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Rumor of Betelgeuse's Death Greatly Exaggerated

Posted by kdawson on from the holding-out-for-twenty-twelve dept.

The Bad Astronomer writes "A rumor is spreading on the Net like wildfire that the red supergiant star Betelgeuse is about to explode in a supernova. This rumor is almost certainly not true. First, it's posted on a doomsday forum. Second, it's three times removed from the source, and is anonymous at each step. Third, the evidence is shaky at best. Plus, even if true, the supernova is too far away to hurt us. But other than that ..."

11 of 356 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Seriously? by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure, but of all the places to go for bad rumors and conspiracy theories, slashdot is my favorite!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  2. Doomsday forum by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hmm... That's almost more interesting to me. Seems pretty odd to have a doomsday forum. If you think the world is ending soon, you're going to be online, chatting about it? Are the doomsday predictions spinning off to places other than Earth because doomsayers realized they're tired of being wrong and if they're right about predicting the earth's demise, they won't get any credit for it?

  3. Reason four: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nobody yet knows where the Hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven.

  4. Re:Seriously? by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, and Slashdot is also a site that covers this kind of thing.

    Plus it beats yet another "Something has tenuous link with iPad"/"Someone wrote hype piece about iPad"/"iPadipadipadipadipad!" story.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  5. Check for puppeteers by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't see any Pierson's Puppeteers around. I think we should get out of here.

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  6. Re:Who cares? by owlstead · · Score: 5, Funny

    Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, you know?

  7. Re:Who cares? by __aasqbs9791 · · Score: 4, Funny

    With the crazies I have around me, who'd notice?

  8. Re:Who cares? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't think any neutrino detector can detect them. Not even IceCube.

    What about Dr Dre?

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  9. Nice try by davidbrit2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...Betelgeuse is about to explode in a supernova. This rumor is almost certainly not true. First, it's posted on a doomsday forum. Second, it's three times removed...

    Nice try, but I'm not falling for that one.

  10. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't think any neutrino detector can detect them. Not even IceCube.

    What about Dr Dre?

    Oh right! Forgot about Dre.

  11. Re:Who cares? by thePsychologist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, 640 light years ought to be far enough for anyone!

    --
    "What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson