SGU Episode 928

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SGU Episode 928
April 22nd 2023
MRI technology from Duke-led effort reveals the entire mouse brain in the highest resolution
SGU 927                      SGU 929
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
The denial or distortion of history is an assault on truth and understanding. Comprehension and memory of the past are crucial to how we understand ourselves, our society, and our goals for the future. Intentionally denying or distorting the historical record threatens communal understanding of how to safeguard democracy and individual rights.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Evan’s tax prep work

Voice-over: 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]

Starship Almost Launch (14:19)

• Highlights From SpaceX’s Explosive Starship Rocket Test Launch 

Information in Ancient Meteorites (22:49)

• Humans Are Erasing Billions of Years of Data From Ancient Meteorites 

_text_about_dynamo_theory_^{[link needed]}

Lunar Cycle and Suicide (31:53)

• The Lunar Cycle and Suicide 

Sharper MRI Scans (47:09)

• Brain Images Just Got 64 Million Times Sharper 

Mummies and Taxes (58:45)

• Could these old mummies in Mexico be spreading fungal infection due to an old tax rule? 

Who's That Noisy? (1:07:22)

Answer to previous Noisy:

_brief_description_of_answer_ _perhaps_with_a_link_

New Noisy (1:11:29)

[background hissing with bird calls and a strong plunking in the foreground]

short_text_from_transcript

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups (1:16:59)

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Question #1: Hydrogen Energy Storage

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Science or Fiction (1:22:28)

Theme: Fungi Item #1: Fungi breath in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, just like animals. Item #2: Mushroom spores are made of the toughest biological substance known, sporopollenin. Item #3: Witches' butter (Tremella mesenterica) is one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world, a single gram being sufficient to kill a large adult human, although it is easily mistaken for edible varieties.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Poisonous "Witches' butter"
Science	Fungi breathe just like animals
Science	Toughest biological substance

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Bob	Toughest biological substance
Jay	Toughest biological substance
Evan	Poisonous "Witches' butter"
Cara	Poisonous "Witches' butter"

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

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:36:17)

The denial or distortion of history is an assault on truth and understanding. Comprehension and memory of the past are crucial to how we understand ourselves, our society, and our goals for the future. Intentionally denying or distorting the historical record threatens communal understanding of how to safeguard democracy and individual rights.  – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "Explaining Holocaust Denial" (In Israel, April 18, 2023, is Holocaust Remembrance Day)

Signoff

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.

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Today I Learned

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

References