SGU Episode 909

This episode was transcribed by the Google Web Speech API Demonstration (or another automatic method) and therefore will require careful proof-reading.

This transcript is not finished. Please help us finish it! Add a Transcribing template to the top of this transcript before you start so that we don't duplicate your efforts.

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

How to Contribute

This is an outline for a typical episode's transcription. Not all of these segments feature in each episode.
There may also be additional/special segments not listed in this outline.

You can use this outline to help structure the transcription. Click "Edit" above to begin.

SGU Episode 909
December 10th 2022
_brief_caption_for_the_episode_icon_
SGU 908                      SGU 910
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
Quote of the Week
Quote
AUTHOR, _short_description_
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

Voice-over: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

What's the Word? ()

• Word_Topic_Concept

_consider_using_block_quotes_for_emails_read_aloud_in_this_segment_

Quickie with Bob ()

• [link_URL TITLE]

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Square Kilometer Array ()

• [link_URL TITLE]

Mantle Plume on Mars ()

• [link_URL TITLE]

Swimming Dinosaurs ()

• [link_URL TITLE]

Ancient Environmental DNA ()

• [link_URL TITLE]

Cat Domestication ()

• [link_URL TITLE]

Who's That Noisy? ()

3872.96 3874.72 S: All right, Jay.

3874.72 3876.08 S: It's who's that noisy time?

3876.08 3877.08 J: All right, guys.

3877.08 3879.16 J: Last week, I played this noisy.

3879.16 3895.64 J: This is the first noise that Bob made after he had sex for the first time.

3895.64 3897.48 B: Why were you there recording it again?

3897.48 3900.60 J: All right, you guys got any guesses?

3900.60 3901.60 J: It's a porg.

3901.60 3902.60 J: A porg.

3902.60 3903.60 J: That's a good guess.

3903.60 3904.60 J: Yeah, right, right?

3904.60 3910.56 J: Well, a listener named Derek Reethans said, hi, Jay, I think this noisy was a guinea pig squeaking.

3910.56 3912.84 J: They make the most silly noises.

3912.84 3913.84 J: And why not?

3913.84 3915.08 J: Why can't that be a guinea pig?

3915.08 3916.16 J: But it's not.

3916.16 3919.84 J: It's not the sounds that guinea pigs make.

3919.84 3928.52 J: Another listener named Frank Silva wrote in and said, aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii where I'm visiting to watch the Mauna Loa eruption and lava flow.

3928.52 3931.44 J: He's been listening for a few years, first time guessing.

3931.44 3936.68 J: He says, it sounds like air being released from a balloon while pulling the sides of the neck apart.

3936.68 3940.52 J: You are absolutely correct that it does sound like that.

3940.52 3942.64 J: That is not what it is.

3942.64 3948.32 J: And that would have been, I think, if I did that legitimately, that would have been a pretty easy guess.

3948.32 3949.76 J: But it does sound a lot like it.

3949.76 3951.64 J: I'll give it to you.

3951.64 3957.70 J: Phil Watson wrote in and said, this week's noisy sounds like a squeaky toy being mauled by a dog.

3957.70 3964.32 J: But I think it's actually the vocalization of one of those funny round frogs.

3964.32 3965.44 J: I don't remember what they're called.

3965.44 3966.90 J: This is a close guess.

3966.90 3968.16 J: You did a good job, Phil.

3968.16 3970.32 J: You were getting there, but you were all the way there.

3970.32 3974.72 J: So this noisy was identified by a listener named Bradford West.

3974.72 3984.76 J: And he said, holy crap, Nuggets J. At first, I thought this week's noisy sounded like a now fairly well-known sound of a turtle getting some of the old in-out.

3984.76 3986.44 J: It's up to you if you want to leave that in, Steve.

3986.44 3989.72 J: It goes without saying.

3989.72 3995.96 J: He says, so it's totally a desert rain frog trying to intimidate me.

3995.96 3997.88 J: So this is a desert rain frog.

3997.88 4009.84 J: So I'm going to ask you, everybody that is capable of going to the internet right now that's listening to the show, go look up a desert rain frog and watch the video of this thing making this noise.

4009.84 4013.64 J: It's one of the cutest little animals I've seen probably ever.

4013.64 4014.64 J: Take a listen again.

4014.64 4020.60 J: That is so freaking cute.

4020.60 4022.92 J: It's possible that I've played this one before.

