SGU Episode 92

This episode needs: transcription, time stamps, formatting, links, 'Today I Learned' list, categories, segment redirects. Please help out by contributing!

How to Contribute

SGU Episode 92
April 25th 2007
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 91                      SGU 93
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
R: Rebecca Watson
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
'Death is an engineering problem.'
Bart Kosko (Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic, 1994
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

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

News Items ()

Dr. Novella on The Debate Hour ()

• Dr. Novella appeared on The Debate Hour hosted by Reginald Finley - The Infidel Guy. He debated author Dr. Fred Baughman on the topic: Is Psychiatry Legitimate Science
  infidelguy.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=206165
  
  Dr. Novella's blog discussion of the topic: www.theness.com/neurologicablog/default.asp?Display=87
  

Astronomers Discover Most Earth-Like Planet So Far ()

• planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/news/superEarth.cfm
  

Pill for Genetic Diseases ()

• www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1690544.ece
  

EU Criminalizes Holocaust Denial -sort of ()

• www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/news/eu.php
  

Questions and E-mails ()

Bacterial Flagella Follow up ()

Steve,

Just listened to your podcast of 4/18 while working in my office. Great work, but I have a little nit to pick. The bacterial flagellum paper that you cited is apparently not so good and does not really show what it purports to show, thanks to problems using the BLAST algorithm. You may want to take a look at:

www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2007/04/flagellum_evolu_1.html
www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2007/04/update_on_pnas.html
www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2007/04/flagellum_evolu_3.html

Dave (AKA Orac)

Vitrification ()

I am curious about the claims of the alcor life extention foundation being able to preserve bodies in a cold process without freezing called vitrification. This works without actually freezing at the cellular level. This apparently is already being used for their members and they have over 80 members currently in stasis. Is this science or not? There faq can be found at www.alcor.org/FAQs/faq02.html.

Roy Huff
USA

Name That Logical Fallacy ()

• Logical Fallacies

Hi,

I find your podcasts really interesting and it's interesting to hear the 'rational' minded folks too. However I was disappointed with your podcast #89 where you trash everything that is not right off what the mainstream-media is telling you.

While you bash these 'celebrities' who speak out for 9/11 investigation, you don't notice that obviously you didn't research history really. It's a proven fact that governments have used false-flag operations to get their thing through. Hitler did it with the Reichstags-fire and blamed it on 'communist-terrorists' and then used it as a pretext to implement the enabling-act (which is basically the patriot-act that Bush-Nazi then created with the 9/11 event) and invaded Poland (where Bush then tried to associate 9/11 with Saddam Hussein and Iraq, WMD's).

See parallels?

Only that example already shows how much suspicion one should have when looking at this topic. You might also remember that grandfather Prescott Bush dealt with Hitler-Nazis back then, so how can you not think that these Bush-Nazis are corrupt up to their skull & bones. They already stole at least one election.

Regardless of the physics (steel melting or not, controlled demolition or not, etc.) look at what 9/11 has brought with it and who really benefitted from it: restriction of freedoms, patriot-acts, NSA-spying, Guantanamo Bay, torturing, detention without trial, private contractors in Iraq (Caci, Halliburton, etc.) who were responsible for a lot of the mess that happened at Abu-Ghraib and wasting tax-payers money, military-industrial-complex doing more business than ever, USA turning more and more into a police-state and other scandals over scandals.

How much more do you need it in front of your face? Obviously you don't notice how much business is involved in warfare and that not only Cheney's buddys at Halliburton profited but so many others in that military-industrial-complex.

You should really do your p

Science or Fiction ()

Question #1: China claims it will use weather control to ensure sunny days for its 2008 Olympic Games. Question #2: Researchers have discovered that by compressing water at the nano-scale it will behave as if it were metal. Question #3: Scientists have discovered a giant fossilized rainforest as big as a city in the middle of Illinois.

Skeptical Puzzle ()

This Week's Puzzle

It offers plenty of traction, yet barely moves at all
It offers a rosy view, yet may damage your sight
It offers a contrast in style, but don't let your head swell
You'll find your pockets may empty, in more ways than one

What is it?


Last Week's Puzzle

Audio puzzle

Answer: Dennis Lee
Winner: Ole Ivand

Quote of the Week ()

'Death is an engineering problem.'- Bart Kosko (Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic, 1994

S: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by the New England Skeptical Society in association with the James Randi Educational Foundation. For more information on this and other episodes, please visit our website at www.theskepticsguide.org. Please send us your questions, suggestions, and other feedback; you can use the "Contact Us" page on our website, or you can send us an email to info@theskepticsguide.org'. 'Theorem' is produced by Kineto and is used with permission.

References