SGU Episode 789

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SGU Episode 789
August 22^nd 2020

(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 788 SGU 790
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
But too often, “common sense” is the safe harbor of ignorance and an excuse for intellectual laziness. They don’t need facts because they already know the truth—their common sense has spared them the effort of investigation or thought.
Randy Wayne White, American writer
Links
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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 ()

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Black Dwarf Supernova (44:25)

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ScienceDaily: 'Black dwarf supernova': Physicist calculates when the last supernova ever will happen^[4]

^{[note 1]}

Pentagon UFO Task Force ()

Space.com: What does the Pentagon's new UFO task force mean? Experts weigh in.^[5]

Who's That Noisy? ()

Answer to last week’s Noisy: Ringing rocks

New Noisy ()

[_short_vague_description_of_Noisy]

Name That Logical Fallacy ()

Neurologica: "Do Your Own Research"

Science or Fiction ()

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Theme: Hydrogen Fuel
Item #1: The majority of hydrogen is produced by electrolysis from water and is as clean as the source of electricity used in this process.^[6]
Item #2: The global production of hydrogen is more than 70 million metric tons annually, which could theoretically produce 2.3 billion MWh of electricity. (US energy production is 4.1 billion MWh annually.)^[7]
Item #3: Hydrogen is about 2.8 times as energy dense as gasoline by weight.^[8]

Bob's Response

Cara's Response

Evan's Response

Jay's Response

Steve Explains Item #2

Steve Explains Item #1

Steve Explains Item #3

Answer	Item
Fiction	From electrolysis
Science	{{{science1}}}

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Bob	2.8x as energy dense
Cara	2.8x as energy dense
Evan	2.8x as energy dense
Jay	From electrolysis

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

But too often, “common sense” is the safe harbor of ignorance and an excuse for intellectual laziness. They don’t need facts because they already know the truth—their common sense has spared them the effort of investigation or thought.
– from Chapter 4 of "Captiva", by Randy Wayne White, American writer

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.

Today I Learned

Fact/Description, possibly with an article reference^[9]
Fact/Description
Fact/Description

Notes

↑ Bob surely used the "Name of a Number" generator from the "How High Can You Count" webpage, at least for 10¹¹⁰⁰, but the generator (and the rules it follows, described in both the aforementioned page and the "Large Numbers" webpage) gives a different name for 10³²⁰⁰⁰: one hundred decmilliasescenquinsexagintillion. He mentions "doing some addition", so it's possible he tried to mash up some of the rules, albeit mistakenly.

References

Vocabulary

[5] Bob surely used the "Name of a Number" generator from the "How High Can You Count" webpage, at least for 10¹¹⁰⁰, but the generator (and the rules it follows, described in both the aforementioned page and the "Large Numbers" webpage) gives a different name for 10³²⁰⁰⁰: one hundred decmilliasescenquinsexagintillion. He mentions "doing some addition", so it's possible he tried to mash up some of the rules, albeit mistakenly.

[1] Science-Based Medicine: Oleandra – The New COVID Snake Oil

[2] Ars Technica: Could a Dragon spacecraft fly humans to the Moon? It’s complicated

[3] Nautilus: This Vision Experiment Resolved a Centuries-Old Philosophical Debate

[4] ScienceDaily: 'Black dwarf supernova': Physicist calculates when the last supernova ever will happen

[6] Space.com: What does the Pentagon's new UFO task force mean? Experts weigh in.

[7] [url_from_SoF_show_notes publication: title]

[8] US DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

[9] US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center: Hydrogen Basics

[10] [url_for_TIL publication: title]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[note 1]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

SGU Episode 789

Contents

Introduction

COVID-19 Update ()

News Items

Oleandra Snake Oil ()

Moon Capsules ()