NASA official Aug. 5 statement: “It has become clear that certain cosmic nicknames are not only insensitive but can be actively harmful. NASA is examining its use of unofficial terminology for cosmic objects as part of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion….The Agency will be working with diversity, inclusion, and equity experts in the astronomical and physical sciences to provide guidance and recommendations for other nicknames and terms for review.”
“NASA will no longer refer to planetary nebula NGC 2392 as the “Eskimo Nebula.” “Eskimo” is widely viewed as a colonial term with a racist history, imposed on the indigenous people of Arctic regions.” – “NASA will also no longer use the term ‘Siamese Twins Galaxy’ to refer to a pair of spiral galaxies.”
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters in DC: “Our goal is that all names are aligned with our values of diversity and inclusion, and we’ll proactively work with the scientific community to help ensure that.”
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Reaction was swift: “Seriously: Is this what is holding us back in space? Is the Sombrero Galaxy anti-Mexican? Is the Bullet cluster too violent? Should we now say “holes of color”? wrote Eric Weinstein. “Isn’t this mostly just wallowing?” he added. “Dwarf stars will henceforth be known as volumetrically challenged stars,” a Twitter critique noted.
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By: Marc Morano – Climate DepotAugust 8, 2020 11:08 AM with 0 comments
Climate Depot Special Report
NASA has dove into identity politics in recent months with two high profile NASA scientists shifting the focus from science to politics. NASA scientist Dr. Kate Marvel links ‘climate change’ to ‘white supremacy’ – ‘We’ll never head off climate catastrophe without dismantling white supremacy’ – Calls for climate & racial ‘justice’
In addition, other fields of science are going woke as well.Ornithologists Call For Allegedly Racist Bird Names To Be Changed – Some names ‘represent colonialism, racism and inequality’
Full NASA Statement:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-to-reexamine-nicknames-for-cosmic-objects
NASA to Reexamine Nicknames for Cosmic Objects
Distant cosmic objects such as planets, galaxies, and nebulae are sometimes referred to by the scientific community with unofficial nicknames. As the scientific community works to identify and address systemic discrimination and inequality in all aspects of the field, it has become clear that certain cosmic nicknames are not only insensitive, but can be actively harmful. NASA is examining its use of unofficial terminology for cosmic objects as part of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
As an initial step, NASA will no longer refer to planetary nebula NGC 2392, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star that is blowing off its outer layers at the end of its life, as the “Eskimo Nebula.” “Eskimo” is widely viewed as a colonial term with a racist history, imposed on the indigenous people of Arctic regions. Most official documents have moved away from its use. NASA will also no longer use the term “Siamese Twins Galaxy” to refer to NGC 4567 and NGC 4568, a pair of spiral galaxies found in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Moving forward, NASA will use only the official, International Astronomical Union designations in cases where nicknames are inappropriate.
“I support our ongoing reevaluation of the names by which we refer to astronomical objects,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters, Washington. “Our goal is that all names are aligned with our values of diversity and inclusion, and we’ll proactively work with the scientific community to help ensure that. Science is for everyone, and every facet of our work needs to reflect that value.” …
The Agency will be working with diversity, inclusion, and equity experts in the astronomical and physical sciences to provide guidance and recommendations for other nicknames and terms for review.
Many made jokes about NASA’s new initiative. “Dwarf stars will henceforth be known as volumetrically challenged stars,” a Twitter critic noted.
“This is silly. As long as Uranus doesn’t get changed I’ll be able to sleep at night though,” wrote another on Twitter.
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NASA has dove into identity politics in recent months with two high profile NASA scientists shifting the focus from science to politics. NASA scientist Dr. Kate Marvel links ‘climate change’ to ‘white supremacy’ – ‘We’ll never head off climate catastrophe without dismantling white supremacy’ – Calls for climate & racial ‘justice’
A NASA Jet Propulsion Lab climate scientist has linked race and climate issues during the racial protests sweeping the nation. NASA’s Peter Kalmus wrote:
“Here’s why race justice and climate justice are one & the same: The oppressive extractive plutocracies that colonize and kill black bodies and colonize and kill our planet are one and the same.”
Kalmus (peter.m.kalmus@jpl.nasa.gov) was responding to the protests and riots springing up across the country in the wake of allegations of racism in law enforcement. Kalmus added: “They’d literally rather have a race war than charge even one cop for murdering an innocent black man.”
And NASA’s Dr. Kate Marvel declared on June 1: “Climate justice and racial justice are the same thing, and we’ll never head off climate catastrophe without dismantling white supremacy.” Marvel is an Associate Research Scientist at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City.
In 2018, Marvel (katherine.d.marvel@nasa.gov) replied “DAMN RIGHT” when she tweeted out a Newsweek article titled: “Science Should Be A Feminist Institution.”
