Bill Nye's Marsdial

Some Clown writes "MSNBC via the Seattle Post Intelligencer is reporting that Bill Nye the Science Guy, as part of the Earthdial Project has got what's being billed as a 'Marsdial' put onto the Mars Rover. Interestingly, it is now the official backup for orienting the Mars Rover in case of primary camera failure. Maybe an old fashioned sundial is just what the doctor ordered after the many math and other blunders of late. This whole Earthdial Project seems pretty interesting as well. They're trying to set up a worldwide network of sundials tracked via webcam. The goal is to track the sun's movements as viewed from many points on earth, as well as from Mars. Definitely interesting... at least if the 'Marsdial' doesn't disintegrate upon landing." There's a little more technical description of the Marsdial in our earlier story.

Comments

Probably Stupid Question

[PakProtector]

If they're going to use the sundial to align the camera if the camera goes out, how are they going to align the sundial to make sure it's correct in the first place?

Re:Your tax dollars at work, folks.

[PakProtector]

In case you've forgotten, the whole thing about the Space Race, if I remember my Kennedy correctly, is we do these things because they are there, because we want to see if we can do them.

Re:Your tax dollars at work, folks.

[Bender_]

As usual software solution could have been done for far less than a bulky hardware solution

Yes, but how does the software read the suns inclination? RAND()? Besides that, I'd choose a failsafe, simple piece of hardware like the sundial, over a blown up piece of software every day.

Re:Your tax dollars at work, folks.

[MadChicken]

I was just about to mod you overrated (or troll) but I thought I'd explain instead.

This bulky hardware solution is almost foolproof! I challenge you to find a software solution that will stand up under Mars conditions for any substantial length of time as compared to a no-moving-parts sundial.

And don't be ignorant and begrudge the kids scientific knowledge. Some of those that track the marsdial will probably end up on the Mars program in a few years.

The article also indicates that the sundial is additional functionality added to an existing item - a color measuring instrument. "He could add function without adding weight". So your $100,000 of "my" tax dollars (semantically loaded sentence) is a red herring.

Now, other moderators need to lower your rating.

Re:Bill Nye the Science Guy

[dwhitman]

You know, everyone seems to love Nye, and he is exposing lots of kids to science, which is a Good Thing. That said, as a scientist, I end up cringing anytime I watch his program. The science on the show often gets submerged under the painful quick-cut MTV-style editing. Call me an old fogey, but after watching more than about 5 minutes, I start feeling ill.

Although it may not be eye- or rating-catching, an important part of science is cultivating an attention span that allows observation and rational thought. His frenetic style is more about infotainment than showing what science is about. IMHO.

It is Good Bill Nye is Still Doing Science

[Famatra]

I am glad Bill Nye is still participating in science. Its unfortunate that his reputation seemed to have suffered in the scientific community after his Disney show Bill Nye the Science Guy, and is now relegated to working on the show 'Battle Bots' for comedy central.

An interesting article / interview from Scientific American also mentions a wide contempt in the scientific community for scientists engaging the public, for example it is likely Carl Sagan was denied membership to the national academy of sciences because he was on television. As well a scientist deserving of the Nobel Prize, who wrote children's books, was also ridiculed.

Is it no wonder why the public is so science ignorant when scientists are punished for speaking to and educating them. Hopefully, with Bill Nye as the example, scientists will be more willing to engage the public.

Re:Astrophysics for kindergarten 101

[Hiro Antagonist]

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt! Wrong.

It tracks the rotation of the Earth, as well as the motion of the Earth around the Sun -- you can use a sundial to tell not only the time, but also what day of the year it is.

Sorry, just had to put this in. *grin*

Re:Go Bill Nye

[Baron_Yam]

Actually, I hated that stupid show. Admittedly, I was many years older than its target audience, but I can't imagine a kid with a bad enough case of ADD that he needed the same *tiny* snippet of information repeated every couple of seconds for the duration of a 20 minute show just to get it in his head.

When I was young, I watched proper science shows on PBS, and learned more for it. Of course, at the time I thought my dad was a twit for making me watch those shows, but it was hardly torture!