[Rant] Discovery Pseudoscience

[Shpaget]

So, flipping through TV channels I get to Discovery Science and see some parachutes and stuff. Cool, I'll watch that.

Turns out it's about an accident in which a woman was skydiving, her parachute didn't open properly and she crash landed. She survived the fall, ended up in hospital, bla bla...

The TV show is called Weird or what and they try to answer how she managed to survive. Turns out it's divine intervention. Sure, there's a physicist analyzing the actual footage of the accident, describing the fall and injuries and offering a reasonable explanation, yet the narrator keeps on bringing "somebody up there".

Next is a man who died in his bed in a fire. It's a weird fire where mostly just his bed is burnt, the rest of the house is pretty much fine. There are some matches near by, he has an oxygen enrichment thing nearby (not mentioned if he was breathing from it or was it just placed there), yet here comes a guy that's been studying spontaneous human combustion (SHC) and he's certain this is textbook SHC, no doubt about it. Another guy offers an explanation on how fires work, but the SHC guy responds by saying the explanation is a fabrication and stops just short of calling him a liar.

The final case is a woman who allegedly is a real life incarnation of Storm from X-Men (a guy studying that sort of cases actually mentions X-Men). She claims to have an influence on pretty much anything and everything that uses electricity. She drains batteries significantly faster than usual, street lights turn off as she's walking down the street, fuses blow up, TVs break down, jukeboxes stop playing...

Obviously, despite having the opportunity of being on camera, she doesn't demonstrate any of it. The X-Men guy hooks her up to an oscilloscope which shows what appears to be a 50Hz wave, obviously a proof.

What's wrong with you Discovery?

/rant

for now

[RainDreamer]

Well, specialties channels that doesn't broadcast realities show or celebrities gossip or stuff like this are in serious problems. They gotta bring in the money somehow. Even simple, easy to watch channel like food network now also has to bring silly food competition and restaurant drama shows to help with their rating.

There are not much hope left for our TV channels.

[Camacha]

What's wrong with you Discovery?

for now

Zap away from the vehicle television. Really.

[Flymetothemun]

Zap away from the vehicle television. Really.

There WAS a time when I would've though this to be extreme. Now I don't.

And as for the whole gal hooked up to the oscilloscope, that's actually normal. I don't know what it's called (I think it's a ground loop) but there's an easy way to demonstrate this on yourself without a scope. Just take a double-ended Male to Male 3.5mm cable, put one end in your comp's mic input and touch the terminals of the other end while you record it with your preferred recording software. Then play it back, you should hear a very low 50-60 Hz sound.

[r4pt0r]

What's wrong with you Discovery?

TV these days....

Remember when TLC was "The Learning Channel" and had shows like "Junkyard Wars" and "Battle Bots" instead of "Honey Boo Boo"? The Histoy Channel has also taken a huge nosedive in quality.

Educational TV programs are now a niche market, you will have to get History2, the Science Channel, or the Smithsonian channel for anything remotely interesting.

[ColKlonk]

..She drains batteries significantly faster than usual,....

Well, this explains what they all about... maybe they should go get real life partners instead of contributing to global pollution.

I've stopped watching all that psuedo nonsense, thought up by some hollywood directors.. moons ago.

[lajoswinkler]

or the Smithsonian channel

Yeah, like them saying plants have feelings?

I can stand BBC educational documentaries only. The rest is just cow poo.

[InterCity]

That's not that bad. Just remember 70's sitcoms (With the sole exception of Senfield). Also, there is this guy:

I consider him almost a nutcase. For those of you who doesn't know him, it's Giorgio A. Tsoukalos. The theory itself is not that bad (albeit I don't give it much of a chance), but I once saw a discovery channel documentary about "Ancient astronauts", and he attributed pretty much everything from the invention of the wheel to 2nd world war to aliens.

[Flymetothemun]

TV these days....

Remember when TLC was "The Learning Channel" and had shows like "Junkyard Wars" and "Battle Bots" instead of "Honey Boo Boo"? The Histoy Channel has also taken a huge nosedive in quality.

Educational TV programs are now a niche market, you will have to get History2, the Science Channel, or the Smithsonian channel for anything remotely interesting.

