New Scientist: What's Your Take?

[Alkatran]

this?

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/space/mg18524911.600

I caught it in a post in another forum and I was just wondering how much of it true, and how much is exagerated?

 

[KingNothing]

#1. Placebo effect - Just when do they consider it something that 'Makes sense'? The placebo effect is well understood, it's understood in how it is created, how it develops, and what the subject feels in the end. It's not like we're in the dark about it. If we call this "not making sense", there are many many things that do not make sense.

#2. Big Bang - It's the big bang. It was created a long long time ago, and quite simply has no place in a modern factual discussion of the universe. At least as far as I know. Also, does this not imply that the "Big Bang" is an explosion of matter, rather than an explosion of spacetime?

#3. Cosmic Rays Wrong - So what? No real scientist and realist will ever tell you that einstein is completely correct in anything, or that any theory is, or that any results are perfect.

#5. Dark Matter - Doesn't completely make sense, and doesn't completely not. No, we can't describe everything in the universe. Oh no!

#6. Martians, Martians, Martians! - Cool. Good to know.

#7. Tetraneutrons - Sounds interesting, but still has a high probability of being a flop.

#8. Pioneer - I think Nieto is right, it probably is some mundane effect.

I'm going to bed now. Goodnight.

EDIT: Whoop, had to come back for #11. This quote should be signatured or at least put in some archive of stupid things on the internet:

The nearest star in that direction is 220 light years away. If that is where is came from, it would have had to be a pretty powerful astronomical event - or an advanced alien civilisation using an astonishingly large and powerful transmitter.

Others think there must be a mundane explanation. Dan Wertheimer, chief scientist for the SETI@home project, says the Wow signal was almost certainly pollution: radio-frequency interference from Earth-based transmissions. "We've seen many signals like this, and these sorts of signals have always turned out to be interference," he says.

 

[Alkatran]

I was mainly suspicious of the homeopathy one. I've seen homeopathic descriptions "waves propagating in the water" ETC... it makes no sense. I mean you can make billions upon billions upon billions of tons of a homeopathic remedy from a gram of (whatever). The more dilute it is the better! ?

It occurs to me that people are ACTUALLY BUYING WATER AS A MEDECINE.

 

[KingNothing]

Yes, that's kind of weird. I'm surprised more people haven't replied to this thread, it kinda belongs in the general discussion, and it kinda belongs here.