SGU Episode 399

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SGU Episode 399
9th March 2013
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 398                      SGU 400
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
R: Rebecca Watson
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
GH: George Hrab
Quote of the Week
Neither evolution nor creation qualifies as a scientific theory.
Duane Gish
Links
Download Podcast
SGU Podcast archive
Forum Discussion

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Introduction

You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

S: Hello and welcome to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. Today March 6, 2013, and this is your host Steven Novella. Joining me this week are Bob Novella,

B: Hey, everybody.

S: Jay Novella,

J: 400!

S: Evan Bernstein,

E: Good evening, everyone.

S: And we have a special guest rogue with us this evening, George Hrab. George, welcome back.

GH: This isn't The Price is Right! Jay, you lied to me. (laughter)

E: What else is new?

J: No, but this is our 400th!

S: No, it's not, Jay. Next week is our 400th episode.

GH: 399!

J: 399!

E: 399! And that's a bargain.

S: We're not round number bigots here, anyway. That's all superstitious nonsense.

GH: Roundists. You're all roundists.

S: So, Rebecca's voice is still recovering from whatever infection she had. So she is again not with us this week. But George will be taking her place and speaking in falsetto the entire show.

GH: (starting high pitched, dropping to low) Y-e-e-e-s. I'm so skeptical. (normal voice) It's not a Rebecca impression. It's not a Rebecca impression at all. (laughter) We got that. All right. Good.

J: So we were just talking before the show, like, saying hi to George and everything, and it occurred to me I wanted to ask George this question. George, ever listening, you ever listen to a podcast—

GH: (in a Russian accent) Ever listenink to (unintelligible) Oh, sorry. Go ahead. So, have I ever listened to what?

J: Has this ever happened where you're listening to a show that you've recorded, and somebody says your name in the podcast, and you answer them in real time? Like, it just happened to me two days ago. I was listening to one of our shows, and Steve says "So, Jay," and I actually go "Yeah." I'm like wh-o-o-o-a. He's not in the car with me! I'm not on the phone with him. I'm hearing him in the podcast.

GH: I don't listen to my show 'cause I don't really like my show.

S: Yeah.

GH: But sound effects that I've done before have scared the hell out of me. I'll forget that I inserted an airplane or something, and it'll scare the crap out of me. (laughter) Or like a doorbell sound or something, yeah. But I don't actually, because I'm the only person on my show, for me to respond to myself as if I was actually talking to myself, I think would be indicative of something really scary and awesome.

J: All right, that is a good point.

GH: But, I respond to (two people talking – undecipherable) And if I listen to this show, I'll make sure that every time you say "Hey, George" no matter where I am, I'll say "What? Oh, damn!" (laughter) What? Oh, damn!

E: With a head turn, right?

(two people talking—inaudible – something about Scooby-Doo)

GH: (imitating Scooby) Erh?

B: Scooby snack.

S: Hey George!

GH: Erh?

This Day in Skepticism (2:45)

March 9, 1851: Hans Christian Ørsted died. Ørsted was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered current traveling along a wire could deflect a compass needle.

S: Evan is gonna tell us about this day in skepticism.

E: All right. So, March 9, and the year was 1851. Now, we all know who Hans Christian Ørsted was

B: (singing) Hans Christian Ørsted.

J: I have no idea who he is.

E: Well, he was a Danish. Oh, I'm sorry, wait, he was a Danish physicist

S: And delicious.

GH: I sing.

E: Who made a discovery. He discovered that an electric current in a wire causes a nearby magnetized compass needle to deflect, indicating the electric current in a wire induces a magnetic field around it.

B: That is awesome.

J: That is awesome.

B: You could just retire after making that discovery. I'm done. I've made my contribution.

E: A little electro-magnetic theory for you, then?

B: Oh, my god.

GH: Yeah, but how do you monotize that. I mean, that's the problem. What d'ya do with that? What kind of invention could that possibly lead to? (people talking simultaneously)

B: It's just a laboratory curiosity. Nothing to see here.

GH: That's right.

J: It took like a hundred years for them to slap one of those suckers in a bracelet. (laughter)

GH: And then you get the real money.

E: A bracelet made of, perhaps, aluminum. Hey! Speaking of aluminum

S: Yeah, so

E and B: Aluminium.

S: Ørsted also was the first one to produce metallic aluminum. Do you guys know how common—

B: As opposed to rubber aluminum?

S: No, as opposed an aluminum oxide or aluminum silicate. So, aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust. And I know you guys all know that

E: The third most?

B: I used to know that, yes.

S: After oxygen and silicon, which is why there's lots of aluminum oxides and aluminum silicate. And he figured out how to make metallic aluminum. Although it was up to later chemists to figure out how to really industrialize that process. If you recall, we talked about the fact that when aluminum was first available as a metal, it was more expensive than gold.

B: I recall nothing.

S: It was considered a rare and exotic metal and things made out of aluminum were like a status symbol. But then later chemists figured out how to make massive quantities of it, just from dirt, basically, and, you know, from bauxites, specifically.

J: Did these scientists like cash in at that moment? Like, okay, I figured out how to make it, it's everywhere.

E: Let's sell it now.

J: Yeah, did somebody become a trillionaire for like the first three years or what happened?

S: American Aluminum, you know, I think was the company that became very wealthy mass producing aluminum. And the price went from hundreds of dollars an ounce to pennies a pound.