I honestly think that History was out of material and they didn't budget to make more. They ran so many Hitler and N*zi programs that it garnered the name "The Hitler Channel". For a few years if you turned on History it's probably be either Modern marvels or some Hitler program. After they started showing reality-style programming it all mudslid. After it mudslid I quit TV and went to the Computer, where I could choose what I wanted to see and see it when I wanted to. I also think that it's a bit more competitive on the Internet, which means that there are far better and more niche-type programs and websites. I bet that most of the internet shows (React series, Good Mythical Morning, etc.) wouldn't have even got on the air with TV, but because of the Internet they're popular, really good, and true-to-concept.

And the Military channel used to be good, I can remember watching old war films (Actual combat footage, not stuff like Bridge Over the River Kwai) from the '40's and '50's and programs that explained the evolution of weaponry from as far back as the connections could be made. Now, the Military channel (Renamed "American Heroes channel") shows non-military stuff and some of the same old reality-style stuff.

- - - Updated - - -

That's not that bad. Just remember 70's sitcoms (With the sole exception of Senfield). Also, there is this guy:

http://orig02.deviantart.net/5b6e/f/2014/192/7/6/ancient_aliens_guy_hd_meme_by_pstrooper-d7p5dz1.png

I consider him almost a nutcase. For those of you who doesn't know him, it's Giorgio A. Tsoukalos. The theory itself is not that bad (albeit I don't give it much of a chance), but I once saw a discovery channel documentary about "Ancient astronauts", and he attributed pretty much everything from the invention of the wheel to 2nd world war to aliens.

You know who made Giorgio? His mother. You know who made his mother? Aliens. Nevermind all that biology and science stuff. /joke

Anyway, you may/may not like this. I wouldn't take it as absolute truth but he makes a far better case than Giorgio and AA:

[r4pt0r]

Oh man the military channel was also great, that brings me back a few years good times.

[Shpaget]

Zap away from the vehicle television. Really.

I don't understand.

And as for the whole gal hooked up to the oscilloscope, that's actually normal. I don't know what it's called (I think it's a ground loop) but there's an easy way to demonstrate this on yourself without a scope. Just take a double-ended Male to Male 3.5mm cable, put one end in your comp's mic input and touch the terminals of the other end while you record it with your preferred recording software. Then play it back, you should hear a very low 50-60 Hz sound.

Yeah, 50Hz hum is present everywhere. Really hard to get rid of and shouldn't surprise anybody when it comes up.

I once saw a discovery channel documentary about "Ancient astronauts", and he attributed pretty much everything from the invention of the wheel to 2nd world war to aliens.

Well, everybody with half a brain knows that ancient aliens are actually invented by the Reptilians in order to hide their own presence and continue to rule the Earth.

[Camacha]

I don't understand.

What is not to understand? There is going to be a lot of nonsense out there, whether it is on television, told by people in the streets, in books, wherever. It is up to you to step away when you encounter some of it, since enduring it all is not something I would recommend.

You have the choice not to consume information, or at least certain bits of information. Pick and choose wisely and become a more interesting person in the process.

[Shpaget]

Words. I didn't understand the meaning of "zap away". The vehicle part didn't make it any easier.

Thanks for clarification.

[Kinglet]

Good thing I have a recorder rigged to record Star Trek every time it comes on. So many episodes, so little time. The show "Dark Matter" is also cool. I pretty much only watch the german channels 3sat and Arte and sy-fy.

[vger]

And as for the whole gal hooked up to the oscilloscope, that's actually normal. I don't know what it's called (I think it's a ground loop) but there's an easy way to demonstrate this on yourself without a scope. Just take a double-ended Male to Male 3.5mm cable, put one end in your comp's mic input and touch the terminals of the other end while you record it with your preferred recording software. Then play it back, you should hear a very low 50-60 Hz sound.

I accidentally did this once somehow, and my recorder settings were sent to "Mix Out" at the time. I touched an exposed lead, and the speakers immediately started buzzing. Freaked me out the first time it happened.

What is not to understand? There is going to be a lot of nonsense out there

Maybe what can't be understood is that nonsense is the ONLY way for networks to stay in business. The Weather Channel did fine for 20 years by being ABOUT WEATHER, before it started being about "Drunks in the Woods" and whatever other reality shows they have on there now.

