SGU Episode 507

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SGU Episode 507
March 28th 2015
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 506                      SGU 508
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
C: Chris Patil
Quote of the Week
I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.
Stanley Kubrick
Links
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Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

Forgotten Superheroes of Science ()

• Women of ENIAC: The Team of 6 Women who were the first to program ENIAC, the first all electronic digital computer

News Items

Titius-Bode Law and Exoplanets ()

• http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/titius-bode-law-and-exoplanets/ and http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/03/25/jupiter_menace_gravity_may_have_wiped_out_early_inner_solar_system.html

Largest Asteroid Impact ()

• http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/24/evidence-of-largest-asteroid-impact-zone-on-earth-found-in-australian-outback

Gold from Crap ()

• http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/23/gold-in-faeces-worth-millions-save-environment

FDA-Homeopathy ()

• http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/NewsEvents/ucm430539.htm

Questions and Emails

Question #1. Composting Follow Up ()

• Various e-mails regarding composting

Dumbest Thing of the Week ()

• http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/25/3638622/ted-cruz-is-like-galileo/

Chris Patil ()

• Top 100 finalist for the Mars One project.

Science or Fiction ()

Item #1: A 2014 systematic review finds that listening to Mozart, particularly Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448, significantly reduced seizure frequency and epileptiform discharges on electroencephalogram in seizure patients. Item #2: Elvis Presley, a prolific song writer, penned more top 40 hits than any other artist. Item #3: A 2012 study found that modern pop music has evolved over the last 50 years to an increasingly simplified palette of pitch transitions and timbre. In fact a great deal of modern pop music is based off the same four chord progressions.

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

"I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker." - Stanley Kubrick

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