A matter of some gravity: how to have an argument on the internet

It seems harder than ever to have a decent debate on the web, as Ukip ’s Douglas Carswell discovered when he made a Twitter gaffe about gravityPoor Douglas Carswell. On Twitter this week he confused the gravitational effects of the sun and the moon and got crushed by the far stronger forces of social media.It all happened so quickly. To illustrate the point that Britain trades more with its near neighbours in Europe than larger but more distant economies such as the US or China,Paul Nightingale, professor of science policy at the University of Sussex, tweeted a gravitational analogy that drew a brisk response from Carswell:Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - September 26, 2016 Category: Science Authors: Stephen Curry Tags: Twitter Douglas Carswell Science Internet Source Type: news