SGU Episode 966

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SGU Episode 966
January 13th 2024
Why the 2024 total solar eclipse will be such a big deal: a particularly active sun will make for spectacular viewing and science opportunities
SGU 965                      SGU 967
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
I'm not sure why I enjoy debunking. Part of it surely is amusement over the follies of true believers, and partly because attacking bogus science is a painless way to learn good science… Another reason for debunking is that bad science contributes to the steady dumbing down of our nation. Crude beliefs get transmitted to political leaders and the result is considerable damage to society.
Martin Gardner, American mathematician
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, winter sicknesses

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

Dumbest Thing of the Week (9:22)

• [url_from_show_notes _article_title_] 

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Dual Sympathetic Reset (17:10)

• Dual Sympathetic Reset for PTSD 

Peregrine Moon Mission (29:27)

• Peregrine Mission 1 (TO2-AB) 

Solar Eclipse (36:44)

• Why the 2024 total solar eclipse will be such a big deal  

Boy Beats Tetris (57:17)

• 13-Year-Old Boy Becomes The Only Human To Ever Complete Tetris 

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Who's That Noisy? (1:12:43)

Answer to previous Noisy:

Audio variometer for sailplane

New Noisy (1:15:46)

[Echoey squeaking with some musicality?]

This week's Noisy

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups (1:18:15)

Email #1: Dimensional Weight

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Science or Fiction (1:21:45)

Theme: Positive global trends Item #1: Cigarette smoking has decreased dramatically among US teens between 1991 and 2021, with daily use declining from 9.8% in 1991 to 0.6% in 2021, a greater than 16-fold decline. Item #2: The global literacy rate has almost tripled since 1990, from around 30% to 89%. Item #3: Extreme poverty is on the decline – there are over a billion fewer people living below the international poverty line today than in 1990.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Global literacy rate tripled
Science	US teen cigarette smoking
Science	Extreme poverty declining

Host	Result
Steve	swept

Rogue	Guess
Bob	Global literacy rate tripled
Evan	Global literacy rate tripled
Cara	Global literacy rate tripled
Jay	Global literacy rate tripled

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

E: "Good news everyone!"

S: (in Professor Farnsworth voice) "Good news, everyone!"

Bob's Response

Evan's Response

Cara's Response

Jay's Response

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:41:00)

I'm not sure why I enjoy debunking. Part of it surely is amusement over the follies of true believers, and partly because attacking bogus science is a painless way to learn good science… Another reason for debunking is that bad science contributes to the steady dumbing down of our nation. Crude beliefs get transmitted to political leaders and the result is considerable damage to society.  – Martin Gardner (1914-2010), American mathematician

Signoff

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