SGU Episode 769

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SGU Episode 769
April 4th 2020
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 768                      SGU 770
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
Having equal rights does not mean having equal talents, equal abilities, or equal knowledge. It assuredly does not mean that 'everyone's opinion about anything is as good as anyone else's.' And yet, this is now enshrined as the credo of a fair number of people, despite being obvious nonsense.
Tom Nichols, The Death of Expertise
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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]

Don’t Drink Poison ()

• AP: In Iran, false beliefs, poison fighting the virus kill hundreds

Decoding Speech from Brainwaves ()

• Neurologica: Decoding Speech from Brainwaves

Using Urine to Build a Moon Base ()

• Neurologica: Building Moon Bases Using Urine

Evolution of Land Plants ()

• Quanta Magazine: Billion-Year-Old Algae and Newer Genes Hint at Land Plants’ Origin

Who's That Noisy? ()

• Answer to last week’s Noisy: _brief_description_perhaps_with_link_

New Noisy ()

[_short_vague_description_of_Noisy]

Science or Fiction ()

Answer	Item
Fiction	Venomous snake
Science	Old shark
Science	Fecund rabbit

Host	Result
Steve	clever

Rogue	Guess
Evan	Fecund rabbit
Cara	Venomous snake
Jay	Old shark
Bob	Old shark

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Theme: Superlative Animals
Item #1: The oldest living vertebrate is a Greenland shark, which is at least 272 years old. Females of the species do not reach breeding age until about 150 years old.
Item #2: The Australian mulga snake has the most potent venom known.
Item #3: The European rabbit has the highest fecundity of any mammal.

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

Having equal rights does not mean having equal talents, equal abilities, or equal knowledge. It assuredly does not mean that 'everyone's opinion about anything is as good as anyone else's.' And yet, this is now enshrined as the credo of a fair number of people, despite being obvious nonsense.
– Tom Nichols, The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters

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