SGU Episode 74

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 is Wednesday December 20, 2006, and this is your host, Steven Novella, president of the. Joining me this evening are Bob Novella...

B: Happy last day of fall, everyone.

S: Perry DeAngelis...

P: In his glorious return, finally back... oh, this is my second show.

S: Evan Bernstein...

E: Well, hello, everybody.

S: Rebecca Watson...

R: Hi, everybody.

S: And Jay Novella.

J: (English accent) Top drawer, folks. Top drawer.

S: So, astute listeners may have realized that we have a full boat tonight. This is the first time we've had all six rogues on the show at the same time.

P: It's like a Christmas special!

S: (laughs) It's a holiday miracle is what it is.

E: It is.

R: I can't wait 'til shows up.

(laughter)

J: So, the reason why we've never all been on before is that just released a patch that allows us to have more than five people on at once.

P: Right.

S: Upped the limit to nine. Tomorrow, as Bob alluded, is the first day of winter, the winter solstice for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. And for our listeners in the Southern Hemisphere, it's the first day of summer. It's better to be in the Southern Hemisphere.

P: How 'bout that.

E: Yeah. Wish we were there.

R: It's a&mdash;it's an optimistic day because that's when the days start getting longer again.

S: Yes, it's the return of light, which is why there's a lot of holiday celebrations this time of year.

P: How does the sun know?

S: Although, ironically&mdash;

P: Is the sun closer or farther away in the winter?

E: We're closer to the sun in the winter.

P: Heyyyyy, very good.

B: About three million miles, I think.

R: You can't fool these guys.

P: The difference in temperature, by the way, has to do with the angle of the sun, not nearness or farness.

B: Very good; very good, Perry.

E: Angle of the earth.

S: You've mastered grade-school science. Great.

R: Awww.

P: Thank you.

J: Somebody get Perry an extra cookie.

P: I never claimed to have gotten beyond grade school. I don't think it's a reason to belittle me.

Remembering Carl Sagan (2:06)

 * Today is the 10 year anniversary of Carl Sagan's death. www.carlsagan.com/

Some recent Sylvia Browne gaffes: (10:12)

 * www.break.com/index/sylvia_brown_worlds_worst_psychic.html www.stopsylviabrowne.com/home/

Study shows vegetarians have higher IQ's (24:46)

 * news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6180753.stm

Santa Claus (31:06)
"Hi, With the upcoming holiday season, I'm running into a problem at home. The more I think about it, the more I do not want my child to 'believe' in Santa Claus. She is only a year and a half old, so it is not a big issue this year, but it will be next year. When I mentioned to my wife that I would like Skyla (my daughter) to know the truth about Santa, she started crying and bringing up all those wonderful memories of her parents lying to her. What is the reasonable thing to do here? Is there a middle ground we can take? Any suggestions. By the way, 'The skeptics guide to the universe' is by far my favorite podcast of all. Keep up the good work. Arno van Werven Dania, Florida, USA   And   Hello! Thank-you for your show! SGU is by far my favorite podcast.I take great satisifaction in overpowering a station labeled as 'RELIGUS' on my car radio's LCD display with my i-pod's FM transmitter while listening to your show. My question is as follows: Both my wife and I are skeptics and extremely agnostic. However, we do enjoy celebrating the holidays in a very secular sense; i.e. setting up a tree, exchanging gifts, playing holiday music, lighting the menorah etc. We have 4 wonderful children who we have lead on to believe in Santa Claus. Being skeptical by nature I admittedly have mixed feelings about this. Our rational is that it was fun for us to believe as kids ourselves. For myself I might also argue that learning of the non-existance of SC began my road from religiousity/gulibility to skepticism. I am not really out to have my mind changed but would LOVE to hear some skeptical opinions on the subject of Santa Claus and kids. Thanks and keep up the good work! Michael Bukowski-Thall DVM Maine USA"

Facilitated Communication (38:45)
"Dear Dr. Novella, First of all I have to thank-you for the amazingly prompt reply to my last e-mail, suffice it to say - you made my day! The podcasts are still fantastic, keep up the good work. I do have a question considering autism or more specifically 'facilitated communication' as I recently saw a CNN special about said topic and I was surprised to see no skeptical rebuttal at all which confused me as I remember reading a debunking on the SWIFT commentary. What's the deal here? Or more specifically my question is - is facilitated communication real or not? I think this would make a good topic for your show. Warmest Regards, Mike Kozlowskyj Ontario, Canada   American Psychological Association position paper on FC: www.apa.org/about/division/cpmscientific.html#4  Martin Gardener article on FC: www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_25/ai_68966515"

Randi Speaks (48:26)

 * The Uncompromising Observations of a Veteran Skeptic Each week James Randi gives a skeptical commentary in his own unique style.  This week's topic: Special Expertise

Science or Fiction (53:36)
Question #1: Study finds that women who eat dairy are 5 times as likely to miscarry as women on a vegan diet. Question #2: Scientists successfully test a vaccine against obesity in rats. Question #3: Scientists study the effects of antimatter as a cancer fighting tool.

Skeptical Puzzle (1:03:51)
"Last Week's puzzle If I have 3 items that are multicolored, 5 that are black and white, and 2 that are red, black and white, what do I have? Answer: An original deck of Rorschach cards  This Week's puzzle  He was born in a creek And he died in a different creek As a boy, he'd appear to make furniture tip over and instruments rise off the ground As a young man, he took his abilities about and abroad His slate of feats stunned the US crowds, and European heads of states He often spoke with his wife, especially when she wasn't around He drew the applause and accolades of scientists such as Alfred Russell Wallace And he drew jeers and accusations form the likes of Charles Darwin He stood trial, he was found guilty of fraud, yet he escaped prison time He was once a millionaire, but he died broken and penniless His death bed confession spoke volumes beyond his paupers grave He was in fact, a fake. Who was he?"

Quote of the Week (1:08:30)
"'The method of science, as stodgy and grumpy as it may seem, is far more important than the findings of science.'- Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World'In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.'- Carl Sagan, 1987 CSICOP Keynote Address"

Today I Learned...

 * This is the first episode in which all six rogues (Steve, Bob, Jay, Rebecca, Evan, and Perry) take part. In previous episodes, only five could participate at once because of a limitation in Skype's group calling.