J: Oof.

GH: See, Alcoa shouldn't have waited.

S: Yeah, Alcoa, that's it.

E: Bad investment.

J: Guess I shouldn't have invested in that company early on.

S: Well, you shouldn't have invested in aluminum. The company did quite well, actually. Now, did you also know that Hans Christian Ørsted was a very close friend of Hans Christian Andersen.

B: Seriously?

J: That's what I was gonna say.

GH: No way.

J: Yeah, and I actually don't know exactly who Hans Christian Andersen is or was. What's his deal? Who's that guy?

B: Come on, Jay.

E: He wrote stories.

B: It's Danny Kaye!

E: That's right. Danny Kaye. He wrote Thumbelina,

GH: The Little Mermaid.

J: Did he sing The Little Mermaid?

GH: I think he played the crab in the movie, actually. (laughter) Oh, aluminum.

S: He wrote famous fairy tales. But, so, how did these guys meet? Like at a Hans Christian organization or something?

E: Convention?

B: I know. Famous People Named Hans Christian.

GH: That was a Facebook page, wasn't it? (laughter)

S: Did they get each other's mail, or what happened?

J: My money's on the fact that maybe like half the population is just named Hans Christian something.

S: Maybe.

B: I think it's a coincidence.

E: And March 9, 1851, was the day that we lost Hans Ørsted. Hans Christian Ørsted. So, we mourned Hans Christian Ørsted on this day. But thank you so much for all that electro-magnetism. It is doing us wonders these days.

S: And aluminum. Yep.

E: Yeah, that too.

S: So George, before we go on to news items, what's new with you?

GH: What's new? Goodness. Uh, what isn't? Actually, it's a short list. The newest thing is a number of you rogues were at the 21812 concert that happened last year.

B: Yes! Loved it!

GH: We are furiously, furiously editing and putting together what looks to be just an incredible DVD of that performance, which is audio mixing. I was at Slau's yesterday, as a matter of fact. So the audio mixing is done. A monumental effort, and now the video is being edited, and there's gonna be commentary and a documentary and it's gonna be really, really fantastic. So that is the thing which is occupying the most frontal part of my frontal creative lobe right now, is the 21812 concert.

B: It only took you a year!

J: When's it coming out?

GH: I know, I know, I know, I know. Weeks. Months? Weeks. Well, I guess months are made up of weeks, so I'm not lying in either direction. But, weeks.

S: As long as it's more than one month, right.

GH: Hmm? Right.

News Items

HIV Cure (7:49)

Neurologica: HIV Cure "Game Changer"

Mars Comet (24:49)

Newly Discovered Comet May Hit Mars: Watch for Two Others Near Earth

Sirius UFO (35:31)

YouTube: Dr.Steven Greer - Sirius Documentary (Trailer) - New Movie Coming Soon ! 2012

Who's That Noisy? (47:08)

Answer to last week: STS 1

A man from Ukraine had three sons. The first son was named Rab, and he became a lawyer. The second son was named Ymra, and he became a soldier. The 3rd son became a sailor, so what was his name?

Questions and Emails

Question 1: Magnet Hill (50:26)

Dear Skeptic Rogues, I am a Software Engineer originally from Dominican Republic, I have been a listener of the show since 2010, and every week I am looking forward to a new SGU chapter. When I was a kid (I am 28) back in DR, a journalist made an investigation about a "Magnetic Pole" in one remote corner of the country, Barahona, in the south east of the island. It always puzzle me.The place looks like a hill, however, everything you place in the ground "rolls" in the opposite direction, uphill. All objects, no matter what material they are, the are pulled upwards.You can look at dozens of videos in youtube by searching the string "polo magnetico barahona" (Magnetic Pole Barahona)The common and most simple explanation is that the place is an optical illusion. Is not that I do not believe it, I do not understand it.I have been looking for explanations, but none of them satisfy my curiosity. In my little research, I did't find any other place where this phenomena is happening. If you find an explanation to this phenomena I will appreciate it. Thanks in advance for your kind responses!

Jonathan Nonon

New York

Question 2: Tourette (56:27)

I was recently in a discussion about Tourette Syndrome and, to get to get quickly to the point, minor forms of said syndrome. It was my assertion that minor forms where more akin to compulsion or in more extreme cases OCD, and that Tourette was specifically an extreme. I remember you touching shortly on this on the SGU and searched your Blogs to see if you had written anything more in depth, to no avail. I was hoping that you could give me a short rundown on the "mechanics" to help me better understand what is going on with this phenomenon. If you would like to answer on the air I would be honored, but a small Email response is really all I am after here. Faithful listener, keep up the good work, etc.
Woody

Science or Fiction (1:06:04)

Item #1: Greater than 60% of upstream traffic is comprised of torrent files, while Netflix by itself represents 1/3 of peak download traffic. Item #2: Amazon.com benefitted from the popularity of the Yahoo search engine, which listed search results alphabetically. Item #3: North America has the highest internet penetration at 78.6%, while Africa has the lowest at 15.6%. Item #4: In 1999 Congressman Peter Schnell proposed House Bill 602P allowing the US postal service to charge a 5cent surcharge for each e-mail sent. The bill died in response to public outrage.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:22:01)

Neither evolution nor creation qualifies as a scientific theory.

Duane Gish

References