[Camacha]

Words. I didn't understand the meaning of "zap away". The vehicle part didn't make it any easier.

Thanks for clarification.

Ah, sorry for that. I did my best to make it sound like Step away from the vehicle, but obviously my attempt at trying things into current events and a bit of humour failed miserably

Maybe what can't be understood is that nonsense is the ONLY way for networks to stay in business. The Weather Channel did fine for 20 years by being ABOUT WEATHER, before it started being about "Drunks in the Woods" and whatever other reality shows they have on there now.

The difference with the olden days is that media in general have fierce competition from the internet. People expect their news to be dirt cheap. To stay afloat, you will need to attract more people, and this in turn means dumbing down your coverage to make it more broadly palatable. You would think there is a lower line where you drive certain groups away again, but apparently things do not work that way.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Camacha

[lajoswinkler]

I consider him almost a nutcase.

Almost?

[KSK]

The difference with the olden days is that media in general have fierce competition from the internet. People expect their news to be dirt cheap.

You get what you pay for. Pity people have forgotten that too.

[Pixel of Life]

What happened to Discovery Channel anyway? I remember when it still had tons of good shows like Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, Man vs. Wild, Wheeler Dealers etc... Now it's just full of that warehouse auction crap.

E: Oh, you were talking about Discovery Science. Still, the content quality on the whole Discovery network has gone down significantly.

Edited August 9, 2015 by CaptainKorhonen

[Tex_NL]

So, flipping through TV channels I get to Discovery Science and see some parachutes and stuff. Cool, I'll watch that.

Turns out it's about an accident in which a woman was skydiving, her parachute didn't open properly and she crash landed. She survived the fall, ended up in hospital, bla bla...

The TV show is called Weird or what and they try to answer how she managed to survive. Turns out it's divine intervention. Sure, there's a physicist analyzing the actual footage of the accident, describing the fall and injuries and offering a reasonable explanation, yet the narrator keeps on bringing "somebody up there".

Next is a man who died in his bed in a fire. It's a weird fire where mostly just his bed is burnt, the rest of the house is pretty much fine. There are some matches near by, he has an oxygen enrichment thing nearby (not mentioned if he was breathing from it or was it just placed there), yet here comes a guy that's been studying spontaneous human combustion (SHC) and he's certain this is textbook SHC, no doubt about it. Another guy offers an explanation on how fires work, but the SHC guy responds by saying the explanation is a fabrication and stops just short of calling him a liar.

The final case is a woman who allegedly is a real life incarnation of Storm from X-Men (a guy studying that sort of cases actually mentions X-Men). She claims to have an influence on pretty much anything and everything that uses electricity. She drains batteries significantly faster than usual, street lights turn off as she's walking down the street, fuses blow up, TVs break down, jukeboxes stop playing...

Obviously, despite having the opportunity of being on camera, she doesn't demonstrate any of it. The X-Men guy hooks her up to an oscilloscope which shows what appears to be a 50Hz wave, obviously a proof.

What's wrong with you Discovery?

/rant

for now

That show, "Weird or What" is infamous for pseudo-science like that. They usually do give a logical explanation but choose to completely ignore it in favour of less likely one.

And sadly Discovery Science has a number of other shows in that same category: Alien Mysteries, UFO Encounters, Ten Ways. Pretty much anything that deals with alien's, UFO's, conspiracy theories and the likes.

[Shpaget]

I'm trying to find the show where the narrator quite openly mocks looneys and their crazy ideas. He has somewhat characteristic voice, a bit high pitched, not sure if natural, or adjusted for content.

I'm not sure what channel it's on, but recently the episode included Erich von Daniken.

Rings any bells?

[windows_x_seven]

I consider him almost a nutcase. For those of you who doesn't know him, it's Giorgio A. Tsoukalos. The theory itself is not that bad (albeit I don't give it much of a chance), but I once saw a discovery channel documentary about "Ancient astronauts", and he attributed pretty much everything from the invention of the wheel to 2nd world war to aliens.

I was bored and decided to watch Ancient Aliens, the moment I turned the TV on these guys were saying that the "Tower of Babel" was humanity's first attempt at building a wormhole/stargate.