You’ve all surely heard of the Darwin Awards, where some people remove themselves from the gene pool for the benefit of mankind by taunting natural selection:
Natural selection deems that some individuals serve as a warning to others. Who are we to disagree? The next generation, ever and anon, is descended from the survivors.
This fellow, one Mike Hughes of California, who bills himself as:
The Only Man in History to Design, Build, and Launch Himself in a Rocket
Mike thinks the Earth is flat, and NOAA, NASA, and everybody else is wrong on that fact. So, to prove it, he’s made a rocket to go to the edge of space to prove it to himself.
A story in the Washington Post says:
Hughes is a 61-year-old limo driver who’s spent the last few years building a steam-powered rocket out of salvage parts in his garage. His project has cost him $20,000, which includes Rust-Oleum paint to fancy it up and a motor home he bought on Craigslist that he converted into a ramp.
Besides the fact that limo drivers aren’t generally rocket scientists, there’s only one major problem; he’s used a similar design for his “steam powered rocket” as the infamous Evel Knievel, who tried and failed to launch a similar contraption over the Snake River Canyon back in September 1974. Stuntman Eddie Braun did successfully zoom over the canyon — using Knievel’s original blueprints — in September 2016.
In a story by BGR, we get a clearer picture:
Mike Hughes, who has made it known that he doesn’t “believe in science,” has built a steam-powered rocket which he intends to ride into the sky. His aim doesn’t seem to be to put the flat earth debate to rest — at the altitude he’ll be reaching, he wouldn’t be able to see much of a curve, and even if he did it’s not like he’d admit it — but rather to promote a flat earth group that is helping to sponsor his flight.
If you’ve ever debated a flat earther online — and if you haven’t, I probably wouldn’t advise it, because logic and reason are completely lost on them — you’ll usually reach a point where one of you says “If we could travel to space you’d see the truth.” The rocket Hughes plans to ride skyward isn’t capable of such a feat, but it’s better than nothing. As for the potential dangers of the flight, he’s well aware of the risks.
“If you’re not scared to death, you’re an idiot,” Hughes explained. “It’s scary as hell, but none of us are getting out of this world alive.” While that may be true, taking your life into your own hands with a steam-powered rocket still requires a mix of guts and stupidity.
Umm, yeah. Looks like steamflunk.
Our friend, Dr. Roy Spencer, recently said on Facebook post that he’d like to nominate Hughes for a Darwin award “pre-humously”.
I second that motion.
Saturday, Nov 25th, while people are watching football and eating turkey leftovers, hughes plans a Pay Per View coverage of his Darwin Award event launch. In my view, he’s just another stuntman with a crazy idea to make fame and money.
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A member of the Flat-Earth Society, when asked how many members they had, said …
“Loads – we have members all around the Globe”.
That’s why I am not superstitious, because superstition brings bad luck.
I’ve got a bigger inferiority complex than you have!
😉
Comedy gold .
Shouldn’t he have answered “four corners of the world.”
this body-shaming of Gaia has got to stop!
Good one!
Hahaha!!!!
I look at the sun (with filter, of course) and it’s round. I look at the moon and it’s also round. Every planet I can see with my telescope is similarly round (not perfectly round, but close enough).
You’d think Flat Earthers could project that shape into 3 dimensions, but apparently not.
I’m wondering what gives Mad Mike Hughes the idea planet Earth, which also appears round from space, the idea that of all celestial bodies the one we live on is FLAT??
…and then there’s his “Mad” honorific.
Yes, but we’ve never seen the other side of the moon… NASA says they have pictures, but they say that men have been there, too, so… ;^)
It must be a flat Globe… I doubt he will be seriously injured simply because that contraption will never get off the ground. Of course if it explodes with him in it…
Is it possible to tell the difference between a person who believes and someone who is winding you up?
no
Poe’s Law is the relevant phenomenology
It’s not a belief, it’s a test in critical thinking. As in who can, and who can’t (aka Open minded vs Bigoted)…
Very good point. He may be smarter than appears and if his goal was free, and widespread publicity, which can be traded for gold, then he has succeeded without ever warming up his sky kettle.
Sixty one seems a bit old for the Darwin award, if you are removing yourself from the gene pool does it require having no offspring before your death?
Just a thought.
