SGU Episode 753

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SGU Episode 753
December 14th 2019
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 752                      SGU 754
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
Quote of the Week
Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape? If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can.
J. R. R. Tolkien, English writer, poet, and philologist
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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]

Place with No Life ()

• Science X: Scientists find a place on Earth where there is no life

Superhydrophobicity ()

• University of Rochester: Superhydrophobic metal that won’t sink

Insect on Mars ()

• The Register: Found on Mars: Alien insects... or whatever the hell this smudge is supposed to be, anyway

Political Anti-Science ()

• Snopes: Ohio Anti-Abortion Bill Would Push Docs to Re-Implant Ectopic Pregnancies

Does Adversity Increase Resilience? ()

• Northwestern: Science proves that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Climate Change Tipping Points ()

• Science X: Climate change 'tipping points' too close for comfort

Oldest Dog ()

• Metro.co.uk: Ice Age ‘puppy’ is found after 18,000 years buried in the permafrost

Pathway to Conspiracy Theories ()

• PLOS ONE: Pathways to conspiracy: The social and linguistic precursors of involvement in Reddit’s conspiracy theory forum

Questions and Answers ()

considering using block quotes for emails read aloud in this segment, with reduced spacing for long chunks

Science or Fiction ()

Answer	Item
Fiction	Chicken-turkey
Science	Goat-sheep
Science	Whale-dolphin
Science	Camel-llama

Host	Result
'

Rogue	Guess

Voiceover: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Theme: Hybrid Animals
Item #1: A geep is a very rare successful offspring between a goat and a sheep.
Item #2: A churkey is a hybrid chicken-turkey that is easy to raise and especially tasty but not commercially viable because it is sterile.
Item #3: A wholphin, the offspring of a female bottle nose dolphin and a male false killer whale, occur in nature and are fertile.
Item #4: Although dromedary camels weight up to six times as much as llamas, hybrid 'cama' have been successfully produced.

Skeptical Quote of the Week ()

Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape? If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can.
– J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973), English writer, poet, and philologist

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