In exciting (yet, questionably relevant, other than to theoretical physicists) old news;
Explosion from 7.5billion light years away could be seen with the naked eye
- worth a read. However, notice how I'm intelligent enough to say 'old news', because the explosion was 7.5billion light years away. That means, if we can see it now, it happened 7.5billion years ago. So, it's rather ridiculous that a 'scientist' on the project should claim:
"The passing of Arthur C. Clarke seems to have set the universe ablaze with gamma ray bursts"
I'm so, so annoyed that I might have to go and punch the scientist concerned (Judith Racusin of Penn State University, if you're in the area).
Thursday 12 February 2009
The Epic Explosion and the Idiot Scientist
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As if we would have missed your intelligence!
The comment was a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke, and the influence that he has had on several generations of scientists. It should be obvious that Ms Racusin (who was not the person who originally made that comment) intended it to be a comment on the synchronicity of five gamma-ray burst happening within 24 hours of Clarke's death, and not implying that they were related. You need a more poetic imagination.
Oh dear.
1) According to discovery.com, she made that comment. She might want to issue a lawsuit pretty fast if that's false:
""Coincidentally, the passing of Arthur C. Clarke seems to have set the universe ablaze with gamma ray bursts," said Swift team member Judith Racusin of Penn State University."
2) Five gamma-ray bursts did not happen within 24 hours of his passing. They happened at varying points over the past few billion years. To say that something '7.5billion light years away' happened '7.5billion years ago' is an estimation. It's not accurate to the day.
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