Coast to Coast AM

One of my favorite late night pastimes is working on scientific papers well into the evening. There's nothing like the cool 'winter' Florida breezes blowing through the window, an idea, a beer and some wacky late night radio. I've become somewhat of a fan of the show "Coast to Coast" with George Norry (successor to the brilliant Art Bell). The show features the most pseudoscience and fantasy you can pack into 4 hours. What amazes me most (and never tires me) is how many people have become convinced of their own hallucinations and imaginations. Be it the chupacabra, ghosts, demons, alien bases on the moon, the Loch Ness Monster or crop circles, you'll find the opportunity to discuss these in-depth with a seemingly endless parade of quacks or self-proclaimed geniuses.
In addition to the quacks, Norry and Bell also host discussions of real science so the program can be entertaining from that standpoint as well. The show is also useful as a teaching tool. Once in a while I will ask my class to listen to the show and discuss how science is intermingled with pseudoscience in an attempt to legitimize a pseudoscientific claim. Other times, the show is just good for a laugh.
I encourage anyone interested in the weird wacky world on the fringes of science to give the show a listen.

By the way, see if you can get a glimpse of Comet McNaught in the dusk or dawn hours. If you can't see it with the naked eye then try the SOHO observatory online and live.

Lastly, the wild and wacky never cease to inspire others. Here's an article about a guy in England who was inspired by creationist Kent Hovind to author a book on pseudoscience.




Cheers

Joe Meert