Neil deGrasse Tyson - Admits Mea Culpa -While Still Not Quite Getting it Right

SlowGettingUp · Jan 27, 2015

Actually a friend of mine who is a very high-end experimental-type astrophysicist (and a Steelers fan) made exactly the same mistake as Tyson. He saw it at once when I pointed out his error last week. It's an easy enough mistake to make for a physicist who is used to dealing with absolute pressures not gauge pressures.
Of course he still whined about the Colt's balls being fine.

I suspect that the rain was colder than 50 degrees and that there might also have been some evaporative cooling because of the wind (although the relative humidity was obviously very high).

Palm Beach Pats Fan · Jan 27, 2015

The Carnegie Mellon studies were done by "real" scientists. That's the video that has been posted many times here.

Bobsyouruncle · Jan 27, 2015

patsfan-1982 said:
no disrespect to guys like bill nye and Degrasse but until I see a real college scientist do a study on this and not some actor looking to get some face time off a big story am not buying anything they say

There's been a few already. Though I think the point here is more or less that nobody is immune from blind spots and mistakes. Not me, you, Tyson or a "real" scientist. Tyson isn't wrong because he's an entertainer, he's just wrong.

He's wrong because while credentials provide some protection from error, they cannot make anyone immune from the human flaws we all have.

roguepatriot · Jan 27, 2015

More proof, if their shows are not enough, that these guys do not have a clue and are basically media whores trying to get hits. This is high school science; sure they are not the only ones I have known to screw this up but check what you are saying before spouting off something my kids should be able to pick up on and in reality is something for which there is an ongoing investigation. I expect this from hack journalists; maybe I should finally realise these presenters are not scientific experts and plenty of what they are telling me they either do not know or is not correct.

TomPatriot · Jan 27, 2015

patsfan13 said:
Actually this is freshman physics. so if he is a physicist he should know this. Hell a local guy who runs a car repair shop that does tires know what the problem was the day the story hit the news and he doesn't have a degree in anything, he is just used to dealing with tires and pressure (he does race cars).

Yes, I know it is freshman physics. Tyson deals in black holes and quasars and such. If he knew tires, he would know this immediately. He doesn't know tires.

patsfan-1982 · Jan 27, 2015

Bobsyouruncle said:
There's been a few already. Though I think the point here is more or less that nobody is immune from blind spots and mistakes. Not me, you, Tyson or a "real" scientist. Tyson isn't wrong because he's an entertainer, he's just wrong.

He's wrong because while credentials provide some protection from error, they cannot make anyone immune from the human flaws we all have.

IMO his wrong because footballs are not his field he has never done a test on pig skins yes we all get it wrong and we are all human but my opinion means noting but a famous scientist who to people his opinion dose mean something needs to get all the facts before making a statement

BradyManny · Jan 27, 2015

"All the scientific minutiae that’s been thrown at us, be careful about buying into it.” - Chris Mortensen.

Oh right, so yeah, you know the laws of physics that govern everything in the Universe and that humankind has spent the last several hundred years getting to understand? Throw that out the window when what it reveals is inconvenient.

People like Chris Mortensen, aka morons, make all my cynicism about our species justified.

So I'm checking in once a day now. I keep hoping things will get less stupid only to find quite the opposite.

Palm Beach Pats Fan · Jan 27, 2015

The pressure-volume proportional link for gases actually goes back to a scientist named Amonton who proposed it in about 1702. So George Washington's great grandpa might have learned it if he had been scientifically inclined. It pre-dates the notion that ATOMS exist by a mile.

patsfan13 · Jan 27, 2015

TomPatriot said:
Yes, I know it is freshman physics. Tyson deals in black holes and quasars and such. If he knew tires, he would know this immediately. He doesn't know tires.

UHHhhhhhh no, he chose to demagogue the issue and try to make BB look like a goof when he is the moron and a media whore to boot.

He needs to admit he was totally wrong and go back to supporting Al Gore, his buddy.

BradyManny · Jan 27, 2015

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:
The pressure-volume proportional link for gases actually goes back to a scientist named Amonton who proposed it in about 1702. So George Washington's great grandpa might have learned it if he had been scientifically inclined. It pre-dates the notion that ATOMS exist by a mile.

One of the great achievements of mankind was to understand how the world works in approximation without even realizing the fundamental building blocks. I find the history of science fascinating for this reason. (On a huge tangent, it is equally fascinating that we were able to split the atom before we understood something like biology in any detail).

