SGU Episode 829

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SGU Episode 829
May 29th 2021
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 828                      SGU 830
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
MW: Mick West
Quote of the Week
A very good theory will be one that makes very wide-ranging claims about the world, and which is consequently highly falsifiable, and is one that resists falsification whenever it is put to the test.
Alan Chalmers, British-Australian philosopher of science
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

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Brain Game Pseudoscience ()

• Playing brain training games regularly doesn’t boost brainpower

Who's That Noisy? (52:38)

• Answer to last week’s Noisy: Anvil being sent into the air by an explosion

S: Jay, it’s "Who’s That Noisy" time.

J: All right guys. Last week I played this noisy. [voices in background then a long resonating clang]

And here it is slowed down. [much slower sound of the long clang, much deeper in slo-mo]

So what do you guys think that is?

E: It sounds like something being impacted—in other words, one thing hitting another thing, but I don't know exactly what it is.

J: Anybody else?

C: (imitating noisy) Boy-ya-yah-yoing.

J, E, C: (laughing)

E: That’s very technical, Cara.

C: Thank you. (Evan laughs)

J: I have one correction this week. This was sent in by a listener named Daryl Goosen. And Daryl sent in a guess for this week’s Noisy, but then he said, "P.S. My 12-year-old son wants to point out that the Nintendo sound played on Episode #821 and answered on 822 was not the Wii home theme, but the Mii maker theme song.

E: Oh!

C: Mmm. It’s when you make your little person to look like you.

E: Huh!

J: So if anybody disagrees or wants to confirm that, email me at WTN@theskepticsguide.org, but either way, I think it’s cool that a 12-year-old is listening and that they made a correction on a science and critical thinking podcast. So thanks for that! Don’t be hesitating to send in more corrections, anybody out there, because we like it.

A listener named Jason Brown wrote in and send, "Hey, my first Whose That Noisy guess, because I got this. It’s a medieval blacksmith forging a broadsword." That is really cool. That is not correct, but Steve appreciates that entry—

S: —I do.

J: —because Steve loves swordmaking. I know. I know my brother.

C&E: (laughs)

J: Next guess—

S: —What kind of steel was it, though? Was it 1095? Was it spring steel? Have to get more specific.

J: —You got 210, 220.

B: (laughs) Jay!

J: This next one was sent in by Visto Tutti. (pausing) Who is this guy? Is he even one person, or is he multiple people? Nobody knows. He guessed, "I hear a man give a command twice. Sounds like "Urup-sae", which I cannot translate, then a percussive strike on a metallic object of some mass. Wild guess: testing bridge strength from the sound they make," which I thought was provocative. I don’t know how they would be making the bridge make sound, but I don’t know—

C: —Are you provoked?

J: I am provoked.

E: Provcative.

J: That is not correct. I will move on. We have a listener named Shane Hillyer, and he says, "Hey Jay. I love the show and I’ve listened since '09ish, I think. This felt like some kind of ceremony where some dude shoots at a bell." (Laughs)

C: (laughs) I love that!

J: I love that one too! Yep!

E: There you go.

J: No, nobody is shooting at a bell but, man, now I need to hear that. I’m sure it’s on the internet. I’ll have to go look for that.

We have a winner. It’s not that, that common that the very first email sent about a particular round of Whose That Noisy is the correct one, but this happened this week. We have a listener this week. The listener’s name is John Erickson, and John wrote in, "Salutations Jay and crew. Love the channel. Been listening for years." Yadda yadda yadda. "Who’s That Noisy from Episode 828 is an anvil being sent into the air by an explosion in a steel box with a small opening at the top that the anvil was placed over. The video is from the YouTube channel Beyond the press by Lauri and Anni"—Whoa! I can’t pronounce that last name.—"Vuohensilta from Finland." Wow. That’s a cool name.

Anyway, very cool noise. I love listening to it slow as well because you get to really hear some of the details that are in there. So do listen to it again on your own if you have a chance. That was an awesome guess! Thank you, John. I thought it was a really cool sound and, visually, it’s very cool. You can take a look at that. It’s on the web.

New Noisy (56:29)

J: I have a new Noisy this week, and this Noisy was sent in by a listener named Vanessa Landsteit [sp?], and here it is.

[airy synthesizer music over hissing background with simple bass string notes and light cymbal tapping, then country music style lyrics starting with "Riders on the storm," and followed by guitar notes]

Sounds familiar, huh?

E: Yes, I’ve heard that song before.

B: Little bit.

J: Or have you though? Have you heard that song before?

B: Las Puertas.

E: Oooh! Maybe that wasn’t Jim Morrison and the Doors?

J: So tell me what you just heard. That’s what I want to know. You can email me at WTN@theskepticsguide.org.

S: All right. Thanks, Jay.

Interview with Mick West (57:32)

• Mick West is a British-American science writer, skeptical investigator, and retired video game programmer.

S: All right, guys. Let’s go on with our interview.

(Music plays)

We are joined now by Mick West. Mick, welcome to the Skeptics’ Guide.

MW: I’m very glad to be here.

Science or Fiction (1:23:40)

Answer	Item
Fiction	Sensing systems
Science	Star formation changes
Science	Ride sharing & assault<!— leave blank if absent -->

Host	Result
Steve

Rogue	Guess
Cara

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Item #1: Astronomers find that 36 nearby dwarf galaxies, separated by as much as 13 million light years, experienced a simultaneous significant decrease 6 billion years ago, followed by an increase 3 billion years ago in star formation.
Item #2: A new review finds that the greatest risk from current self-driving cars is failure or errors of their sensing systems.
Item #3: A new study finds that the introduction of ride sharing services into a U.S. city reduces sexual assault by 6.3%.

S: Each week I come up with three science news items or facts, two real and one fake, and then I challenge my panel of skeptics to tell me which one is the fake. We have three regular news items this week. You guys ready?

C: Yep.

E: Mm-hmm.

S: All right. Here we go. Item #1: Astronomers find that 36 nearby dwarf galaxies, separated by as much as 13 million light years, experienced a simultaneous significant decrease 6 billion years ago, followed by an increase 3 billion years ago in star formation. Item #2: A new review finds that the greatest risk from current self-driving cars is failure or errors of their sensing systems. And item #3: A new study finds that the introduction of ride sharing services into a U.S. city reduces sexual assault by 6.3%.

Cara, you weren’t here last week so you go first.

C: Mean!

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

A very good theory will be one that makes very wide-ranging claims about the world, and which is consequently highly falsifiable, and is one that resists falsification whenever it is put to the test.
– Alan Chalmers, British-Australian philosopher of science

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

Notes

== References ==

Vocabulary