SGU Episode 803

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SGU Episode 803
November 28th 2020
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 802                      SGU 804
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
I frequently advise my female students who are in academic positions to be patient and focus on their science first. That's how they can make the most difference. I have often said that the best thing that I can do for women in science is first to do good science.
Jacqueline K. Barton, American chemist
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Show Notes
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Introduction

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

News Items

S:

B:

J:

E:

C:

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

The Popularity of Principia ()

• Newton’s groundbreaking Principia may have been more popular than previously thought

Supersized Wind Turbines ()

• Supersized wind turbines generate clean energy—and surprising physics

A Magnetar is Born ()

• Magnetic star born from a colossal collision of stellar corpses

Plant Personality ()

• The Botanist Daring to Ask: What If Plants Have Personalities?

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 (1:30:40)

Answer	Item
Fiction	Fahrenheit's death
Science	Credit to Cavendish
Science	Malpighi criticized

Host	Result
Steve	swept

Rogue	Guess
Bob	Fahrenheit's death
Jay	Fahrenheit's death
Evan	Fahrenheit's death
Cara	Fahrenheit's death

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Theme: 17th-century Scientists
Item #1: Lady Margaret Cavendish, a 17th century philosopher, scientist, poet, fiction writer, and playwright, anticipated many of the naturalism arguments credited to Thomas Hobbes and David Hume.
Item #2: Marcello Malpighi, an Italian physician and biologist, who founded the science of microscopic anatomy, was criticized by his peers for suggesting that his discoveries would be of any use to medicine.
Item #3: Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, the inventor of the first precision thermometer in wide use, died at the age of 50 of mercury poisoning.

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

I frequently advise my female students who are in academic positions to be patient and focus on their science first. That's how they can make the most difference. I have often said that the best thing that I can do for women in science is first to do good science.
– Jacqueline K. Barton, American chemist

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