According to a 2018 article at Think Progress, “Marvel said she admires what Ocasio-Cortez and the Sunrise Movement activists are doing with appeals to support a Green New Deal.” According to Marvel: “What I do admire about that is the fact they are using new language. It’s not just, ‘Look at the sad polar bear,” Marvel said. “This is not talking about climate change like it’s this isolated issue. It’s talking about it in the context of all these other things that people care about. And I think that’s absolutely the right way to look at it,” she said.
Climate Depot Note: Climate activists have tried to link Racism and “white supremacy” to climate change for years. See: Identity politics invades climate change debate
Does Dr. Marvel also believe the “white man’s science” is different from other branches of science? See:2019: ‘White People’ blamed for causing Cyclone Idai in Africa – ‘Even the white man’s own science corroborates what we blacks know’
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There are approx 45 million people out of work right now and this is how NASA is spending it’s time, energy and effort? Did they also fire their accountants when the cost benefit calculations came in? Or is this just a “feel good” announcement to show how much NASA’s finger is on the pulse of the nation?
Feel good does nothing for real education, not when:
68% of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows.
Less than 3 years ago we had to actually tell people NOT to eat laundry detergent in pod packaging.
Even IF you change the name, given the above stupidity, is anyone going to know where they are in the sky?
So this isn’t the Babylon Bee? Really? Cheers –
Clearly, NASA does some good, important work. John and Roy have done remarkable studies from UAH. Santer and Schmidt, not so much.
The quote from Kate Marvel (Yirgach, above) is mind-boggling. “Climate change is real, case closed.” If she means that the atmosphere is never in equilibrium, and will undergo substantial fluctuations over time, she’s trivially correct.
Her other point, “How might clouds play a part?” blows up the whole NASA gravy train justification. As early as the 1980’s, if alarmists wanted to preach at me about global warming, I would point out that a child knows that when a cloud passes overhead, it gets cooler. If they would counter that clouds can cause warming or cooling, depending on their height, I could have a serious discussion with them. The discussion typically ended when I noted that the understanding of heat transfer, coupling with radiative effects associated with clouds was poor, and swamped any effect of carbon dioxide, as clouds represented the most wide-spread atmospheric phenomenon. Might clouds play a role??? If nothing has been accomplished on a known deficiency in modeling in 30 years, a substantial budget cut is in order!
Well, they needed something to keep busy in between the major ramp up of staff time and budgets for revising the new food pyramid and the next educational standards and testing model. Also, their misadventure into hard topics like mining engineering in the San Juans did not work out so well.
I do hope Kepler and Messier had a clean record when they get evaluated by the revisionist street protest committee.
I do hope Voyager 1 is not looking back at the small dot at this point. It went downhill since the last photo and will eventually disappear all together.
Just so you know, the Chinese see these news stories as a sign of weakness and are encouraged to speed past the lost turtles who lost their way. They already cleaned out the NASA computers and their NASA contractors by hacking anyway.
Next up is the Grand Maxine Waters Galaxy and the Pelosi Supergroup……by voice vote in the House of Reps.
Uh-Oh…Geology is gonna take a hit!
https://www.levantina.com/en/product/granite/ranges-and-colours/black-granite/negro-galaxy
Even the kitchen counter is so un-PC.
Uh-Oh…Geology is gonna take a hit!
https://www.levantina.com/en/product/granite/ranges-and-colours/black-granite/negro-galaxy
Even the kitchen counter is so un-PC.
Blackholes are now known as Great Looting for Reparations bodies.
https://www.citizenfreepress.com/breaking/looting-in-chicago-should-be-viewed-as-reparations/
How about we rename them the moron galaxy and the two idiots galaxies? Oh wait, i know, we could call one the griff galaxy and the other the loydo galaxy.
Bye Bye ‘Eskimo Nebula’
Must we also bid, “Bye Bye (to) Ms. Eskimo Pie”?
Mathematics is next — too many derivatives undoing integration.
None of these names are either official or ‘NASA’ names, so they can pretty much do what they like and it won’t change a thing in the astronomy community. They all have other designations anyway – Siamese Twins = NGC 4567 & 4568, Sombrero Galaxy = M104, NGC 4594, Eskimo Nebula = NGC2392 etc. Serious work always uses the catalogue designations. The common names won’t change and no-one will stop using them.
Irrelevant non-issue that the Right can get their knickers in a twist over. Oh look – they have! How depressingly predictable!
Just a matter of time before “black hole” has to be renamed. And white-dwarf (a type of star). Already heard a family story about a relative being chastised for ordering black olives on a pizza — that’s racist, those are RIPE olives! Speech-policing is rampant.