SteveT
On this evidence he has no kids. If he had he would have more common sense.
If he had kids he would prolly have removed himself sooner. Insanity is infectious, you catch it from your kids.
Having kids doesn’t require, or produce, common sense.
Jeff Alberts on November 24, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Having kids doesn’t require, or produce, common sense.
Yeah, but a lack of common sense often produces kids. Probably why we have so many dumb offspring in the world.
See the movie, “Idiocracy”.
He’ll come in nose first about 10ft in front of that truck.
That’s if the boiler doesn’t blow while he’s still on the ramp.
How will he shovel coal into his boiler whilst in flight?? I don’t see a coal scuttle anywhere. Problem right there. He might need a two-man crew… one to shovel and the other to take pictures. Sorry, I meant “two-person” crew. Can’t say “man” anymore as I’m sure it’s a gender-neutral rocket.
His failure to believe in science, doesn’t seem to stop him from using what little he does know to further his stunt.
Sadly physics is a cruel mistress, like the sea she cares not on whit for your naivete.
I saw an interesting bumper sticker recently:
“NO LIVES MATTER. THE UNIVERSE DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU”
I enjoy science sayings, puns, and jokes, periodically.
Ohh. I’m getting that bumper sticker!
Does dead matter matter?
JasonH,
That was my thought as well. Boiler with super-heated water for thrust? He has no idea how little sustained thrust he’ll get out thing. Certainly not enough to lift the weight of his contraption and his own weight more than 40-100 feet. Just high enough to be too low for a parachute to save his butt from ground impact.
I bet he has a horseshoe nailed onto the contraption somewhere. One may wonder whether he had the right side up.
That’s a silly superstition. But I am reliably informed that horseshoes give luck whether you believe in them or not.
It matters very little that he doesn’t “believe in science.” Science believes in him.
Man could be onto something, just take a look at the moon, our nearest heavenly body, it’s flat as a pancake, nothing like as a lump of cheddar cheese.
It’s just a publicity stunt with an attempt to make some money on online ‘pay per view’
?strip=all&w=858
“If you’re not scared to death, you’re an idiot,”
If you’re not scared to death and don’t know what you’re doing and still carry on, you’re still an idiot.
‘A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drowned,’ he said, ‘for he will be going out on a day he shouldn’t. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we do only be drownded now and again.’
J M Synge, ‘The Aran Islands’ 1907
“Oh Lord, thy sea is so vast, and our ships are so small.”
If he really built all that stuff, particularly if he actually gets it into the air, requires a lot more rationality than your average loony-tune is capable of. That said, the difference between an obsession and an enthusiasm is whether you’re observing it or experiencing it, and this guy being all in to the extent that he’s actually going to launch himself off the planet in this thing, that’s going to get a nod of respect from me no matter how insane any of the rest of it turns out to be.
yeah- this is the main reason i like people, actually- the best ones create themselves.
i get to see how their sincerest, most assiduous efforts pan out.
all these experiments i might never try – i get to see how they go for free.
authenticity is wonderful.
this is human nature, btw- what distinguishes us from all other creatures on this ball of water with a few dry spots.
revel in it. it’s what makes us great, really.
We know that climate skeptics have been compared to Flat-Earthers. One of the differences is that Flat-Earthers pay no attention to empirical evidence, such as circumnavigation of the globe, while climate skeptics cite previous warm and cold periods during the Holocene that occurred long before humans began emitting CO2 in substantial quantities.
All the guy has to do is buy a round-the-world air ticket and he can determine whether or not the world is a globe or flat just by traveling in the same direction for a couple of weeks. Probably cost less than what he spent on the rocket and launch pad.
Attempting to falsify that claim, that the Earth is round, is the scientific method. Is it not? As appose to a faith based belief (taking it on faith as most do) that it is round.
follow your logic to the ineluctable conclusion mr Colbourne
as it is self evident that he could make that cheap experiment, you must therefore understand that he is not interested in answering that question
why do you mistrust your own reason?
Fredrick. It’s both simpler and more complex than that. They consider the Earth to be circular with the Antarctic forming a giant ring around the planet. So, circumnavigation mean only that people can fly or sail in a circle.
However, Just check air flight times throughout the Southern Hemisphere. With this model, A flight from South America to Africa should be ten times the length of one from New York to London. However, it’s not.
it is round.
