Science

A physicist tricked thousands into believing a slice of chorizo was a stunning star photo

Poke Staff. Updated August 8th, 2022

Just a few weeks ago, the first images were released from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), giving an incredibly detailed view of the universe.


Via


Via

So, when physicist Étienne Klein shared an image of the nearest star to the Sun, Proxima Centauri – taken by the JWST – nobody was surprised at the apparent clarity.

Photo of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years from us. It was taken by the JWST. This level of detail… A new world is revealed day after day.

People were amazed, marvelling at the image, but it was only a matter of hours before Dr. Klein admitted that it had actually been a photo of a slice of chorizo.

Well, when it’s time for the aperitif, cognitive biases seem to have a field day… Beware, then, of them. According to contemporary cosmology, no object belonging to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere but on Earth.

He explained that the tweet had been a warning against being too quick to accept things at face value.

I’m going to present my apologies to those whom my hoax, which had nothing original about it, may have shocked. It simply served to urge caution with images that seem eloquent on their own. A Scientist’s joke.

Étienne’s little lesson in not being so gullible went viral. Here are a few favourite reactions.

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A few days later, he posted a genuine image from the JWST – but we’re not sure whether people believed him.

The question had to be asked.

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Source Étienne Klein Image Étienne Klein