On Saturday, Australia’s Sky News ran a brief segment with “proudly climate sceptical” presenter Rowan Dean.
It is perhaps one of the stupidest things ever put on Murdoch media. (Yes, we realize what a bold statement that is.)
Because while Dean ends with a fairly standard level of stupid--that it’s the sun that’s causing global warming--he begins by presenting one of the most bogus bits of science-looking stupidity to ever go viral.
The theory (to use the term very loosely) is that our solar system is actually a vortex or helix, with the planets “chasing the Sun, in a spiral” according to Dean, planets trailing behind the Sun as it rockets through the galaxy. You’ve probably seen the video or a gif of it before, racking up over 5 million views as it’s spread unknowingly on social media. It’s neat-looking and goes viral pretty regularly, much to the dismay of astronomers and others who prefer reality to pretty myths.
Phil Plait at Slate gave the viral video the debunking treatment back in 2013, but despite the video and “theory” being easily googled and refuted by some very basic astronomical observations, apparently Dean didn’t fact-check it. (To be fair, if fact checkers had kept him honest, the segment would’ve been left with 2 minutes of silence without the bogus animation or his bogus commentary.)
The animation itself, which Dean describes as an “emerging scientific understanding” of how the solar system works, does not come from any research organization like NASA or university lab, or even a science-adjacent organization. Rather, it comes from DJ Sadhu, a Dutch music producer and video artist.
Clearly, not a scientist. But does his video follow the scientific method? No. In fact, when addressing Plait’s and others’ criticisms of his video back in 2015, DJ Sadhu admits that because he isn’t a scientist he can do whatever he wants with his videos, “even if that means mixing personal beliefs with scientific-looking stuff.” This is certainly one of those personal beliefs.
As for his other personal beliefs, DJ Sadhu also admits to believing in UFOs, that the Illuminati control the world, vaccines are bad for you, and the moon landing was a hoax. This is apparently the sort of keen intellect Rowan Dean believes deserves broadcast coverage, and represents what “some scientists” are referring to the “helical, rather than elliptical solar system.”
After showing DJ Conspiracy Theory’s video, Rowan Dean then claims there’s also “a growing number of scientists” who now believe climate change is caused by changes with the Sun. To support this bold claim, Dean presents as many credible citations as he does for the helix-shaped solar system: zero.
The Sky News clip ends with the tagline: “News you can trust, opinions you can’t ignore.”
But if it’s news from Rowan Dean about some DJ’s opinion on the shape of the solar system and status of the climate, those opinions certainly can, and should, be ignored.
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