SGU Episode 977

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SGU Episode 977
March 30th 2024
"Iridology: Unlocking genetic clues through the eye. Can analyzing the iris and pupil of the eye see illnesses in the body?"
SGU 976                      SGU 978
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
The shameful thing is not ignorance — on the contrary, that is the natural thing. The really shameful thing is not to want to know, to resist finding out when the occasion offers. It is never the ignorant who offer that resistance, but the ones who think they know. That is the shameful thing — to think you know. He who thinks he knows something, but is in fact ignorant of it, closes the door of his mind through which authentic truth could enter.
José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Bob in Alaska

Voice-over: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

Special Segment: AI-created music (1:36)

• Make a song about anything
   (Note: this article is not from the SGU show notes page)

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

(laughs) (laughter) (applause) [inaudible]

Sweetened Drinks and Atrial Fibrillation (14:24)

• Sweetened Drinks and Risk of A-Fib

One Degree (28:52)

• How much difference can one degree of warming make?

Birth Control Misinformation (38:57)

• Women are getting off birth control amid misinformation explosion

Iridology (54:47)

• Iridology: Using alternative medicine to unlock genetic clues through the eye 

Who's That Noisy? (1:03:30)

Answer to previous Noisy:

melting snow sliding off vinyl carport

New Noisy (1:06:57)

[deep musical warbling and pulsating, with light background percussion ]

this week's Noisy

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups

Email #2: Positive Thinking (1:13:07)

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Science or Fiction (1:22:41)

Theme: Power & Energy News Items Item #1: Researchers have developed an implantable battery that is powered by oxygen in the body and capable of producing continuous electricity at 1.3 V. Item #2: Toyota reports its latest hydrogen fuel cell car will average 845 miles on a single tank of hydrogen. Item #3: Engineers have created flexible perovskite solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 25%, and maintaining 90% of this efficiency after 10,000 bending cycles.

Answer	Item
Fiction	FCEV 845mi on a single tank
Science	Implantable battery
Science	Flexible perovskite solar cells

Host	Result
Steve	sweep

Rogue	Guess
Evan	Implantable battery
Cara	Flexible perovskite solar cells
Jay	Flexible perovskite solar cells

Voice-over: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Evan's Response

Cara's Response

Jay's Response

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:43:07)

The shameful thing is not ignorance — on the contrary, that is the natural thing. The really shameful thing is not to want to know, to resist finding out when the occasion offers. It is never the ignorant who offer that resistance, but the ones who think they know. That is the shameful thing — to think you know. He who thinks he knows something, but is in fact ignorant of it, closes the door of his mind through which authentic truth could enter.  – José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), Spanish philosopher and essayist

Signoff

S: —and until next week, this is your Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

S: Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information, visit us at theskepticsguide.org. Send your questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. And, if you would like to support the show and all the work that we do, go to patreon.com/SkepticsGuide and consider becoming a patron and becoming part of the SGU community. Our listeners and supporters are what make SGU possible.

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Today I Learned

• Fact/Description, possibly with an article reference
• Fact/Description
• Fact/Description

References