SGU Episode 972

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SGU Episode 972
February 24th 2024
"The subsurface ocean of Titan is most likely a non-habitable environment, meaning any hope of finding life in the icy world is dead in the water."
SGU 971                      SGU 973
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
CS: Chris Smith, British virologist, science radio broadcaster and writer
Quote of the Week
The spirit of Plato dies hard. We have been unable to escape the philosophical tradition that what we can see and measure in the real world is merely the superficial and imperfect representation of an underlying reality.
Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Eclipse 2024 reminders

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]

Pesticides in Oats (9:07)

• Pesticide in Oat Products – Should You Worry? 

...micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg)...

AI Video (21:36)

• Sora is an AI model that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions. 

University Rankings Flawed (36:56)

• University rankings are unscientific and bad for education: experts point out the flaws 

Mewing and Looksmaxxing (47:15)

• From bone smashing to chin extensions: how ‘looksmaxxing’ is reshaping young men’s faces 

Titan Uninhabitable (58:39)

• Saturn's largest moon most likely uninhabitable 

B:...unladen African elephant...

Who's That Noisy? (1:11:51)

Answer to previous Noisy:

Trying to create an echo effect using a reel-to-reel tape machine

New Noisy (1:16:39)

[Wisps, clicks, and bell-like dings]

J:... this week's Noisy...

Announcements (1:17:16)

J: _jay_mentions_Live_1000th_show_from_Chicago_

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Interview with Chris Smith (1:18:57)

• From Wikipedia: Chris Smith - "the Naked Scientist" - is a British consultant virologist and a lecturer based at Cambridge University. He is also a science radio broadcaster and writer, and presents The Naked Scientists, a programme which he founded in 2001, for BBC Radio and other networks internationally, as well as 5 live Science on BBC Radio 5 Live.
• The Naked Scientists: Meet the team

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Science or Fiction (1:49:58)

Theme: Eclipses Item #1: All four gas giants in our solar system experience total solar eclipses, from the perspective of their gassy surfaces. Item #2: On average, any spot on Earth will see a total solar eclipse every 375 years. Item #3: The first recorded accurate prediction of a solar eclipse was in 2300 BC, by Chinese astronomer, Li Shu, for Emporer Zhong Kang.

Answer	Item
Fiction	First recorded prediction
Science	Gas giants' total eclipses
Science	Total eclipse every 375y

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Jay	Total eclipse every 375y
Cara	First recorded prediction
Bob	First recorded prediction
Evan	First recorded prediction

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

Jay's Response

Cara's Response

Bob's Response

Evan's Response

Skeptical Quote of the Week (2:02:53)

The spirit of Plato dies hard. We have been unable to escape the philosophical tradition that what we can see and measure in the real world is merely the superficial and imperfect representation of an underlying reality.  – Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science, from his book The Mismeasure of Man, page 269

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