=======
like a pizza.
it is round.
=======
like a pizza.
@Ben Klijn;
I hesitate to ask, but how do they explain the extended arctic/antarctic days and nights? Or even the change in the sun’s elevation as the seasons progress?
I read the story a couple of days ago. He already did. This is not his first attempt. In his first attempt, with a smaller rocket, he broke one leg.
If he was sending up a camera, I’d call him a dedicated enthusiast. However, he’s quite likely going to get himself killed, and the rocket doesn’t seem to even be capable of proving what he’s trying to show.
He already won a WTF award in my books …
And if he has no kids, he’ll soon have no more equipment to make some.
We have to give him credit for having balls now!
Nope!
The flat earthers are fans of CAGW I understand. Joshua Slocum is said to have been introduced to Paul Kruger as sailing round the world. The response was “Captain Slocum is sailing in the world”.
http://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/ebooks/PlaneTruth/pages/Chapter_06.html
Why are you surprised that Captain Slocum was sailing “in the world” when Mrs Slocum put her pussy into the microwave to dry it out a bit after it had got soaked in the railn.
Sorry, “rain”.
Mrs Slocombe but you’ve (all) done very well. Captain Slocum was an all American hero, much like our host.
“Mrs Slocum put her pussy into the microwave to dry it out a bit after it had got soaked”
Was she a contortionist ?? ( 8-))
Let’s hope the poor man does not kill himself, even if it would serve the gene pool.
I don’t get the, errrr, ‘thrust’ of his argument.
Flatearther, soon-to-be flatliner.Simple enough?
Here’s what I don’t get. According to the Washington Post he’s attempting to reach an altitude of 1,800 feet. A plane, on the other hand, will get him to 39,000 feet. Why doesn’t he take some of his $20,000 and just take a plane. Or are those a NASA conspiracy too?
‘Lawnchair Larry’ got to 15,000 feet in 1982.
Or if he doesn’t trust any corporations, rent a Hot Air balloon. That will get him far higher than 1,800. Even if he was right and the Earth was flat, he’s thousands of miles away from “the edge” and couldn’t see it if he wanted to.
In a few hours I can drive to 8000 feet up the Sierra Nevada mountains. Cost about $40 round trip.
A few decades back, I drove to 12,000 feet top of the volcano in Hawaii (one of the smaller islands. They rent bikes and you can plunge down the mountain at velocity… extra big brakes… Maui I think…) it was fun to look down on jets landing at the airport and transiting between Islands. Spectacular view and some curvature visible. Cost from California with airfare and hotel ought to be under $1000.
All this leads me to think he is just a thrill seeker looking for a gimmick to fund his toy rocket ride..
If he lands on the other side, guess he will have to build another rocket to let us know he was correct.
There’s pretty much no “other side” around Amboy, CA where he plans to fly this thing. There’s a nice symmetric 80m high volcanic cone, some modest mountains — rugged, but not very high, and a bunch of dry lakebeds. I have a few questions about how he plans to land this thing … assuming that his “planning” has gotten that far.
Oh man that’s both funny and sad.
Darwin-Dunning-Kruger effect perhaps?
no. no more than is halloween is a manifestation of belief in the supernatural.
it’s fun. it’s performance.
why so serial?
“If you’re not scared to death, you’re an idiot,”
Ok, you’re are scared to death, but you still are an idiot.
Flat Earth is an (a fun) exercise in critical thinking. Attempting to falsify something is after all the scientific method. And like the “it’s OK to be White” postings, it’s one of the great trolling’s of all time. It shows us our own bigoted thinking, in that you’re not as open to certain possibility’s as you might think you are. And that nearly all our beliefs are indeed faith based, in that we have faith in other’s data and conclusions. The blurry line between Nut and Scientist…
Well if the Earth was flat all the rich tycoons and developers would own all the “rim property” for casinos, hotels, and private estates. The view of the sky would be spectacular!
But if its flat, who lives on the “B” side?
Does it not rest on a turtle or elephant or something?
Who lives on the “B” side? – We do!!
Those on the “A” side are something you just can’t believe!
on a positive note, he’s someone willing to act on his beliefs at great personal risk
On a negative note, he might kill himself.
While I think the guy is misguided based on what I understand myself about astronomy, I will refuse to sneer at him, which is what imo Anthony and Spencer and others are doing.
