SGU Episode 923

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SGU Episode 923
March 18th 2023
"In a new study, University of California astronomers describe how extraterrestrial life has the potential to exist on distant exoplanets inside a special area called the 'terminator zone' — a ring on planets that have one side that always faces its star and one side that is always dark."
SGU 922                      SGU 924
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
DM: Derek Muller, Australian-Canadian science communicator
Quote of the Week
The Scientific Revolution has not been a revolution of knowledge. It has been above all a revolution of ignorance. The great discovery that launched the Scientific Revolution was the discovery that humans do not know the answers to their most important questions.
Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli public intellectual
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Raccoon Dogs, "Last of Us" show

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

Quickie with Steve (10:27)

• Update: Mask Wearing meta-analysis

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

New Lunar Space Suits (13:45)

• Moon Spacesuit Prototype Unveiled 

End of Life Care (23:58)

• Aggressive Medical Care Remains Common at Life’s End 

GPT-4 Is Here (40:27)

• GPT-4 

Terminator Zones (55:45)

• 'Terminator zones' on distant planets could harbor life, UC Irvine astronomers say

Ohio Chemical Spill (1:04:53)

• Headaches, coughing, burning of the skin: Symptoms Ohio residents have experienced after toxic train derailment 

Who's That Noisy? (1:14:52)

Answer to previous Noisy:

MRI machine

New Noisy (1:18:21)

[Background hissing then light squawking/squeaking honks]

J: ... What the hell is that? ...

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Interview with Derek Muller (1:19:02)

• Derek Muller, an Australian-Canadian science communicator, filmmaker, and television personality, who is best known for his YouTube channel Veritasium

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Science or Fiction (1:39:26)

Theme: Improvements in technology Item #1: Engineers have developed concrete made from lunar regolith and ordinary potato starch and requiring only low temperature heating that is almost three times as strong as regular concrete. Item #2: Aerospace engineers have made an airplane propeller blade design that significantly reduces noise while increasing thrust and efficiency by 20% over a traditional design. Item #3: Scientists report a new process for electrosynthesis of multicarbon products from CO2 that is twice as efficient as existing methods.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Propeller blade design
Science	Lunar regolith concrete
Science	New process for electrosynthesis

Host	Result
Steve	sweep

Rogue	Guess
Jay	Lunar regolith concrete
Bob	Lunar regolith concrete
Evan	Lunar regolith concrete
Cara	Lunar regolith concrete

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

Steve Explains Item #2

..."to blave"

...[have ridden]...

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:55:48)

The Scientific Revolution has not been a revolution of knowledge. It has been above all a revolution of ignorance. The great discovery that launched the Scientific Revolution was the discovery that humans do not know the answers to their most important questions.  – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari (1976-present), Israeli public intellectual and historian

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