And how does this "misleading" information affect the story? Does it mean
that all those reports are wrong? Or just using different terminology from
the specialists?
When this happens, it can be because the original sources were themselves
hard to interpret or poorly explained.
Remember, reporters do not have time or space to include quick crash courses
in astrophysics.
MK
__________________________________
Michael Kenward OBE
Science Writer & Stuff
My other computer is a slide rule
-----Original Message-----
From: psci-com: on public engagement with science
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Oli Usher
Sent: 22 July 2010 15:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] The most massive star ever detected is not a
specially giant star
"Massive" is clearly a problematic word since it doesn't mean the same
thing to specialists and non-specialists. But what's the alternative?
Would "heavy" or something like that be better?
Francisco Diego wrote:
> This discovery has received a lot of media attention, but once again,
> the information has been presented in a misleading way.
>
> I was on Sky News last night about R136b, the most massive and bright
> star ever discovered, this time by the team led by Paul Crowther (ex
> UCL). I said that the relevance of this star it its record mass,
> around 300 solar masses, which makes it the brigthest star on record,
> 10 million times more powerful than the sun. This discovery is
> triggering new ideas about the formation of ultra massive stars, which
> now will consider the possibility of smaller stars merging together,
> as Paul Crowther proposes. During the interview, I tried to clarify
> that R136b is not a specially large star, with a diameter only around
> 40 times bigger than the sun's, while some red supergiant stars have
> diameters around 2000 times bigger than the sun's. Here the media have
> been misleading, confusing mass with diameter, even giving examples of
> how long would a plane take to fly around the star, etc. Perhaps this
> is a consequence of the way language is used (i.e. massive as 'big,
> giant', but not as 'large mass, heavy'). Still a great story with wide
> coverage and lot of public attention on a fundamental science topic.
>
> regards
>
> francisco
>
--
Oli Usher
Junior ESA/Hubble Public Information Officer
Education and Public Outreach Department
European Southern Observatory
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany
Telephone: +49 89 3200 6855
Mobile (Germany): +49 176 7648 2193
Mobile (UK): +44 7754 130 109
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.spacetelescope.org, www.eso.org
**********************************************************************
1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following message:
set psci-com nomail -- [include hyphens]
2. To resume email from the list, send an email to [log in to unmask]
with the message:
set psci-com mail -- [include hyphens]
3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the
message:
leave psci-com -- [include hyphens]
4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list
archive, can be found at the list web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication and
science and society can be found at http://psci-com.ac.uk
6. To contact the Psci-com list owner, please send an email to
mailto:[log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************
1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following message:
set psci-com nomail -- [include hyphens]
2. To resume email from the list, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message:
set psci-com mail -- [include hyphens]
3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message:
leave psci-com -- [include hyphens]
4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list archive, can be found at the list web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication and science and society can be found at http://psci-com.ac.uk
6. To contact the Psci-com list owner, please send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
|