CNN's 'black hole' theory for Flight 370 demonstrates astonishing scientific illiteracy at popular news network

Thursday, March 20, 2014 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: Flight 370, black holes, scientific illiteracy

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(NaturalNews) In covering possible explanations for the vanishing of Flight 370, CNN's Don Lemon hilariously asked, on air, whether a black hole might have been the possible cause.

Never mind the fact that if a black hole existed in Earth's atmosphere, the entire planet would have been sucked into it, not merely one Boeing 777. This comment has to be one of the most insanely scientifically illiterate comments yet made about Flight 370, by any news source. It's even more preposterous than the idea that Flight 370 might have been plucked out of the sky by aliens. Why? Because the aliens theory is at least physically possible based on advanced alien technology a million years ahead of our own, while the "black hole" explanation is complete bunk because the entire planet would have been sucked into the black hole (and therefore CNN would finally be off the air and stop polluting the cosmos with its broadcasts).

Not to be outdone by the remarkable ignorance of Don Lemon, Mary Schiavo, former Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation, added this amazing gem: "A small black hole would suck in our entire universe, so we know it's not that."

I'm still trying to figure out which of these comments is more stupid. As anyone familiar with astrophysics knows, a small black hole does not "suck in our entire universe," otherwise there would not be a universe because the universe is full of black holes. I am astonished that a former top executive of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation does not understand basic cosmology.

Black holes are not magical devices. They are incredibly high-density, high-mass objects whose gravitational pull is so strong that even rays of light cannot escape them. (Yes, light is subject to the laws of gravity, too.) For a black hole to have sucked in Flight 370, it would have also sucked in Earth, the moon and almost certainly our own sun and outer planets, too. Perhaps what Shiavo meant to say is that a small black hole would "suck in our entire solar system" -- a somewhat rational comment, depending on the velocity and mass of the black hole in question. Then again, black holes don't actually "suck" anything. They bend the fabric of spacetime, causing objects to "fall" toward them. The sun does the same thing on a less dramatic scale, which is why the Earth orbits the sun rather than moving in a straight line into deep space.

Of course, I have also taken guesses at what happened to Flight 370, asking in one article whether "supernatural causes" might have to be invoked. But even in that article, I concluded, "As someone who is trained in the sciences, I remain very skeptical that Flight 370 vanished for supernatural reasons."

Had I suggested that Flight 370 was "sucked in by a black hole," I'm sure the entire Natural News readership would have laughed their heads off at such a stupid comment. Yet when CNN says it, it's almost as if such stupidity is entirely expected. In other words, no one is surprised that CNN journalists are scientifically illiterate.

Perhaps that's why no one with an IQ above room temperature bothers to watch CNN in the first place.

More scientific theories for CNN and Don Lemon

Just to keep things interesting for CNN, here's a few more "scientific" suggestions Don Lemon can use on the air to demonstrate his scientific genius:

• The sun is a giant electrical heater that's hot on the outside and cool in the center.
• The Earth's tides cause the repeated arrival of Haley's Comet every few decades.
• The Big Bang refers to the really loud sound emitted by particular accelerators.
• Airplanes can fly because passenger cabins are filled with helium, making the plane lighter than air.
• The combustion engine works by harnessing microscopic nuclear fusion explosions in gasoline.
• GMOs are incredibly safe and pose no ecological risk of genetic pollution or crop failures.
• Nutrition is worthless and nutrients have no function or role in the human body.
• Flu shot vaccines prevent the flu.