SGU Episode 479

This episode needs: transcription, time stamps, formatting, links, 'Today I Learned' list, categories, segment redirects. Please help out by contributing!

How to Contribute

SGU Episode 479
September 13th 2014
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 478                      SGU 480
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
R: Rebecca Watson
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.
James Baldwin
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

This Day in Skepticism (1:29)

• September 13, 1848: Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage survives a 3-foot (0.91 m)-plus iron rod being driven through his head; the reported effects on his behavior and personality stimulate thinking about the nature of the brain and its functions.

News Items

Jack the Ripper Solved? (9:52)

• September 13 TDIS: 1848

Common Core (21:39)

• http://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/09/09/common-core-repeal-effort-criticized-for-creationism-language/

Canada’s War on Science (27:37)

• http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/carol-linnitt/war-on-science-canada_b_5775054.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Dreadnoughtus (33:54)

• http://www.theskepticsguide.org/new-huge-dreadnoughtus-dinosaur-comes-complete-with-weaponized-tail

Supplement Company Sues Over Criticism (42:51)

• https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140905/15443428437/dietary-supplement-company-tries-suing-pissedconsumer-citing-buyers-agreement-to-never-say-anything-negative-about-roca.shtml

Brian Dunning (53:31)

• http://www.briandunning.com/message.html

Who's That Noisy (55:16)

• Answer to last week: Donkey, Dwight Eisenhower

Science or Fiction (1:09:42)

Item #1: Researchers have for the first time constructed a two-dimensional material called germanene, out of a single layer of germanium atoms. Item #2: Scientists have discovered a new fundamental mechanism of aging linked to faulty DNA repair. Item #3: A new study confirms that in some individuals sugar has an effect on the brain similar to narcotics causing a drug-like addiction.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:20:35)

“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”~James Baldwin

Announcements

Special recording of the SGU (1:21:23)

• October 2, 2014 at 8pm US Eastern Time

Rebecca at the Bay Area Science Festival (1:23:12)

• October 25th, 2014 at the Castro Theatre

Steve at a live recording of the Rationally Speaking podcast (1:23:37)

• September 28th, 2014 at 2pm at the Baruch Performing Arts Centre, 55 Lexington Avenue, New York

S: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information on this and other episodes, please visit our website at theskepticsguide.org, where you will find the show notes as well as links to our blogs, videos, online forum, and other content. You can send us feedback or questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. Also, please consider supporting the SGU by visiting the store page on our website, where you will find merchandise, premium content, and subscription information. Our listeners are what make SGU possible.

References