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A French physicist posted a photo he claimed was from the James Webb Space Telescope, praising the 'level of detail' — it turned out to be a slice of chorizo

INSIDER 5 days ago ktangalakislippert@insider.com (Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert)

Chorizo Iberico, at Zelo Spanish restaurant & tapas bar. Warton Li/South China Morning Post via Getty Images

Etienne Klein posted a photo on Twitter of what he claimed was the nearest star to the sun.
The photo was actually an image of a spicy Spanish sausage called chorizo.
Klein later apologized for the joking post, warning readers of "cognitive bias."

A French scientist has apologized after posting an image to Twitter he claimed was a photo of a red star but was actually a snap of spicy Spanish sausage.

"Picture of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years away from us. It was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. This level of detail... A new world is unveiled every day," CNN reported physicist Etienne Klein told his followers on Sunday.

—Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) July 31, 2022

Video: Photo 2 of James Webb telescope (KCRA Sacramento)

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In reality, the picture was an enlarged photo of a slice of chorizo, a type of smoked pork sausage.

Less than an hour later, the scientist posted again to clarify the joke and added: "Well, when it's cocktail hour, cognitive bias seem to find plenty to enjoy... Beware of it. According to contemporary cosmology, no object related to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere else other than on Earth."

Elon Musk was spotted relaxing aboard a superyacht in Mykonos, Greece. The 24-meter luxury vessel, named Zeus, can be chartered for over $7,000 a day. Musk is famously anti-vacation, but he seemed to make an exception for a day lounging on the yacht. Elon Musk doesn't vacation often, but when he does, he does it in style. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO — who's currently embroiled in a battle over the future of Twitter — was spotted Sunday aboard a luxury yacht in Mykonos, Greece. Joined by a group of friends that included Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and his fashion-designer wife, Sarah Staudinger, Musk spent the day swimming, sunning himself, drinking cocktails, and even getting hosed down by Emanuel. "Haha damn, maybe I should take off my shirt more often," Musk tweeted Tuesday after the photos went viral, adding that he was "already back in the factory." —Page Six (@PageSix) July 18, 2022 While Musk famously owns a $70 million private jet, he hasn't sprung for a yacht of his own (unlike his space rival, Jeff Bezos). Instead, the group chartered the vessel — called Zeus — from SamBoat, a European online boat-rental firm that operates in Greece, Croatia, and Spain, and has plans to expand to the US. Here's a peek inside the luxurious superyacht, which rents for over $7,000 a day. Read the original article on Business Insider

The viral tweet garnered varied reactions — some expressing disbelief or immediately catching on to the joke, while others criticized the director of research for France's Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission for his timing and misusing his authority.

"In view of certain comments, I feel obliged to specify that this tweet showing an alleged picture of Proxima Centauri was a joke," Klein added in a later post. "Let's learn to be wary of the arguments from positions of authority as much as the spontaneous eloquence of certain images."

Klein did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider

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