Slashdot Mirror
20 Years of Hubble
GPLHost-Thomas writes "The Hubble Space Telescope roared into space 20 years ago to begin a career rewriting what we know about the universe around us: the age of the universe, the composition of galaxies' cores, how planets form, and much more. NASA released some of the most spectacular photos for the event."
No, Nasa. Martin Nasa who lives a few miles from me released the photos.
Some overseas news sources, such as the BBC, use a style guide that does make it "Nasa" not "NASA".
As much as I enjoy the Hubble pictures, I always try to keep in mind that for most of them, there is no place that you could go and see the same image with your naked eye. False colors and extensions into the infrared portions of the spectrum create images that are both lovely and scientifically valuable; but it's not what you would see if you were positioned to look without equipment.
Then shouldn't that be the Bbc?
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
Then shouldn't that be the Bbc?
No. NASA is an acronym; BBC is an initialism. Some style guides treat them differently, capitalizing only the first letter of the former but all letters of the latter. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbreviation#United_Kingdom.
R.Mo
I wish they didn't use the star filters though.
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
No. According to the BBC style guide, if an acronym is commonly spoken as a word, e.g. LASER, NASA, RADAR, then it is spelt as a normal word; laser, Nasa, radar. However, if the acronym is spoken as a acronym, as a sequence of letters, then it is spelt using all capitals, e.g. BBC, CNN, NSA.
Of course, the is a BBC/UK style guide. Americans do things differently when it comes to acronyms. American organisations often carry acronyms to excess(GE has an internal acronym dictionary), frequently structuring the original description to fit a premade acronym rather than the other way around. The most notorious example of this is the USA PATRIOT Act(yes the USA is part of the acronym). Since they are tailored to be like words, Americans tend to use acronyms as words, but still use upper case(go faster stripe) spelling in many documents. Hence they would write NASA and not Nasa.
As someone who grew up using the UK style, but who spends a lot of time on the US-centric internet I've tended to notice these differences as time goes by. Also, I am no longer able to discern which spelling must be used for countless words in English, which I imagine is the case for a lot of people. It's strange to think that when Hubble launched these kinds of confusion did not really impact on daily life so much.
May the Maths Be with you!
No. BBC is an abbreviation; Nasa is an acronym in that it has become a word (cf. radar).
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
NASA can be pronounced as a word and so can be treated like a noun, while BBC cant. Technically this should apply to NATO as well, but fuck it, that's the English language for you.
No. According to the BBC style guide, if an acronym is commonly spoken as a word, e.g. LASER, NASA, RADAR, then it is spelt as a normal word; laser, Nasa, radar. However, if the acronym is spoken as a acronym, as a sequence of letters, then it is spelt using all capitals, e.g. BBC, CNN, NSA.
So, is it Mr. Mxyzptlk or Mr. MXYZPTLK?
Sorry, couldn't help it. ;)
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
At least "Beeb" is always available, I guess...
One that hath name thou can not otter
One of the most sublime photos ever taken. I am amazed every time I look at it.
GENERATION 27: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
And "Auntie", another old name for the BBC.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
Technically this should apply to NATO as well, but fuck it, that's the English language for you.
The BBC and other British news organizations do in fact refer to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as Nato, not NATO.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
TBH lately I've become quite partial to expanding it to Big Brother Corporation...
One that hath name thou can not otter
Well, I prefer it straight up, initially. ;-)
But after a few, it seems I cant rite, and cant left*hic!* I mean leave....
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Hmmm... So NASA would be an acronym and BBC would be an initialism, right?
- These characters were randomly selected.
i'm hoping this is meant to be some poor quality joke...
i'm hoping this is meant to be some poor quality joke...
A joke, yes. Quality, of course, is subjective.
This ain't rocket surgery.
Well using the DC style guide.. (note DC would be DC using the BBC style guide).. You would have to pronounce "Klit" "Pez" "Yaxm" to determine the proper spelling.. If that doesn't work, we'll try agoin later in 90 days.
Klaatu barada nikto
waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
Another good take would be how in the future we repair our tools in space. Fixing Hubble was by no means a simple task , and I think we learned alot from not only the view and data we have but how to approach maintenance.
I stand by what i said.
Think about the return on investment.....all of the miniturization and science driven by the space program. ROI is staggering.
Didn't you forget mind-blowing photos of the heavens as hmm.. a significant part of the return on investment? Of course revealing more of the celestial vault isn't measured in $$$, so yeah you can probably omit them.
There's an IMAX movie out right now called Hubble 3D which details the repairs of the Hubble as well as some discoveries and has some fun effects. It was rather inspiring. I definitely loved it and plan to take the kids.
-l
Help cure AIDS, cancer, and more. Donate your unused computer time to worldcommunitygrid.org. Join Team Slashdot!
Only if you pronounce NASA "En-Ay-Es-Ay"
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
Grammar nazis don't grow up - they just flee to Argentina.
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
Actually, CIA is an initialism unless you pronounce it "Seeeeah".
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
Man, I'll bet NASA was pissed when they realised all those pictures of stars they thought they were taking were actually artifacts of the instrument itself! ;)
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
We americans put a giant telescope into space.
I wonder what the ESA has to say about that, what with Hubble being a joint ESA venture and the largest space telescope being the Herschel Space Observatory (another ESA project).
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
Why?
You sure did say "we" a lot. You didn't put it in space. You didn't figure out the trouble and go and fix it. Your only effort was paying tax - a few cents of which went into paying for it, all without your input. Why are you so desperate to cling to the successes of others? Is it some vain attempt to improve your own perception of yourself? Are you really that insecure as a human being that you have to judge yourself by the actions of others that you are connected to only by some arbitrary, artificial borders, and the very accident of your birth?
And as others have pointed out, it wasn't just an American project.
Just amusing; I still like BBC probably most out of all mass media.
One that hath name thou can not otter
The National AeroSpace Agency? I think it is an initialism.
Rethinking email
I somehow doubt it was meant to be poor quality.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
how fast time flies