SGU Episode 748

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SGU Episode 748
November 9th 2019
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 747                      SGU 749
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
Quote of the Week
There are so many ways to be involved in science. And what I really need out there, across the world, is people that just appreciate the idea that the universe is so beautiful, that we can work together to understand it. Whatever you're doing in life, you can be part of that adventure.
Dr. Michelle Thaller, assistant director for Science Communication at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

Voiceover: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

"5 to 10 Years" ()

• Growing Livers Follow Up

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Bacterial Colonies ()

• GEN: Bacterial Colonies Engineered to Mimic Another Aspect of Multicellular Lifeforms

Does Music Make You Smarter? ()

• Undark: Do Music Lessons Really Make Children Smarter?

Measles and Immunity ()

• Ars Technica: Here’s how measles wipes out the immune system’s memory

Bill Maher: Anti-Vaxxer ()

• Neurologica: The Problem with Bill Maher

Who's That Noisy? ()

• Answer to last week’s Noisy: _brief_description_perhaps_with_link_

New Noisy ()

[_short_vague_description_of_Noisy]

Science or Fiction ()

Answer	Item
Fiction	Potted plants purify
Science	Bacteria eat electricity
Science	Fools flaunt fake flags

Host	Result
'

Rogue	Guess

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Item #1: A new review of published research concludes that one medium-sized potted plant per average household room purifies the air as well as standard ventilation.
Item #2: Researchers detail the mechanisms by which some bacteria directly feed on electricity for energy.
Item #3: A new study finds that flagging news items on Facebook as fake had no effect on whether subjects thought they were true, which was entirely determined by alignment with their existing beliefs, regardless of their party affiliation.

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

There are so many ways to be involved in science. And what I really need out there, across the world, is people that just appreciate the idea that the universe is so beautiful, that we can work together to understand it. Whatever you're doing in life, you can be part of that adventure.
– Dr. Michelle Thaller, assistant director for Science Communication at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Signoff/Announcements ()

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

• Fact/Description, possibly with an article reference
• Fact/Description
• Fact/Description

References

Vocabulary