophysics. But as PopMech wisely points out, that's not an accurate summary of what Hawking actually said.
All of this stems from a short paper Hawking submitted on January 22nd, titled "Information Preservation and Weather Forecasting for Black Holes." And yes, the phrase "there are no black holes" appears in that paper. But there isn't a period at the end of it. In full, it states "there are no black holes—in the sense of regimes from which light can't escape to infinity. There are, however, apparent horizons which persist for a period of time."
As PopMech explains, Hawking is writing about the things that happen at the event horizon, the very edge of a black hole. The whole discussion is an excellent read, but the main takeaway is this: astrophysicists who understand this complex language consider the new paper a Hawking op-ed. As Don Marolf, a theoretical physicist who studies black holes at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told PopMech, "most people that I know that read the paper see this as an expression of his opinion on a current debate without necessarily adding new scientific ingredients."
Of course, that's not the last station for the misquote train. Andy Borowitz threw a 55-gallon barrel of kerosene on the confusion fire with his satirical column where he "quoted" Representative Michele Bachmann as saying, "if black holes don't exist, then other things you scientists have been trying to foist on us probably don't either, like climate change and evolution." Far too many people took it seriously, which I guess is the mark of skillful satire.
So what's the lesson here? Don't listen to anything on the internet. Ever. Except for this. [PopMech, The Borowitz Report]
