SGU Episode 366
|
This episode needs: transcription, formatting, links, 'Today I Learned' list, categories, segment redirects. Please help out by contributing! |
How to Contribute |
| SGU Episode 366 |
|---|
| 21st July 2012 |
 |
| (brief caption for the episode icon) |
| Skeptical Rogues |
| S: Steven Novella |
B: Bob Novella |
J: Jay Novella |
E: Evan Bernstein |
| Guests |
RS: Richard Saunders |
GH: George Hrab |
| Quote of the Week |
Sometimes, even by accident, the universe makes beauty, and we can stand back in awe of it. Even better – we can figure out why. Science! I love this stuff. |
| Links |
| Download Podcast |
| SGU Podcast archive |
| Forum Discussion |
Introduction
You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.
GH: Let's get started. Some of my most favourite people in the world. Please welcome the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe.
(applause)
S: Hello and welcome to the Skeptics Guide to the Universe. Today is Friday July 13th 2012 and this is your host Stephen Novella. Joining me today are Bob Novella.
B: Hey everybody.
S: Evan Burnstein
E: Hello everyone.
S: Jay Novella
J: Hey guys.
S: And, we have a special guest rogue with us onstage today all the way from Australia, Richard Saunders. As you can see, Rebecca is not joining us this year at TAM, but we have a great show for you so let's get started.
This Day in Skepticism (0:59)
- July 21, 2012 Nibiru Strike Earth
- July 21, 1620 Jean Picard born - French Astronomer
S: So what we're gonna start with, this day in skepticism. Um actually this show was going to be going up on July 21st, so we're gonna be talking about what's happened on this day in skepticism in July 21st. Actually Evan before you get to your items-
E: Yep.
S: I read in that esteemed journal, the weekly World News..
E: Oooh!
S: That the earth is going to collide with Nibiru on July 21st, in a week, we have a week to live!
E: Wow.
S: So do you guys know what Nibiru is?
GH: What's that third planet that's there? Oh that's just July 21st, I'm sorry. OK I thought that was...
S: Thanks George. George we've started the show now.
E: Thanks Geo.
S: So.. thanks.
(laughter)
Audience: Awwww.
E: You've seen him all conference, but anyway...
S: Nibiru is the 12th planet. You guys didn't know about Nibiru the 12th planet?
E: The 12th planet?
S: That's right. The sun is the first.
J: Aah
E: Duh. Stupid.
J: Then Vulcan, planet Vulcan is next?
S: No let's not get crazy. And then there's Venus, Earth, then Luna. The moon is the fourth planet. And then, worse than all that is they also continue to include Pluto as a planet, the 11th planet and then Nibiru is the 12th planet after Pluto. Apparently it's hurtling towards Earth and will soon collide with the Earth and kill everybody.
J: That makes the Prometheus movie, fact checking look stellar compared with that.
E: What the hell.
S: But there's a few things interesting that actually happened on July 21st in the past. The Scopes monkey trial ends, and John Scopes was found guilty and fined for $100. So a hundred dollar fine apparently was more than the statute allowed for, so when the trial was appealed and the goal was to appeal the trial to higher and higher courts, get all the way to the state supreme court, maybe even the supreme court the federal supreme court, and then knock down the anti-evolution law. But what happened was, in the lower court, um, they decided that, they found that the hundred dollar fine exceeded the statute and therefore it was thrown out on a technicality. And the whole purpose of the trial failed.
E: Which effected evolution education for generations after that.
S: Right. A generation of textbook companies would not include the E-word in their evolution teaching. Also on July 21st Captain Virgil Gus Grissom became the second American in space with a sub-orbital flight aboard the Liberty Bell 7. That was after Alan Sheppard and before John Glenn actually orbited the Earth. Grissom also was one of the three American astronauts who died during the first Apollo test mission when it caught fire, and last year we talked about the fact that the space shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21st, just last year. But, uh Evan you have one other item, also, tell us about-
E: Yeah anyone ever heard of Jean Picard, who was born on July 21st in 1620. French astronomer, cartographer and hydraulic engineer who is regarded as the founder of modern astronomy in France. Bonjour.
GH: See now that guy's even sexier, just cause of the curls.
E: This is not weird at all George.
(laughter)
S: Alright thanks George.
E: Thanks for the water.
S: Um-
(Audience awwws)
S: Don't encourage him.
E: I know, I just get..
(laughter)
S: So Richard you're gonna tell us about this fabulous high tech device.
News Items
Fake Bomb Detector Maker Charged (4:30)
BBC: 'Bomb detector' maker Jim McCormick faces fraud charges
Debating an Antivaccinationist (9:20)
Science-based Medicine: Steve Novella vs. Julian Whitaker on vaccines at FreedomFest
Feathered Dinosaurs (17:11)
American Museum of Natural History: Newly Discovered Dinosaur Implies Greater Prevalence of Feathers
New Moon for Pluto (27:53)
BBC: Hubble discovers new Pluto moon
Higgs Discovery Announced (36:22)
Science News: Higgs found - Last particle in physics's standard model falls into place
Sex Myths (43:56)
- 7 common myths about sex
Sapphire Hard Drive (51:50)
Science Magazine: A Million-Year Hard Disk
Science or Fiction (58:40)
Item #1: Scientists have isolated a new kind of fat cell in humans known as beige fat. Item #2: Scientists have "resurrected" a 500 million year old bacteria (E. coli) by reproducing its genome. Item #3: A Cochrane review finds no evidence that electric fans are useful in a heat wave.
Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:15:13)
Sometimes, even by accident, the universe makes beauty, and we can stand back in awe of it. Even better - we can figure out why. Science! I love this stuff.
Phil Plait
References
|
|
|