SGU Episode 381

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SGU Episode 381
3rd November 2012
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 380                      SGU 382
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
R: Rebecca Watson
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
Skepticism is essential to the quest for knowledge, for it is in the seedbed of puzzlement that genuine inquiry takes root. Without skepticism, we may remain mired in unexamined belief systems that are accepted as sacrosanct yet have no factual basis in reality.
Paul Kurtz
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Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

This Day in Skepticism (1:28)

November 3, 1957 Sputnik 2 launched

In Memorium

Paul Kurtz (3:45)

• 1925-2012

Leon Jaroff (7:34)

• 1926-2012

News Items

Big Bang Conference at CERN (9:31)

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19870036

Italian Earthquake Scientists Convicted (14:57)

• http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/us-italy-earthquake-court-idUSBRE89L13V20121022

Whale Makes Human Sounds (21:35)

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20026938

PANDAS Controversy (26:18)

• http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/a-pandas-story/

Reporting Ghost Stories (39:44)

• pnd

Live Q&A (51:06)

• Questions from the CSICon audience

Science or Fiction (55:19)

S: Item number one. A new study finds that astronauts who spent more than one month in microgravity have a 35% increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Item number two. Scientists have discovered the first feathered dinosaur in the western hemisphere, and also adds another dinosaur group known to have feathers. And item number three. Researchers find that, at the molecular level, evolutionary changes can be highly predictable.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:08:11)

Skepticism is essential to the quest for knowledge, for it is in the seedbed of puzzlement that genuine inquiry takes root. Without skepticism, we may remain mired in unexamined belief systems that are accepted as sacrosanct yet have no factual basis in reality.

J: Paul Kurtz!

References