SGU Episode 806

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SGU Episode 806
December 19th 2020
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 805                      SGU 807
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
Quote of the Week
The need to reduce dissonance is a universal mental mechanism, but that doesn’t mean we are doomed to be controlled by it. Human beings may not be eager to change, but we have the ability to change, and the fact that many of our self-protective delusions and blind spots are built into the way the brain works is no justification for not trying.
Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson
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Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

COVID-19 Update ()

• Vaccine and Home Testing

News Items

S:

B:

J:

E:

C:

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

Arecibo Telescope ()

• Here are 10 of Arecibo’s coolest achievements

AI Predicting Weather ()

• AI model shows promise to generate faster, more accurate weather forecasts

Manipulated by Robots ()

• Being Manipulated by Robots

Genetically Engineered Pigs ()

• FDA approves genetically engineered pigs

Asteroid Sample Return ()

• Japanese researchers open up the Hayabusa 2 capsule — and it’s full of asteroid samples

Who's That Noisy? ()

• Answer to last week’s Noisy: _brief_description_perhaps_with_link_

New Noisy ()

[_short_vague_description_of_Noisy]

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups ()

_consider_using_block_quotes_for_emails_read_aloud_in_this_segment_ with_reduced_spacing_for_long_chunks –

Science or Fiction ()

Answer	Item
Fiction	Code like language
Science	Older galaxies exist
Science	Exoplanet radio signal

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Jay	Older galaxies exist
Cara	Code like language
Evan	Code like language
Bob	Code like language

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Item #1: Neuroscientists find that reading computer code heavily involves language processing areas of the brain, and is therefore similar to a language.
Item #2: A study of the most distant known object in the universe, galaxy GN-z11, which is 13.4 billion light years from Earth, contains heavier elements, which means there are older galaxies still.
Item #3: Astronomers report the first possible radio signal coming from an exoplanet.

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

The need to reduce dissonance is a universal mental mechanism, but that doesn’t mean we are doomed to be controlled by it. Human beings may not be eager to change, but we have the ability to change, and the fact that many of our self-protective delusions and blind spots are built into the way the brain works is no justification for not trying.

– Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) (2007) by social psychologists Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson

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