SGU Episode 667

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SGU Episode 667
April 21st 2018
"A "semi-infinite" supply of rare earth metals used in batteries, electric vehicles, and other green energy technologies has been found in deep-sea mud about 1850 kilometers southeast of Tokyo."
SGU 666                      SGU 668
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
If a kid ever asks you why the sky is blue, you look them right in the eye and say, "It's because of quantum effects involving Rayleigh scattering combined with a lack of violet photon receptors in our retinae."
Phil Plait, "the Bad Astronomer"
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
SGU Forum

Introduction, tech issues, Art Bell dead

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]

Communicating Without Speaking (10:06)

• MIT Researchers Have Created a Bizarre Headset That Lets You Communicate Without Speaking 

Nutrition Pseudoscience (19:55)

• Wealthy Americans Are More Likely to Be Influenced by Nutrition Pseudoscience 

Rare Earths (26:11)

• Global trove of rare earth metals found in Japan's deep-sea mud

Eating Plastic (33:26)

• Recycling hope for plastic-hungry enzyme 

Who's That Noisy? (47:33)

Answer to previous Noisy:

Slowed-down quote from the Bible, famously stated by Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction

Noisy from 665 (53:00)

Answer to Noisy from Episode 665:

Two lynxes in a territorial dispute

New Noisy (56:38)

[Background scraping/crackling with foreground intermittent mechanical buzzing]

J: ... So, if you heard any cool Noisies this week, if you want to say hi, or if you want to guess at what the answer is, email me at WTN@theskepticsguide.org.

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups (57:51)

Question #1: Acidic Food

_consider_using_block_quotes_for_emails_read_aloud_in_this_segment_
with_reduced_spacing_for_long_chunks –

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Science or Fiction (1:03:10)

Item #1: Researchers have discovered how to make diamonds flexible and stretchy. Item #2: Engineers have developed a new technique for streaming video 10,000 times faster than the current best algorithms. Item #3: A new analysis finds that humans are responsible for a mass extinction of large mammals over the last 120 thousand years. * The shownotes page reuses the links referenced by episode 665's SOF items; these links had to be found/matched independently.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Streaming 10,000x faster
Science	Flexible, stretchy diamonds
Science	Cause of mass extinction

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Cara	Streaming 10,000x faster
Bob	Streaming 10,000x faster
Evan	Cause of mass extinction
Jay	Streaming 10,000x faster

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

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:25:09)

If a little kid ever asks you just why the sky is blue, you look him or her right in the eye and say, "It's because of quantum effects involving Rayleigh scattering combined with a lack of violet photon receptors in our retinae."  – Phil Plait (1964-present), "the Bad Astronomer" Phil discusses this quote in the article Meme, Myself, and Eyes: How to explain why the sky is blue

(Transcriptionist's note: Steve's comments line up well with scaffolding and Lev Vygotsky's zone of proximal development.)

Signoff/Announcements (1:28:17)

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