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2024-11-11

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PopSci doesn't understand difference between "far side" and "dark side" of the moon (www.popsci.com)

submitted 1 year ago by CeeBee to c/science

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I find it hard to believe that Popular Science would make such a mistake, but the author has reinforced the mistake by starting the article with "The dark side of the moon, despite its name, is a perfect vantage point for observing the universe."

But all the quotes from scientists correctly say "far side of the moon".

I know this isn't really "science news" but I couldn't find any other community to share this.

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[–] CeeBee 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The wiki also mentions that it was sometimes called the dark side because it was unknown to people, a complete mystery, until we send people and probes to it. It implies that since we have seen it calling it the "dark side of the moon" is no longer relevant.

My issue here is that the term "dark side" by meaning is the side facing away from the sun.

We're talking about science here, which is a field where precise definitions matter.

I see this as no different than the debate between "poisonous" and "venomous". In basic language terms the terms are interchangeable, but biologists use the terms to mean very specific things, and are not interchangeable.

It's because in science the little differences matter. And in an article talking about an upcoming project involving a specific area of the moon, referring to it as "the dark side" is incorrect.

[–] nBodyProblem 4 points 1 year ago

I was an engineer at NASA on the lunar lander program. The engineers I worked with were deeply involved in analyzing how the lighting conditions impacted the navigational dispersions during the landing approach.

Every one of those guys would have understood what someone colloquially means by “dark side of the moon”. There are other, more precise, terms for the unlit side.

Popular science is not really a science journal, it’s an entertainment publication. I don’t see an issue here.

[–] Windex007 2 points 1 year ago

We're talking about science here, which is a field where precise definitions matter.

Thankfully, everyone in the scientific conversations around the moon know exactly what the Dark side of the moon is.

My favorite thing about science and scientists is when they can put their egos aside, admit that they misunderstood something when they spoke up, and say "Hey, I didn't quite understand that, but now I do" instead of doubling down on their mistakes