Friday, November 12, 2010

This just in: Mike Bara explains he's being stalked

       Apparently, posing a challenge to a very inaccurate statement about planetary astronomy counts as stalking in Bara's mind.

Bara reflects on his 3-hour radio show.

       Just in case Mike ever reads this, or in case a reader can get a message to him, here's a science note:

       The sidereal period of a planet (also known as the "true" period) is a function of the semi-major axis of its orbit only. The eccentricity of the orbit does not feature in the equation1. In the special case of an orbit with eccentricity zero — perfectly circular, in other words — semi-major axis is simply another way of saying radius.

       It follows that, if the orbits of Earth and Mars were zero-eccentric, the period of Earth would still be one year exactly and that of Mars 1.88 years. There is, therefore, no possibility that they could remain at the same distance from each other over time, as Mike claimed today.

[1] The equation is T = √r3 where T = period in Earth-years, r = semi-major axis in astronomical units.

Update:
Peter Uwira of the Final Frontier FB page has very expertly compiled the Coast-to-Coast confrontation. Thanks a bunch, Peter. Very well done.

Further update: 
 Mike has now left my comment on his blog for about a week without deleting it. I may be entirely misinterpreting that, but it's possible that this is as close as we're ever going to see to Mike Bara conceding a point.

====================================================

       On another topic, I'm genuinely interested in the proposed mass consciousness experiment in conjunction with the Princeton GCP. I hope they go ahead with it.

9 comments:

Biological_Unit said...

Isn't reality stalking him?

Chris Lopes said...

BU,
Yes reality is in on the vast conspiracy to make both him and Hoagland look like fools. The Universe can be one mean spirited bastard when it wants to be. :)

Geo said...

Bara clearly lacks the credibility needed to succeed primarily due to the fact that his hairstyle isn't equal to that of Giorgio A Tsoukalos (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1475261&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=142172979128247&aid=-1&id=1553687819&oid=142172979128247)

Chris Lopes said...

Geo,
Funny you should mention that. When I saw the original "Ancient Aliens" special, for a minute there, I thought he was Bara. LOL

nyceddie said...

Before I read the comments (below)about Bara's and Giorgio A Tsoukalos wild hairstyle I had posted on ATS about Giorgo possibly getting a hold of the sex pills used by Barbarella and David Hemmings which left Hemmings' hair looking like Giorgio's, or vice versa. Giorgio, along with his commentator mates qualify for saying the stupidest things on any program about anything! Ancient Aliens, yeah, I got your ancient aliens!

Geo said...
Bara clearly lacks the credibility needed to succeed primarily due to the fact that his hairstyle isn't equal to that of Giorgio A Tsoukalos (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1475261&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=142172979128247&aid=-1&id=1553687819&oid=142172979128247)

November 13, 2010 10:35 AM
Chris Lopes said...
Geo,
Funny you should mention that. When I saw the original "Ancient Aliens" special, for a minute there, I thought he was Bara. LOL

November 14, 2010 8:54 AM

Charles Sokasian said...

Expat,

I recently listened to the Coast to Coast show which aired on Nov. 10, 2010 featuring "Dr." Mike Bara. As a physicist, I could not resist contacting him and having a little fun at his expense simply because of his sheer ineptitude regarding conceptual physics. Below (in multiple installments) is recent (9/29/12) e-mail correspondence. I guess I was hitting below the belt, so I deserved the D-bag comment! :)

Cheers,

Charles

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Sokasian
Date: Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 1:17 AM
Subject: Coast to Coast AM Interview, Air date: 11/10/10
To: mikebara33@gmail.com


I listened to an old Coast to Coast show through Coast Insider on which you made an "appearance". That experience compelled me to write to you.

Bara, on what island in the Caribbean did you get your aerospace degree? If you did attend a US university, was it accredited or was this an honorary degree? Based on some of your comments, it seems that you lack even a rudimentary understanding of basic engineering-physics principles. When you stated: "I think a lot of quantum physics is crap," (Hour 4, 17:15) I could hear Neils Bohr, Max Planck, Werner Heisenberg, and many others rolling over in their graves. What credentials do you have to make such an assertion? Are you aware that it is quantum physics driving the electronics that makes your woefully uneducated voice audible to the Coast to Coast audience? I'm sorry if this violates your "gut" feeling about how the physical world behaves, but it happens to be true. Scientists are extraordinarily rigorous human beings, and only the finest among us have spent their entire careers scrutinizing data before laying waste to an entire discipline like you just have. Yet you and your "gut" intuition tells you that "quantum physics is crap." If this crap is so beneath you, please do us scientists a favor (since we seem to be wasting our lives on this so-called "crap"), and throw away your cell phone, laptop, TV, DVD player, MP3 player, watch, GPS, automobile, etc. We really don't want to burden your productive life with useless toys we've invented that happen to operate on fundamental quantum physics principles. I suggest that you re-take (or take, since there's no evidence that you have) some college physics courses so you understand how ridiculous you sound to the educated listener.

Charles Sokasian said...

Part II:

I'm not surprised that Boeing laid you off. What I want to know is if you actually helped assemble ANY of the airplanes used in the US? God help us all if that's the case. Maybe during those years you believed that rivet guns were "crap" as well, and decided that "the hand of god" would keep the airplanes from falling apart under aerodynamic stress. Based on your interview, it appears as though you're not a fan of Isaac Newton and his laws either. Does that mean that some of those jets don't come equipped with engines to generate lift against little g? Sure, Einstein supersedes Newton at high speed/energy/mass, but Newton does a fine job here on Earth. If not, I hesitate to ask you how the space shuttle manages to get itself into orbit. Maybe you're right, and Newton was all wet. If that's the case, you ought to alert NASA, ESA, etc. so they can save a lot of taxpayer money on those pesky boosters.

I think what I'm trying to say here Mike is that in order to run with the big boys, you need to be credentialed, or at least spend your days researching physics so you don't make embarrassing remarks on national radio programs. Now I'm not saying that there isn't value in connecting to positive energies, and doing right by your fellow man, but you've got to play to your strengths. A guy like Wayne Dyer who's a big name in the New Age/Spiritual movement makes a lot of sense, even to someone like me whose entire career can be summed-up in one word: "crap." But he doesn't go shooting his mouth-off about things better left up to the experts, and that's where you faux pasd. So hopefully you'll make the right "choice" in the future and listen to these suggestions.

Charles

Charles Sokasian said...

Part III: (Bara's response)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mike Bara
Date: Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 8:46 AM
Subject: Re: Coast to Coast AM Interview, Air date: 11/10/10
To: Charles Sokasian

Suck my balls you pathetic douchebag. But thanks for listening. Be
sure to watch me on TV as well.

expat said...

So typical. Thanks very much for posting that.