Rant

I am so tired of hearing these sensationalized stories about some wunderkind or unlikely amateur trumping the scientific establishment or causing a major paradigm shift with some inane observation. The media must love these stories because I see them all the time but a little bit of digging always reveals a vastly different reality. You may have heard about the 13 year old boy who corrected NASA on the probability of an asteroid impact but it's not true. It's bad enough that NASA is terribly underfunded but now they have to endure the humiliation of the world thinking they got outsmarted by some pubescent know-it-all.
Every once in a while, there really is a discovery that turns the scientific world upside-down. That discovery may even come from an unlikely individual. But by then, we may be too jaded by these over inflated non-stories. Will we even take notice of the next Darwin?
It also breeds a lack of trust in the scientific community. Why should we accept the findings of a prestigious organization when a 13 year old can prove them wrong? Why should we trust anything scientists say when they are put to shame on a regular basis by laymen? That is a very dangerous thing. Science saves lives. Science makes our lives better. Science may be the only thing standing between us and annihilation. Irresponsible journalism hurts everyone.