SGU Episode 894

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SGU Episode 894
August 27th 2022
SGU book goes to Italy
SGU 893                      SGU 895
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
Quote of the Week
What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.
Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist & anthropologist
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Steve's family vacation to Italy

Voice-over: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

Next trip: Solar Eclipse 2024 (15:22)

_text_about_eclipse_

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

(laughs) (laughter) (applause) [inaudible]

Space-Based Solar Power (19:29)

• Europe is seriously considering a major investment in space-based solar power

Theory of Decision-Making (32:43)

• Do We Need a New Theory of Decision Making?

Urban Crops (52:29)

• Urban crops can have higher yields than conventional farming

Protons Have Charm (1:02:07)

• Weird quantum experiment shows protons have more 'charm' than we thought

Who's That Noisy? (1:11:26)

Answer to previous Noisy:

Synthesizing human voice by successively adding overtones

New Noisy (1:18:57)

[short chime/ditty from a video game]

... Just out of curiosity, does that sound sound familiar to any of you?

Dumbest Thing of the Week (1:21:44)

• Comment about climate change

Science or Fiction (1:26:49)

Theme: Florence, Italy Item #1: Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was named after the city of her birth, Florence, Italy. Item #2: When the Nazis were fleeing Italy during WWII, Hitler ordered all the bridges of Florence to be destroyed to slow the Allied advance. However, the private tasked with setting the charges on the Ponte Vecchio deliberately failed to make a proper connection, sparing the bridge. Item #3: In 1527 anti-Medici rioters dropped a bench from a parapet, striking Michelangelo’s David and breaking off his left arm in three pieces.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Nazi private saved bridge
Science	Nightingale's namesake
Science	Rioters broke m.b.'s David

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Cara	Nazi private saved bridge
Bob	Rioters broke m.b.'s David
Jay	Nazi private saved bridge

Voice-over: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:42:20)

What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.
– Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist & anthropologist (1825-1895), English biologist & anthropologist

Signoff

S: —and until next week, this is your Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

S: Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information, visit us at theskepticsguide.org. Send your questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. And, if you would like to support the show and all the work that we do, go to patreon.com/SkepticsGuide and consider becoming a patron and becoming part of the SGU community. Our listeners and supporters are what make SGU possible.

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Today I Learned

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• Fact/Description
• Fact/Description

References

Vocabulary