4022.92 4025.48 J: I've been doing Who's That Noisy for, I don't know.

4025.48 4026.80 J: God, how long has it been, Evan?

4026.80 4028.04 E: Oh gosh, seven years now.

4028.04 4030.26 E: I think you took over about six years ago.

4030.26 4031.26 J: Six or seven years ago.

4031.26 4032.26 J: Yeah.

4032.26 4035.68 J: So if I hit one again every once in a while, it's because I don't mind.

4035.68 4036.68 J: Thanks, Bob.

4036.68 4039.28 J: So anyway, good, good guess.

4039.28 4041.24 J: A lot of people guessed correctly this week.

4041.24 4046.08 J: A lot of people identified this animal as one of their favorites.

4046.08 4047.08 J: He's really cute.

4047.08 4054.08 J: He's like this little sand-encrusted frog that looks like if you blew too hard next to him, he'd fall over and die.

4054.08 4056.48 J: He's like the frailest little dude.

4056.48 4057.48 J: Very cool though.

New Noisy ()

[_short_vague_description_of_Noisy]

short_text_from_transcript

4057.48 4060.08 J: All right, I've got a new noisy for you guys this week.

4060.08 4076.36 J: This noisy was sent in by a listener named John Foster.

4076.36 4085.40 J: If you think you know what this noisy is, or you heard something cool this week, email us, well, email me directly actually at WTN at the skeptics guide.org.

Announcements ()

4085.40 4086.40 S: Steve.

4086.40 4087.40 S: Yeah.

4087.40 4091.80 S: This is the last show to come out before we go to our Arizona shows.

4091.80 4092.80 J: That's right.

4092.80 4104.52 J: By the time you listen to this, you will have, if you're listening to this, say on Saturday or Sunday, I'm sorry, basically you're going to be two or three days before the show in Arizona.

4104.52 4106.30 J: If you're in Arizona, come check us out.

4106.30 4111.08 J: We're going to be doing four different shows, two in Phoenix and two in Tucson.

4111.08 4116.38 J: All the info is on our website, theskepticsguide.org forward slash events.

4116.38 4119.48 J: We're super looking forward to seeing all the people that we're going to see there.

4119.48 4120.64 J: We're going to have a ton of fun.

4120.64 4122.28 J: We're leaving in less than a week.

4122.28 4140.32 S: This is the debut of our new show, the four hour live show plus or private show plus where we do not only a private recording, we're going to do two hours of interaction and games and cool stuff with the people present just for the live audience.

4140.32 4143.00 S: So we'll see how it goes, but a unique experience.

4143.00 4144.00 S: It's going to be fun.

4144.00 4149.24 J: We're coming up on, we're coming up towards the end of the year very quickly and I'd like to say two things.

4149.24 4156.54 J: One for the holidays, if you want to get someone a present, you could get, you could think about getting them one of the two books that we've written.

4156.54 4157.72 J: They're great gifts.

4157.72 4159.28 J: They make people very happy.

4159.28 4162.32 J: I mean, you'd be amazed at how happy people are when they get these.

4162.32 4163.72 S: Why would you say that Jay?

4163.72 4164.72 S: Why?

4164.72 4165.72 S: Yeah.

4165.72 4166.72 S: Why get one of, one of them?

4166.72 4167.72 S: Get both of them.

4167.72 4168.72 J: Both of them.

4168.72 4169.72 J: Yeah.

4169.72 4170.72 J: Absolutely.

4170.72 4179.12 J: If you want an SGU swag item, a t-shirt, a Christmas ornament, a bag, there's lots of things on there.

4179.12 4183.20 J: You can go to our store, just go to our website to find the link for our store.

4183.20 4191.44 J: They make, you know, good little stocking stuffers if you want to get some, some SGU fans, some swag that they would like to have.

4191.44 4202.48 J: And then finally, if you enjoy the show, if you enjoyed the work that we've been doing on this show, if you're a regular listener, consider becoming a patron to help us continue doing what we do.

4202.48 4207.64 J: It's, you know, it takes a lot of people and a lot of time and a lot of energy to keep doing what we do.

4207.64 4214.16 J: And we appreciate all the support that we get, like people like Brian, who is on the show this week because he likes to give.

4214.16 4215.16 J: Thank you, Brian.

4215.16 4217.40 J: We appreciate it.

4217.40 4220.40 J: But please do consider becoming a patron of ours.

