SGU Episode 774

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SGU Episode 774
May 9th 2020
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 773                      SGU 775
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
RS: Richard Saunders
Quote of the Week
It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.
William Kingdon Clifford, mathematician and philosopher
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Wandering Magnetic North Pole ()

• BBC News: Scientists explain magnetic pole's wanderings

Air Plasma Jet Propulsion ()

• Phys.org: Fossil fuel-free jet propulsion with air plasmas

Hydrogen Breathers ()

• ScienceAlert: Some Astronomers Think We Should Be Looking For Hydrogen-Breathing Aliens. Here's Why

Murder Hornets ()

• Smithsonian Magazine: No, Americans Do Not Need to Panic About ‘Murder Hornets’

Prayer for COVID-19 ()

• NPR: Clinical Study Considers The Power Of Prayer To Combat COVID-19

Who's That Noisy? ()

• Answer to last week’s Noisy: Baby hippos

New Noisy ()

[British man discussing a finding of David Dunning's]

Science or Fiction ()

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Theme: Agriculture
Item #1: Artificial fertilizer is responsible for 80% of current world food production.
Item #2: The Haber-Bosch process, used to fix nitrogen, consumes between 1-2% of the world’s energy usage.
Item #3: One adult’s urine contains enough nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to fertilize enough food production for 50-100% of one person’s food requirements.

Steve Explains Item #1

Answer	Item
Fiction	Artificial fertilizer
Science	{{{science1}}}

Host	Result
Steve	swept

Rogue	Guess
Richard	Artificial fertilizer
Jay	Artificial fertilizer
Cara	Artificial fertilizer
Evan	Artificial fertilizer
Bob	Artificial fertilizer

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.
– William Kingdon Clifford, mathematician and philosopher (1845-1879)

Signoff/Announcements ()

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.

Today I Learned

• Fact/Description, possibly with an article reference
• Fact/Description
• Fact/Description

References

Vocabulary