SGU Episode 371

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SGU Episode 371
25th August 2012
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 370                      SGU 372
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
R: Rebecca Watson
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
C: Chris Ford
Quote of the Week
Hence the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.
Frederich Nietzsche
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

This Day in Skepticism (1:02)

• August 25, 1835 Great Moon Hoax.

News Items

The Sun is Round (5:44)

National Geographic: Sun is roundest natural object known

DNA Storage (12:16)

ExtremeTech: Harvard cracks DNA storage, crams 700 terabytes of data into a single gram

FDA and Homeopathy (16:22)

Swift, JREF: FDA ensures magic rituals are done properly

Final Week for Kickstarter Campaign (22:48)

KickStarter: Occ the skeptical caveman - A new webseries

Who's That Noisy? (25:13)

• Answer to last week: Adam Savage

Questions and Emails

Pregnancy from Rape (27:18)

As you all are probably aware by now GOP senate candidate & current congressman Todd Akins said today that in cases of "legitimate rape" women's bodies don't allow them to be impregnated. Grass roots conservatives have begun to trot links like this out to support this belief: Physicians for life: Assault rape pregnancies are rare, could you guys put out an analysis of GOP claims on this issue? a non-supporting study being tossed around in the last few hours: American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology: Rape-related pregnancy: Estimates and descriptive characteristics from a national sample of women clearly the real case they're making is more along the lines of "pregnancies by rape are in a small enough minority no one should care about them", as if we don't care about other human healthcare issues in cases of extremely rare infections and diseases that only inflict a small handful of people per year. regardless, i really think it would be great to have a skeptical analysis of all the data on this issue on the public record for current & future reference. i expect this to be a hot topic for the next couple of days in political circles and on cable news.

E-bay and Magic (37:20)

Hi guys, love the show! Have you seen this? It caught my attention because you have discussed the sale of "magic spells" on one of your shows (I am currently making my way through the back catalog). CNN: Get Real! eBay bans supernatural sales. Keep up the excellent work! Agnes Lech-Nunenkamp

Interview with Chris Ford (42:20)

• Interview with Chris Ford, Business Director for Pixar (Mac animation pro: Coming soon - RenderMan for Maya)

Science or Fiction (1:02:39)

S: Item number one. Astronomers have discovered the first evidence of a planet being devoured by its aging star. Item number two. A new study demonstrates that peanut butter can be used as an effective oil dispersant for large environmental oil spills. And item number three. Researchers find that artificial platelet-like nanoparticles nearly double survival after severe trauma with internal bleeding.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:16:58)

Hence the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.

J: Frederich Nietzsche!

Announcements (1:18:09)

Voice-over: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information on this and other episodes, please visit our website at www.theskepticsguide.org. You can also check out our other podcast, The SGU 5x5, as well as find links to our blogs and the SGU forums. For questions, suggestions, and other feedback, please use the "Contact Us" form on the website or send an email to info@theskepticsguide.org. If you enjoyed this episode, then please help us spread the word by leaving us a review on iTunes, Zune, or your portal of choice.

References