4220.40 4221.40 J: It helps.

4221.40 4225.02 J: It keeps everything moving in the direction that we need to keep putting the show out.

4225.02 4228.72 J: And you can become one of the people that supports something that you believe in.

4228.72 4232.32 J: You can go to patreon.com forward slash skeptics guide.

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups ()

_consider_using_block_quotes_for_emails_read_aloud_in_this_segment_
with_reduced_spacing_for_long_chunks –

Science or Fiction ()

Item #1: _item_text_from_show_notes_ Item #2: _item_text_from_show_notes_ Item #3: _item_text_from_show_notes_ Item #4: _item_text_from_show_notes_

Answer	Item
Fiction
Science

Host	Result
Steve

Rogue	Guess

Voice-over: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Steve Explains Item #_n_

5261.52 5268.16 S: Okay, guys, let's move on with science or fiction.

5268.16 5277.44 BN: It's time for science or fiction.

5277.44 5282.04 S: Each week I come up with three science news items, four facts, two real and one fake.

5282.04 5286.60 S: And then I ask my panel of skeptics to tell me which one is the fake.

5286.60 5290.56 S: Brian, you didn't tell us on the show what your profession is.

5290.56 5302.52 BN: Yeah, so I'm a video editor and producer at the National Geographic Society and working for a conservation group called Pristine Seas that's focused on ocean conservation.

5302.52 5306.40 BN: So basically I'm praying that the topic is not about the ocean.

5306.40 5308.68 BN: I really don't need to be embarrassed right now.

5308.68 5311.68 S: So you have no medical training at all?

5311.68 5312.68 S: No.

5312.68 5315.86 S: All right, there is a theme this week.

5315.86 5320.68 S: The theme is rare weird diseases.

5320.68 5325.72 S: These are diseases that you hopefully have never heard of that are kind of weird.

5325.72 5327.84 S: Okay, two of them are real.

5327.84 5329.64 S: One is fake.

5329.64 5331.00 S: Here we go.

5331.00 5340.68 S: Item number one, translucent fibrodysplasia is a genetic connective tissue disease in which the skin and connective tissue become progressively translucent over time.

5340.68 5344.80 S: In advanced cases, muscle can be seen through the skin.

5344.80 5361.32 S: Item number two, Alice in Wonderland syndrome includes an altered sense of body image where one's own body parts seem disproportionately large and may also include a sense of time passing either very slowly or rapidly.

5361.32 5373.64 S: And item number three, auto brewery syndrome results from bacteria or fungi in the GI system fermenting food into alcohol causing persistent intoxication.

5373.64 5377.44 S: All right, Brian, as our guest, you get to go first.

5377.44 5378.44 BN: Okay.

5378.44 5382.56 BN: These are very interesting and cool as advertised.

5382.56 5387.56 BN: I guess not fun for the people that may or may not have them.

5387.56 5389.88 BN: Translucent fibrodysplasia.

5389.88 5394.96 BN: Yeah, it sounds fairly plausible.

5394.96 5405.28 BN: You know, it feels like something that they would, you know, use as a starter for some kind of supervillain in a mutant movie or something, but it seems plausible.

5405.28 5410.20 BN: The one that's really tripping me up is this Alice in Wonderland syndrome.

5410.20 5419.36 BN: I just can't get over the fact that there's sort of two aspects of it that seem to both be relating back to Alice in Wonderland.

5419.36 5422.60 BN: That in itself just seems, because they seem disconnected.

5422.60 5433.08 BN: I mean, obviously they both have a sense of, you know, a disconnection or exaggeration of your senses, I guess.

5433.08 5434.80 BN: But that one's tripping me up.

5434.80 5441.40 BN: And then auto brewery syndrome, again, the name, it's like, is there people just having a laugh?

5441.40 5445.16 BN: Like this is, oh man.

5445.16 5452.64 BN: But that also, you know, yeah, I think that one seems, you know what, I'm going to go with the auto brewery syndrome.

5452.64 5456.32 BN: I think two is crazy.

5456.32 5459.46 BN: Alice in Wonderland is crazy enough to be true.

5459.46 5464.76 BN: And something about the auto brewery just seems almost too silly.

5464.76 5465.76 S: That's the fiction.

5465.76 5466.76 BN: Yeah.

5466.76 5467.76 BN: Auto brewery is the fiction.

5467.76 5468.76 S: All right.