I really admire you guys, but this kinda leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
How many of you are willing to put your neck on the line for what you believe? (including me)
hey- let’s mock rudolf nuryev cuz he thinks he’s a duck!
I’m with Mark..
He’s ‘A Character’, he brings people together to talk and think.
He brings and he is ‘Diversity’
And in a world filling up with World blah blah organisations, Internatiaonal this-that-others and all sorts of United and Intergovernmental shyte, so The Lord help us (and this guy not least) – we need diversity.
Are we here ourselves not exactly expressing that?
He is A Hero – in the mould of Eddie The Eagle – England’s best ever ski-jumping champion
And if the world isn’t flat, why do you need a boat or something to pull you along when you do water skiing – huh?
Peta of Newark
And by the guys own website address ‘madmikehughes.com’ he’s well aware he’s out there.
Good luck to him. Hope he makes a few quid just for the entertainment value and his courage to actually do something in life.
Suicide bombers also put their neck on the line (and the rest of his limbs/organs too) for what they believe in. Just sayin’ ….
You mock people like this to serve as reminder to others that sometimes, there are stupid answers. It’s not brave, or commendable, to do something completely devoid of rational thought, something that is actually absurd in every way.
I would say an idiot is someone who believes something and is not willing to put themselves on the line for those beliefs and would rather put someone else on the line for those beliefs.
Flat earth has religious tones, so does the big bang, believing in both the same kind of misguided belief
NASA’s challenger mission killed Astronauts because of “belief” the dodgy rocket would manage OK, the believers didnt put their own necks on the line, they put the astronauts’ necks on the line.
While misguided, this is in the spirit of old science, using one’s self for experiments to try prove a point, like the guy who proved Ulcers are bacteria by injecticng himself
Just because we dont agree with his theory of a flat earth doesn’t mean we sneer at someone willing to put their own neck on the line.
I hope he succeeds so that he will show once and for all the earth is not flat. I’d rather that than he kills himself, and I certainly do not find it funny, and the academic sneering from Spencer is poor form.
While I get what you are saying….
On a “seriously?” note: I don’t believe that other scientists sold tickets or tried to make money off their experiments to prove their beliefs. Its one thing to test a hypothesis on yourself if it goes against the mainstream and push the boundaries of science. It’s another entirely to make outrageous claims and sell tickets to your folly under the guise of science. One is utilizing the scientific method (albeit in an unconventional way), and the other is selling snake oil.
My money’s on snake oil. This man is nothing more than a wanna be showman with a flimsy even ridiculous platform. I’m going to PROVE the Earth is Flat! Just watch me….more important is the last–watch me, on PAY PER VIEW.
So yes, I will sneer at this idiot. Because what he is doing isn’t science, it isn’t even related to the pioneers of science. He has no altruistic intentions, no burning curiosity that is satisfied, his intention is to make money and prove his convictions as correct. It’s called bias.
Anyone with any kind of scientific training knows how ridiculous this is and can see it for the flim flam it really is. Real science begins with observation, gathering what has been done, what has not been done, questioning why, what, how..etc. Postulating a hypothesis, and it’s counterpart the null. Experimentation, data collection, conclusions–all reproducible and NONE of it to PROVE A SINGLE POINT. Science does not prove anything, science gives evidence either way. No scientist in the world will say they are 100% certain as certainty is a BIG word in science.
“I would say an idiot is someone who believes something and is not willing to put themselves on the line for those beliefs and would rather put someone else on the line for those beliefs.”
That in no way describes an idiot. That describes a hypocrite.
Steam-powered!
Comin’ into Los Angeles
Bringin’ in a couple of keys
by the looks of him.
The Hugh’s Fella, needs to be to be carful.
If he upsets the elephants or the turtle,
It could unsettle the world as we know it.
It is life but different.
such a pity Terry Pratchetts passed on
he would have loved this
go Discworld;-)
Rincewind and the unseen uni would be happy to assist im sure;-)
lol
If he straps a solar panel and a wind generator,
to his missile, he could apply to California guvnor, for a grant.
I do hope the poor man knows his intended direction of travel. On the evidence of the arrow directions on his rocket, he doesn’t.
Everybody knows the earth is ROUND! Like a pancake!