Suspicious0bservers

Suspicious Observers (Suspicious0bservers) is a pseudoscience YouTube channel run by ex-lawyer Ben Davidson who has a degree in economics from Denison University and a Juris Doctorate from Capital University Law School, but no actual science training. His ideas have been debunked by genuine climate scientists.[1] He has various websites on which he sells his scribblings and tickets to his "annual conference".[notes 1] Davidson makes far-fetched claims about dozens of scientists attending his conferences and conversing secretly with him, but there has only been one notable name at any of his meetings — John Coleman, another notable climate denier.

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Pillars of bollocks

The Suspicious0bservers claim to have four "pillars of success", all of which are pseudoscientific claims with no backing from any published scientist: a) the Sun plays a role in earthquake processes, b) electrical activity on Earth can help you "predict" where earthquakes will occur, c) climate change is massively misrepresented due to improper accounting of CMIP6 'solar forcing' data, and d) dark matter is actually normal matter we can't see.

Climate change

Davidson's opposition to climate science appears to be motivated entirely by errors in fact. He claims (incorrectly) that the current climate modelling data excludes hundreds of solar-forcing papers published over the last few decades while including only wave energy (not particle energy) as proof that the natural-variability attribution to the atmospheric/oceanic energy budget is inaccurate.[2]

Dark nutter?

Cosmology is where Davidson is truly out of his element; he and most of the Suspicious0bservers mob have decided that dark matter does not exist, contrary to the scientific consensus that dark matter must account for a large portion of the universe.

Earthquakes

In 2015 Davidson "published" a paper in a pay-for-play denialist ("contrarian") journal claiming that the solar polar magnetic field, which has peaks in strength and polarity reversals over time, correlates with large earthquakes;[3] this theory similarly has no support from real scientists. Though recent investigations suggest that dark matter may not exist. (e.g.:https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/dark-matter-may-not-actually-exist-physicists-suggests-testable-alternative/)

Electroquakes

Davidson fantasizes about what he calls "electroquakes",[What is this? Please elaborate.][citation needed] claiming that this idea has influenced real scientists. The problem is that none of the papers he points to in support of this actually cite him or his ideas, and there is no evidence at all to suggest that he had any influence. In other news related to Davidson's fantasizing regarding "electroquakes", real scientists are publishing papers about "the ionosphere changes before an earthquake and is one of the important parameters in the study of earthquake precursors".[4]

While Davidson's fantasizing about "electroquakes" sounds funny, other scientists are infact collecting evidence that supports Davidson's fantasizing, such as "Atmospheric and ionospheric coupling phenomena associated with large earthquakes"[5]

gollark: So nine people do this and nobody else can? This is just potatOS.
gollark: (I know I just disagree with it)
gollark: What we can't use is a significant square of the world, the tomes already found, and the turtle swarm used, though most people already have their own swarms.
gollark: So Kepler decided to maintain a monopoly on the secret tome data, you see, which is totally good for the consumer and never goes wrong.
gollark: Via bibliocraft.

Notes
  1. Suspicious0bservers.org, SpaceWeatherNews.com, MagneticReversal.org, QuakeWatch.net, ObservatoryProject.com, and OTF.selz.com

References
  1. drkstrong. Ben Davidson Exposed. YouTube, 15 May 2014.
  2. Davidson, Ben. Weatherman's Guide to the Sun, 2nd Ed. (2018) SpaceWeatherNews
  3. Davidson, B., Holloman, C., U-Yen, K. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN M8+ EARTHQUAKE OCCURRENCES AND THE SOLAR POLAR MAGNETIC FIELDS, New Concepts in Global Tectonics Journal, v3. n3. 2015
  4. Gopal S., et. al. "Development of a monitoring system for ionospheric TEC variability before the earthquakes." ScienceDirect. doi:10.1016
  5. "Atmospheric and ionospheric coupling phenomena associated with large earthquakes." Springer Link. doi:10.1140
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