SGU Episode 772

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SGU Episode 772
April 25th 2020
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 771                      SGU 773
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
Quote of the Week
Induction, analogy, hypotheses founded upon facts and rectified continually by new observations, a happy tact given by nature and strengthened by numerous comparisons of its indications with experience, such are the principal means for arriving at truth.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French naturalist
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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]

Science: the Endless Frontier ()

• ScienceAlert: For 75 Years, The US Had an 'Endless Frontier' of Science. Now It's Coming to an End

Bizarre Bacteria ()

• Universe Today: An ocean floor bacteria has been found with a totally bizarre metabolism

UV Light and Covid-19 ()

• BBC News: Can you kill coronavirus with UV light?

Diamond Energy Storage ()

• ScienceDaily: Diamonds shine in energy storage solution

Reproducing Cactus Coral ()

• The Florida Aquarium Makes History Again! (scroll down the website to read the press release)

Who's That Noisy? ()

• Answer to last week’s Noisy: _brief_description_perhaps_with_link_

New Noisy ()

[_short_vague_description_of_Noisy]

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups ()

considering using block quotes for emails read aloud in this segment

Question #1: False Negatives ()

Subject: Should we be worrying about false negatives for Coronavirus testing?

Message: I've been seeing claims on Facebook where people state that COVID19 testing is "30% inaccurate," is just a placebo, and that we should not even bother with it. No citations of course, but I think they are referencing this article: The Conversation: Coronavirus - How accurate are Coronavirus tests? I'd love to hear a more in depth analysis of the subject!
– Kyle Hall, Erie, PA

Science or Fiction ()

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Item #1: Scientists have concluded that heavy rainfall triggered the Kīlauea volcano eruption in May 2018.
Item #2: A new study finds that drones are more energy efficient than diesel delivery vans in urban settings.
Item #3: Researchers find that drinking coffee (regular or decaffeinated), over the short term, significantly increases sensitivity to sweetness and decreases sensitivity to bitterness.

_Host_ Explains Item #_n_

Answer	Item
Fiction
Science	{{{science1}}}

Host	Result
'

Rogue	Guess

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

Induction, analogy, hypotheses founded upon facts and rectified continually by new observations, a happy tact given by nature and strengthened by numerous comparisons of its indications with experience, such are the principal means for arriving at truth.
– Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829), French naturalist

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