I find it rather annoying when people ignore good information that we've had for several hundred years now.

patsfan13 · Jan 27, 2015

zydecochris said:
I have to say I'm a bit stunned that someone with the stature of Neil Tyson would make that type of error (using gauge pressure instead of absolute pressure in the ideal gas calculations). That is the type of error that I would give a "C" to for a Freshman physics student. I've been pretty surprised by some of Bill Nye's comments also.

In a sense, it shows a problem with the science community. Scientists work so, so hard to advance science ONLY with absolutely proven statements, they are very cautious in their assertions. But, in making sure that there are no errors made, the statements are normally not easily understood by the public.

Thus, you have people like Bill Nye and Neil Tyson that are able to provide (what is in my opinion) a vital function, they simplify complicated issues to make science interesting for kids. They are media advocates for science. However, they don't really pay much if any attention to scientific rigor which is so important to real scientists.

I support their role, I think it is vital, I just wish they were a little more careful about what they say. With the deflate gate thing, IMHO their lack of scientific rigor has really muddied up the waters regarding some issues that are explained by simple physics.

Feynman knew who to simplify the complex, not these entertainer goofballs.

BradyManny · Jan 27, 2015

patsfan13 said:
Feynman knew who to simplify the complex, not these entertainer goofballs.

There are no Feynmans nowadays. He was one of the greatest scientists in the world AND a popularizer of it. That simply does not exist now. That is no knock on popularizers - they serve great purpose and NdT is a great one. But he is not going to reveal anything new about the world to us via research.

patsfan13 · Jan 27, 2015

True but when you are wrong so often it help to be humble and not condescending.

BradyManny · Jan 27, 2015

patsfan13 said:
True but when you are wrong so often it help to be humble and not condescending.

If you are referring to NDT's tweet - I will give him the benefit of the doubt b/c Twitter's character limitation has a tendency to make everything condescending.

I would imagine NDT is forthright about his place in science, though I can't say one way or another. If I were him, I would defer to the folks in academia and research who bust their rears off long hours, underpaid, underfunded, etc. in order to try and bring new knowledge to our species.

Hoodie · Jan 28, 2015

BradyManny said:
"All the scientific minutiae that’s been thrown at us, be careful about buying into it.” - Chris Mortensen.

What Mort means is "Science and math are hard."

Dr Pain · Jan 28, 2015

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:
The Carnegie Mellon studies were done by "real" scientists. That's the video that has been posted many times here.

This is why Kraft needs to have a Press conference on this again and play this video and force the press to watch. Do it Friday. After the game is too late.

kennyb · Jan 28, 2015

He should have mit and Stanford do experiments and a press conference with an articulate scientist. I think bb muddied the waters a bit with his preparation explanation.

Dr Pain · Jan 28, 2015

kennyb said:
He should have mit and Stanford do experiments and a press conference with an articulate scientist. I think bb muddied the waters a bit with his preparation explanation.

If he does this this thing ends for most of the press and moves to wtf the NFL is thinking.

zydecochris · Jan 28, 2015

patsfan13 said:
Feynman knew who to simplify the complex, not these entertainer goofballs.

Feynman was truly exceptional. The word genius gets thrown around (for movie directors, offensive coordinators, etc.), but his ability to BOTH advance human understanding of nature (in quantum electrodynamics) and his ability to present complex phenomena in easy to understand ways (his wonderful Feynman lectures, which were used to teach introductory physics from a completely unique approach) is true genius.

He was really one of a kind.

Fencer · Jan 28, 2015

5 degrees Farenheit equates to .25 PSI reduction, closely enough for the purposes of all of these discussions.

BB said that ball prep alone accounted for 1 PSI.

And so we have three competing theories to explain the other 1 PSI:

Surreptitious penetration in the bathroom.
Vigorous rubbing in the locker room.
Moisture.

Neil deGrasse Tyson - Admits Mea Culpa -While Still Not Quite Getting it Right

2nd Team Getting Their First Start

Pro Bowl Player

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

On the Game Day Roster

PatsFans.com Supporter

In the Starting Line-Up

Pro Bowl Player

Pro Bowl Player

Hall of Fame Poster

Pro Bowl Player

Hall of Fame Poster

Pro Bowl Player

Hall of Fame Poster

Pro Bowl Player

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

2nd Team Getting Their First Start

Pro Bowl Player

Similar threads