Yes. You can prove that water boils when you add enough heat. You are making a philosophical argument, not a scientific one.

No, incorrect. In science nothing is ever REALLY proven.

But there are standards by which scientists agree that a certain amount of evidence will be accepted as "proof". At least for a while. Where everyone understand that it could always be overturned by some evidence to the contrary.

In particle physics it takes five sigma to make a claim. In other fields, often less. http://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/the-particle-proof-1150/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_evidence#Concept_of_...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability

For example everyone knew that water boiled once it got hot enough. Then someone invented a pressure vessel and wasn't able to boil water over a fire because as the pressure rose, so did the boiling point. And thus a thing that everyone knew was true for thousands of years wasn't quite anymore.

If you do it scientifically, meaning by experimentation, you've really only shown that in all observed cases water boils when you add enough heat. It's an inductive process, which unlike deduction is never logically valid - excluding mathematical induction which is really more like deduction, since you can actually test all possible cases that way. It is a philosophical issue, but epistemology is the basis of the validity of science.

True. It's a kind of "intellectual" PR stunt. Hopefully, at least it will get rid of the cheap arguments on the opposite side.

And presumably ignore cheap tricks and fiddled data on the the other opposite side - a comment not improper given your dismissive tone.

my cheap argument: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uif1NwcUgMU