Hyperbolic headlines plus the fact the people tend to not read anything except the headline (a form Lem's law IMO) is part of the disinformation problem.
Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
21–30 of 106 posts
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#22Too many HN threads just seem to be people arguing about the appropriateness of the title. The article addresses a significant and interesting issue that's going to have major negative effects on business models, as well as some positive effect on space junk. I think they did a decent job, at least for an article intended for the general public, and I'm glad I read it. And yes, the word "plummet" is an exaggeration.…
Bike shedding at work
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
This. To space folks, that is plummeting. It's enough of a difference, and a surprise, to have a significant effect on business models.
It's a significant difference that has a real impact on the satellites. But we also don't say that airplanes plummet when landing or elevators when going down. To me at least, plummet signals it's a matter of seconds or, perhaps from great altitude, minutes until it hits the bottom. So to me, and that's knowing a thing or two about space, this title is just clickbait and not a good description of the phenomenon obser…
We absolutely refer to planes as plummeting, when the situation warrants.
This article wasn't written for HN. It was written for the general audience that peruses Space.com. Because someone found it interesting and posted to HN is pretty much the only reason it is on HN. Space.com didn't submit it in hopes of gaining attention by a hypercritical audience.
Yes, I agree it is click bait. I'm just playing devil's advocate to some of your weaker arguments.
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#24Too many HN threads just seem to be people arguing about the appropriateness of the title. The article addresses a significant and interesting issue that's going to have major negative effects on business models, as well as some positive effect on space junk. I think they did a decent job, at least for an article intended for the general public, and I'm glad I read it. And yes, the word "plummet" is an exaggeration.…
HN: come for the pedentry, stay for the pedentry on pedentry.
It's spelled "pedantry." :)
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, plummet is like straight down till it hits something. Given it's root is in "plumbum" it's not surprising and yes, this is used incorrectly. Not being prescriptive, but this usage is pretty misleading.
Well now that we've determined that plummet maybe isn't the right word to use, shall we discuss the fact that satellites are unexpectedly falling from the sky in yet another climate change that we had not predicted?
While solar phenomena influences climate, this aspect is not human induced. We have put artificial satellites up there, in earth orbit, but they are not causing solar eruptions or solar flares. We don't understand solar "climate" enough to say that it's changing (cycle frequency, amplitude, etc).
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#26Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, plummet is like straight down till it hits something. Given it's root is in "plumbum" it's not surprising and yes, this is used incorrectly. Not being prescriptive, but this usage is pretty misleading.
Well now that we've determined that plummet maybe isn't the right word to use, shall we discuss the fact that satellites are unexpectedly falling from the sky in yet another climate change that we had not predicted?
If only we hadn't been burning fossil fuels, the sun wouldn't be punishing us like this!
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, plummet is like straight down till it hits something. Given it's root is in "plumbum" it's not surprising and yes, this is used incorrectly. Not being prescriptive, but this usage is pretty misleading.
Well now that we've determined that plummet maybe isn't the right word to use, shall we discuss the fact that satellites are unexpectedly falling from the sky in yet another climate change that we had not predicted?
I think this is widely predicted actually
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#29Too many HN threads just seem to be people arguing about the appropriateness of the title. The article addresses a significant and interesting issue that's going to have major negative effects on business models, as well as some positive effect on space junk. I think they did a decent job, at least for an article intended for the general public, and I'm glad I read it. And yes, the word "plummet" is an exaggeration.…
This can bel alleviated by choosing better sources or relaxing the objections to editing titles. I agree that there are lots of useful and informative stories with shitty headlines. I personally don't mind title edits as long as they aim to be less rather than more sensational, and OP briefly notes the reason for the change.
Re: Unexpected solar weather is accelerating satellites' orbital decay
#30Too many HN threads just seem to be people arguing about the appropriateness of the title. The article addresses a significant and interesting issue that's going to have major negative effects on business models, as well as some positive effect on space junk. I think they did a decent job, at least for an article intended for the general public, and I'm glad I read it. And yes, the word "plummet" is an exaggeration.…
Bike shedding at work
I like to take a break from bike shedding at work with some bike shedding on HN. Has a different flavor.