SGU Episode 934

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SGU Episode 934
June 3rd 2023
Globular clusters are very dense, spherical clusters that contain between around 100,000 and 1 million stars.
SGU 933                      SGU 935
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
The plural of anecdote is not data.
attributed to Erika Engelhaupt, freelance science writer
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, SGU's 2024 eclipse plans, Pride Month

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

Quickie with Bob (7:56)

• [url_from_show_notes _article_title_] 

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Harvesting Energy from Air (18:49)

• Harvesting Energy from Water Vapor 

Breakups and Hindsight Bias (30:41)

• Can we really foresee break-ups? Hindsight bias in the evaluation of romantic relationships 

AI Seance (43:06)

• AI Company Says It'll Perform a Seance on Your Dead Loved Ones 

Monster Stars (56:43)

• Signs of Monster Stars 10,000 Times Our Sun's Mass Found at The Dawn of Time 

[use template {{10tothe|##}} for various powers of 10 bob mentions]

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups

Question #1: Trees and CO₂ (1:10:52)

Hi, I’m a recent listener to your podcast and I have a question for your panel. In the 5/29 issue of the New Yorker Magazine, an article on trees questions the wisdom of mass tree plantings as away to combat global warming. Specifically, it says that although the world’s forests absorb around 16 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide every year, they also emit 8 billion tons. I know that some carbon dioxide is emitted due to respiration at night, but these numbers still seem way off. Can this be true? The online version of the story is dated 5/22/23: What We Owe Our Trees: Forests fed us, housed us, and made our way of life possible. But they can’t save us if we can’t save them. by Jill Lepore
– [listener's name]

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Science or Fiction (1:16:02)

Item #1: A newly published clinical study finds that a daily eyedrop can partially reverse myopia (nearsightedness) in children. Item #2: A study conducted during the pandemic shutdown finds that over the short term reducing pollution increases global warming. Item #3: Researchers report the production of an organic solar cell with a record-breaking efficiency >19%, which is close to commercial silicon solar cells.**  ** The reference article here was not given in the show notes, but seems to line up better with the SOF item.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Eyedrops reverse myopia
Science	Less pollution, more warming
Science	Efficient organic solar cell

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Cara	Less pollution, more warming
Evan	Less pollution, more warming
Bob	Eyedrops reverse myopia

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

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:30:25)

The plural of anecdote is not data.  – attributed by listener to Erika Engelhaupt, freelance science writer From a post by the Quote Investigator titled "The Plural of Anecdote Is Not Data", "The earliest strong match known to QI appeared in an article by Kenneth Kernaghan and P. K. Kuruvilla in the journal “Canadian Public Administration” in 1982." (Also see Note 1)

Signoff (1:35:57)

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