SGU Episode 297

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

This Day in Skepticism

 * March 26 - 1997: Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.

Meier Earthquake Non-prediction

 * http://theyflyblog.com/stunning-meier%E2%80%99s-prediction-of-the-japanese-earthquake/03/17/2011

Swarm Robots

 * http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-honey-bee-strategy-robot-swarms.html

Sexual Preference

 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12825688

Pre-Biotic Chemistry

 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12813081

Science Fact vs Fiction

 * http://www.birminghamsciencecity.co.uk/news/time-to-turn-on-the-tardis/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12758575

Who's That Noisy

 * Answer to last week: Steve Wozniak

Question #1 - Radiation Hormesis
"This was published in the conservative media. It seems likely that this is a horrid case of cherry picking and distortion but I would like to know you opinion, any merit to this viewpoint? http://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2011/03/16/a_glowing_report_on_radiation Michael Michalchik California"

Question #2 - Overunity Claims
"My uncle recently sent me a you tube link about Doug Konzen. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHpikCPKPiE). I agree with my uncle that he's definitely a wack-job. He's claiming that his 'unity pulse motor' is over 100% efficient. Now, I just took thermodynamics last fall and know from my studies that this is an impossibility. I'm sure there is more than one way to tackle this one. However, If you guys have the time could you tell me why this guy's a fraud by using electron flow as your central method? thanks, Philip Guilford FL btw. thanks for making a southern kid feel better about the world, down here there isn't much light..."

Science or Fiction
Item #1: Male genital amputation is an adaptive strategy, according to findings recently published by biologists from the Smithsonian and the National University of Singapore. Item #2: A team of geologists have just launched an expedition off the coast of Costa Rica where they plan to be the first to drill into the 'Moho discontinuity', the upper boundary of Earth's mantle. Item #3: The Oxford English Dictionary has traced the origin of the initialism OMG, which means Oh My God, to a 1917 letter from a British Admiral, who wrote ' I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the table—O.M.G.' Item #4: Archaeologists in Brazil have discovered a saber-toothed vegetarian dinosaur.

Skeptical Quote of the Week
"'Galileo was a man of science oppressed by the irrational and superstitious. Today, he is used by the irrational and the superstitious who say they are being oppressed by science. So 1984.' - Mark Crislip"