5468.76 5469.76 B: Bob?

5469.76 5470.76 B: All right.

5470.76 5471.76 B: Let's see.

5471.76 5472.76 B: Translucent fibrodysplasia.

5472.76 5477.60 B: I think I knew somebody with this a long time ago in school.

5477.60 5481.00 B: I believe you might remember him as well.

5481.00 5485.60 B: And that kind of seems similar, although not identical.

5485.60 5487.96 B: But that's just not as bizarre as the other ones.

5487.96 5495.00 B: The Alice in Wonderland one, I think I would have heard of that, especially the time passing slowly or more rapidly.

5495.00 5504.64 B: But the one that makes, I think, the least sense, I think Brian hit it, the auto brewery on multiple levels, this doesn't seem quite right.

5504.64 5506.44 B: So I'm going to do another GWB.

5506.44 5508.16 S: Okay, Evan.

5508.16 5513.48 E: Oh, I have a feeling I'm going to follow this pattern.

5513.48 5521.24 E: I think the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, it's so kind of corny that this one has to be true in a way.

5521.24 5522.24 E: Right?

5522.24 5528.74 E: There's always one that's like beyond ridiculous that winds up being true among these kinds of things.

5528.74 5532.10 E: And that is some wild stuff going on there with that one.

5532.10 5538.00 E: But the auto brewery syndrome, first of all, the name's a little too contrived.

5538.00 5548.80 E: I mean, you know, brew seems like more of a beer specific kind of term as opposed to alcohol in general.

5548.80 5553.48 E: And you know, causing persistent intoxication.

5553.48 5558.12 E: I thought there were systems in the body that prevent that.

5558.12 5559.44 E: I don't know how that would be.

5559.44 5565.60 E: I can't see how that would physiologically be happening on a constant basis with the body.

5565.60 5569.52 E: It has various mechanisms to prevent that very thing, I think, from happening.

5569.52 5572.62 E: So that's why that one to me is the fiction.

5572.62 5583.32 J: And Jay, the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, you know, the idea here that people could have a weird, you know, weird idea about their body parts and everything.

5583.32 5591.16 J: I mean, I think that any mechanism that the brain has that works can go wrong.

5591.16 5598.96 J: And I know I know after, you know, because I'm related to a neurologist and have talked neurology with Steve for the last, I don't know, 30 years.

5598.96 5599.96 J: That doesn't seem weird to me.

5599.96 5608.04 J: I think, you know, the Alice in Wonderland thing is actually like, you know, something's gone wrong with the brain and they're not detecting their body parts the correct way.

5608.04 5612.68 J: That that's the one I think is is the most obviously correct.

5612.68 5615.80 J: And then I go to the auto brewery syndrome.

5615.80 5626.76 J: I've had a couple of things, a couple of G.I. things happen to me in my in my 50 plus years on this planet where I wouldn't be surprised that something like that could happen.

5626.76 5641.88 J: It doesn't mean I don't know how permanent it is or what it is, but, you know, we have such a huge amount of bacteria and there's a ton of bacteria out in the world and you get the wrong kind of bacteria in there and it does something wacky with your with your digestive system.

5641.88 5643.56 J: I could see that happening.

5643.56 5647.56 J: So I don't know anything about translucent fibrodysplasia.

5647.56 5648.56 J: I don't know.

5648.56 5649.56 J: I've never.

5649.56 5656.00 J: I remember what Bob was saying about someone in school growing up that had some type of skin disorder, but I don't know any details.

5656.00 5657.28 J: I don't know anything about it.

5657.28 5664.68 J: I just think it sounds it sounds like something I would have heard about unless it's unbelievably rare.

5664.68 5666.68 J: So I think that's the fake.

5666.68 5669.32 S: OK, Jay's struck out on his own.

5669.32 5673.48 S: So you guys all agree on number two.

5673.48 5675.12 S: So we'll start there.

5675.12 5689.12 S: Alice in Wonderland syndrome, AIWS, includes an altered sense of body image where one's own body parts seem disproportionately large and may also include a sense of time passing either very slowly or rapidly.

5689.12 5695.72 S: You guys all think this one is science and this one is science.

5695.72 5696.72 S: This is science.

5696.72 5698.76 E: You got me there for a second.

5698.76 5701.04 E: You got to make us with the fiction.

5701.04 5704.88 S: And yeah, it's whimsically called Alice in Wonderland syndrome.

