SGU Episode 213

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

Battery Update

 * http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/814/1

Super Planetary Nebulae

 * http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814101833.htm

Adopt a Star

 * http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17622-stars-put-up-for-adoption-to-fund-exoplanet-research.html

UFO Spikes

 * http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.7dc137c08d972555bef6dfd9a7353bb0.401&show_article=1

Science Headline of the Week

 * Blue tits embrace aromatherapy: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8199000/8199726.stm

Question # 1 - Aquatic Ape
"Hi SGU, Love the show. My only complaint is that it only comes out once a week! I was wondering what you all thought about the aquatic ape theory - the theory that humans in their past have an ancestor that spent time in the water as a way to explain our subcutaneous fat layer, our hairlessness, our ability to control our breathing, etc. all of which differentiate us from other apes. Is it pseudoscience? If not, why doesn't it have broader acceptance and/or inquiry? Thanks, Coire (pronounced like 'Cory') ____________ Scientific Aquatic Ape Resource: http://www.aquaticape.org/"

Question # 2 - Caffeine Tolerance
"I was hoping that Steve could clear up a discussion some fellow skeptics and I were having on twitter. Can you build up an immunity to caffeine over time? I am 23 and have been drinking coffee/tea for 10 years and I now don't have any trouble getting to sleep after having a late night coffee, whereas when I was younger I could have considerable trouble. Is this just a factor of age or a build up of resistance to the affects? Cheers, Rhiannon McKeon Sydney P.S Why is American coffee so bitter compared to the superior Australian baristas product?"

Science or Fiction
Item # 1: A new report in Cancer Research indicates that US cancer death rates have increased in the last decade. Item # 2: A survey of 1000 low income children aged 11-16 found that 25% have been sexually active, beginning at an average age of 12, and as young as 8. Item # 3: A new study finds that cannabinoids, active ingredients in marijuana, can prolong and exacerbate chronic pain.

Who's That Noisy

 * Answer to last week: Dara O'Briain

Quote of the Week
"There is no other species on Earth that does science. It is, so far, entirely a human invention, evolved by natural selection in the cerebral cortex for one simple reason: it works. It is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything. - Carl Sagan"