5704.88 5710.40 S: The primary feature is the it is all tied together because it's altered perception.

5710.40 5711.40 S: Right.

5711.40 5712.92 S: And it's different types of perception, too.

5712.92 5717.20 S: There are different ways this can manifest, but it could be they could have hallucinations.

5717.20 5720.58 S: They can have auditory, tactile perception problems.

5720.58 5725.26 S: But the most common one is distorted body part images.

5725.26 5733.12 S: And it's usually they perceive them as being larger, although they can perceive them as being smaller in some cases, but it's usually larger.

5733.12 5738.32 S: And they also perceive the passage of time can also be massively warped.

5738.32 5742.88 S: They you know, they think everything is going in slow motion or time could seem to zip by.

5742.88 5745.96 S: But it's all perceptual processing.

5745.96 5749.40 S: That's that's the common thread through all of this.

5749.40 5753.62 E: And is there one specific part of the brain that sort of controls for that, Steve, or is it?

5753.62 5754.62 S: So yes and no.

5754.62 5759.08 S: I mean, this is not just one little piece of the brain networks in the brain that are doing it.

5759.08 5765.52 S: But it is in the the sensory association cortex.

5765.52 5767.96 S: Interestingly, like what causes this?

5767.96 5769.00 S: You know, what causes this to happen?

5769.00 5774.52 S: There is it can be caused by either tumors or seizures and migraines.

5774.52 5778.76 S: It actually has a commonly occurs with migraine.

5778.76 5782.84 S: And the treatment of it is to use migraine prophylaxis.

5782.84 5787.08 S: You just give drugs that we use to treat migraines and it can help it sometimes.

5787.08 5797.60 S: So the known causes are migraines, temporal lobe epilepsy, brain tumors, psychoactive drugs and Epstein Barr virus infections in the brain.

5797.60 5798.60 S: Interesting.

5798.60 5802.38 S: OK, let's I guess we'll go back to number one.

5802.38 5809.20 S: Translucent fibrodysplasia is a genetic connective tissue disease in which the skin and connective tissue become progressively translucent over time.

5809.20 5812.92 S: In advanced cases, muscle can be seen through the skin.

5812.92 5815.58 S: Jay, you think this one is the fiction.

5815.58 5817.92 S: Everyone else thinks this one is science.

5817.92 5821.88 S: And this one is the fiction.

5821.88 5824.24 S: Good job, Jay.

5824.24 5826.12 S: Nice solo win by Jay.

5826.12 5827.12 S: Way.

5827.12 5829.36 S: I just completely made this up.

5829.36 5830.52 E: That's a good one.

5830.52 5832.76 S: My thought process was I'm happy.

5832.76 5835.60 S: I'm happy to invent a fake disease, right?

5835.60 5836.60 S: Weird fake disease.

5836.60 5838.72 S: So I like maybe what could the disease be?

5838.72 5844.20 S: It's really hard when you think about it, because pretty much anything that can go wrong does.

5844.20 5848.08 S: And so it's hard to think of a plausible disease that doesn't exist at all.

5848.08 5852.72 S: So I thought, what if the skin turned a weird color?

5852.72 5854.56 S: And that was the disease.

5854.56 5864.64 S: It turns out there are diseases that turn the skin green, blue, red, orange, yellow, black, white and gray and purple and pink and pink.

5864.64 5873.56 S: I couldn't come up with one color of those colors that didn't have a disease associated with it, or at least like a pink rash or purple rash or whatever.

5873.56 5877.32 S: So I went with translucent.

5877.32 5879.06 S: That's where I got to that.

5879.06 5881.72 S: And I could not find that that exists anywhere in reality.

5881.72 5886.96 E: So well, if it one day does exist, then we can correct this science fiction.

5886.96 5890.08 BN: That's a fantastic name.

5890.08 5891.08 BN: You did a really good job.

5891.08 5892.08 BN: That sounds so believable.

5892.08 5893.08 E: Totally plausible.

5893.08 5895.40 S: That's that was the hook.

5895.40 5898.24 S: The name was the hook.

5898.24 5902.56 S: But that's you know, my medical background is easy to make up fake medical technology terminology.

5902.56 5903.56 S: All right.

5903.56 5912.72 S: That means that auto brewery syndrome results from bacteria or fungi in the G.I. system fermenting food into alcohol, causing persistent intoxication is science.

5912.72 5917.84 S: I almost didn't include this one because I thought it was too plausible.

5917.84 5920.28 S: Why wouldn't this not happen?

5920.28 5924.92 S: Bacteria, fungi, they ferment sugar into alcohol.

5924.92 5927.20 S: Why does that not happen in our intestines?

5927.20 5930.40 S: You know, and then the liver.

5930.40 5931.40 S: Yeah.

5931.40 5932.40 S: Fix that.

5932.40 5933.40 S: And then the liver detoxifies it.

5933.40 5938.62 S: That's why you're not permanently drunk, but you're constantly making alcohol out of the sugar in your gut.

5938.62 5939.62 S: Right.

5939.62 5940.68 S: As long as you have it there.

5940.68 5942.76 E: But you're saying it causes persistent intoxication.

5942.76 5943.76 E: Yeah.

5943.76 5944.76 S: I mean, as long as you eat.

5944.76 5955.82 S: Now, you can fix it by by having a special diet that doesn't include any food that the that the bacteria will will metabolize, will ferment.

5955.82 5961.44 S: So typically you have to like completely exclude simple sugars from your diet and certain other kinds of carbohydrates.

5961.44 5962.44 S: Yeah, not easy.

5962.44 5965.18 S: But if you did that, then it then it fixes it.

5965.18 5973.80 S: But it's remarkably hard to change the bacterial markup of your system.

5973.80 5975.52 S: That's the latest thing, Bob.

5975.52 5976.52 S: Yeah.

5976.52 5979.28 S: So but yeah, I thought this one was eminently plausible.

5979.28 5980.62 S: But but we're in the end.

5980.62 5982.20 S: And the name is why I used it.

5982.20 5983.20 S: The auto brewery syndrome.

5983.20 5984.20 S: Yeah, I couldn't get past that.

5984.20 5985.52 S: But that's what it's called.

5985.52 5986.52 S: That is what it's called.

5986.52 5989.60 S: There's usually whimsical names like that for all kinds of these bizarre diseases.

5989.60 5990.60 S: Yeah.

5990.60 5991.60 S: Auto brewery syndrome.

5991.60 5994.60 S: That has to do with beer.

5994.60 6000.36 BN: Yeah, I can imagine people that imagine they could create a new new craft beer from there.

6000.36 6007.56 S: Just have to isolate whatever it is in my intestines that are getting me hammered all the time.

6007.56 6008.56 S: Wow.

6008.56 6014.44 S: Yeah, it's like people insist they haven't had any alcohol to drink and yet they're drunk and they have a blood alcohol level.

6014.44 6017.08 S: Yeah, and then you got to like eliminate all sugar from your diet.

6017.08 6018.08 S: Good luck with that.

6018.08 6019.08 S: All right.

6019.08 6020.08 S: Good job, Jay.

6020.08 6022.28 S: I always love when people go out on their own and win.

6022.28 6023.76 J: You can't win if you don't play, Steve.

6023.76 6024.76 S: That's right.

6024.76 6025.76 S: You're right, brother.

6025.76 6026.76 S: All right.

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

TEXT
– AUTHOR (YYYY-YYYY), _short_description_

6026.76 6028.92 E: Evan, give us a quote.

6028.92 6032.04 E: Scientific results are always preliminary.

6032.04 6037.36 E: No good scientist will believe that they have offered the last word on a given subject.

6037.36 6038.36 E: Brian Cox.

6038.36 6040.84 E: If I have to tell you who Brian Cox is, look him up.

6040.84 6041.84 E: You know him.

6041.84 6042.84 S: Look him up, Brian.

6042.84 6043.84 S: Yeah, that's good.

6043.84 6048.94 S: But that's, again, one of those quotes that it's true as far as it goes.

6048.94 6059.16 S: But there's a lot of discussion that you can have around that because that doesn't mean that we don't know something to such a degree that we can't act upon it.

6059.16 6060.16 S: Right.

6060.16 6062.68 S: So there's preliminary, then there's preliminary.

6062.68 6063.68 S: Right.

6063.68 6070.84 S: Like, yeah, this might be any scientific conclusion is always subject to revision when further evidence comes in.

6070.84 6076.28 S: But that doesn't mean we can't act as if it's true because we have overwhelming evidence.

6076.28 6078.92 S: You know, otherwise, like, how could you practice medicine?

6078.92 6079.92 S: Right.

6079.92 6080.92 S: Or do anything.

6080.92 6084.72 E: But is it appropriate for a scientist to declare it such?

6084.72 6089.64 S: Well, we say it depends on how careful you are with your verbiage.

6089.64 6090.64 S: Right.

6090.64 6098.64 S: We could say that this is, you know, rock solid or well established or established beyond reasonable doubt.

6098.64 6102.48 S: Or we can take this as a scientific given.

6102.48 6110.60 S: But that doesn't mean it's the last word because we can always get a deeper understanding of reality that changes it.

6110.60 6114.32 S: But usually that doesn't make it wrong.

6114.32 6116.68 S: It just means it just makes it incomplete.

6116.68 6117.68 S: Right.

6117.68 6119.76 S: Like, take something obvious.

6119.76 6124.12 S: The earth is a sphere that's never going to be proven wrong.

6124.12 6125.12 S: It's just going to be refined.

6125.12 6126.12 S: Right.

6126.12 6127.12 S: OK, it's a spheroid.

6127.12 6130.12 S: It's an oblate spheroid.

6130.12 6134.00 S: You know, it's it's a lopsided, oblate spheroid, whatever.

6134.00 6135.48 S: But it's still a sphere.

6135.48 6136.48 S: Right.

6136.48 6137.48 S: Right.

6137.48 6146.12 S: It's like even Newtonian mechanics wasn't rendered wrong by relativity, just, you know, incomplete.

6146.12 6147.12 S: Incomplete.

6147.12 6148.80 S: Yeah, it was as it's right.

6148.80 6154.12 S: As long as you're not traveling at relativistic speeds or parked next to a black hole or something.

6154.12 6155.12 S: That's an important caveat.

6155.12 6159.76 S: Like, you know, I mean, like DNA is the molecule of inheritance.

6159.76 6164.88 S: No later discovery is ever going to change that conclusion.

6164.88 6168.06 S: We can act as if that's 100 percent rock solid.

6168.06 6174.80 S: But that doesn't mean that there aren't nuances that we discover, like epigenetics and other things that modify it, et cetera.

6174.80 6181.16 S: But just the basic fact that like DNA is the primary molecule of inheritance is so well established.

6181.16 6183.20 S: I mean, nothing's going to overturn that.

6183.20 6186.92 S: So as long as you there's a lot of context to that to that quote.

6186.92 6192.72 S: So that's a kind of a complicated idea to try to put into one pithy quote.

6192.72 6198.00 S: It's again true as far as it goes, but it requires a lot of discussion to really put it into scientific context.

6198.00 6201.00 S: You know what I'm saying?

6201.00 6202.00 E: Yep.

6202.00 6203.00 S: We still love Brian Cox, though.

6203.00 6204.00 S: Yeah.

6204.00 6205.00 E: Yeah.

6205.00 6206.00 E: Good science.

6206.00 6207.00 E: What did he say after that?

6207.00 6210.24 S: Like, that's always like that's something else I would want to know.

6210.24 6212.68 S: Well, Brian, thank you for joining us on this episode.

6212.68 6213.68 S: It was a lot of fun.

6213.68 6214.68 BN: Yeah, man.

6214.68 6215.68 BN: Yeah.

6215.68 6216.68 BN: Yeah, no, thanks for having me.

6216.68 6217.68 S: It was a blast.

6217.68 6218.68 S: Appreciate it, Brian.

6218.68 6221.96 S: And from what you're saying, you're going to clean up all the plastic in the oceans, right?

6221.96 6225.52 S: That's what you're doing.

6225.52 6230.72 BN: We're focused on the marine protected area part of the problem.

6230.72 6235.68 BN: But yeah, plastics is just such a looming, awful threat.

6235.68 6236.68 BN: Totally.

6236.68 6238.16 BN: But yeah, we're working on it.

6238.16 6239.16 S: All right.

6239.16 6240.16 S: Well, good luck with that.

6240.16 6241.16 S: All right.

Signoff/Announcements ()

6241.16 6243.16 S: Well, thank you all for joining me this week.

6243.16 6244.16 S: You got it, Steve.

6244.16 6245.16 S: Sure, man.

6245.16 6246.16 S: Thanks, Steve.

6246.16 6252.80 S: I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of you and Kara and George and Ian in Arizona and all of our Arizona listeners.

6252.80 6255.36 S: It should be a fun trip.

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.

[top]                        

Today I Learned

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

References

Vocabulary