SGU Episode 50

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SGU Episode 50
July 5th 2006
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 49                      SGU 51
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
P: Perry DeAngelis
Guest
GP: Gerald Posner, American investigative journalist
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

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, July 5th 2006. This is your host, Steven Novella, president of the New England Skeptical Society. Joining me this evening are...Bob Novella.

B: Good evening everyone.

S: ... Even Bernstein ...

E: Hello to my friends on planet Earth.

S: ... Perry DeAngelis ...

P: Good evening.

S: ... and Jay Novella ...

J: Hey guys, good to be here.

S: We have an all-testosterone show this week, which is the first time in quite a wile actually.

J: All-male-review.

S: Since Rebecca joined the crew. Rebecca is in Europe this week... and we couldn't get her onto the show from Europe, although she's actually going to be in Europe next week but promised she will try to get on the show next week so we will see. She says she can get access to the internet in England but not where she is now, where I think is in France.

P: We technically can barely get her on from Boston.

S: (laughs) That's true.

P: Be interesting to see if we can get her from Europe.

S: So it shouldn't really matter.

B: So this is our fiftieth podcast.

S: Yes. It is a bit of a milestone, this is number fifty, big five-oh. It seems like only a year ago we started doing this.

E: (laughs) At least, and thank you all of the listeners who have helped make this podcast very successful today.

J: Aboslutely.

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Secondhand smoke warning (1:50)

• Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, warns against secondhand smoke
• Another article on secondhand smoke: Secondhand Smoke Study Raises Ire

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups

Email #1: Binaural beats (11:08)

Dear Skeptics, I am working my way through your podcasts; if you have covered this, I apologize. Clearly I have forgotten my critical thinking courses I took in college. There is a subject called "Binaural beats." Though it sounds wonderful, that is just it: it sounds wonderful. Rather than try to describe and misrepresent it, I will defer to the plethora of info out there. If you Google it, there are a couple of other names for it too. Here are a couple of links:

http://web-us.com/thescience.htm http://www.pzizz.com http://www.centerpointe.com/

– Christopher Lund, United Social Agnostics

Email #2: Aubrey de Grey (16:21)

I have a suggestion for a topic. There is scientist by the name of Aubrey de Grey. His shtick is proclaiming that through the application of science we can extend human life by several thousand years. His ideas are an amalgam of nano-technology, molecular biology, biomechanics, etc. He seems like such a nut that it amazes me that anyone takes him seriously. And yet, he seems to be routinely written up in popular magazines such as Technology Review (MIT) and Fortune. I do not know whether you would call what he preaches pseudo-science; he is different from your run of the mill crackpot. But his ideas are so out there that he seems nuts. And yet, as I mentioned, he gets a lot of popular press. Anyway, I enjoy your podcast, and I think the ideas discussed are quite valuable.

– Regards,
Mike Fattori

Review articles: http://www.technologyreview.com/sens/

Interview with Gerald Posner (24:34)

• Investigative journalist and author, Gerald Posner, has written some of the definitive histories of recent epic events in American history. Posner was educated at the University of California at Berkeley (1975) and Hastings Law School (1978).

His books include:

Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK (1993)

Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998)

Why America Slept: the Failure to Prevent 9/11 (2003)

Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi-U.S. Connection (2005)

Science or Fiction (1:09:30)

Answer	Item
Fiction	Aluminum foil hat
Science	Brain repair
Science	Gum disease & atheromas

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Evan	Aluminum foil hat
Jay	Brain repair
Perry	Aluminum foil hat
Bob	Aluminum foil hat

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

Theme: Neurobiology Item #1: New study shows that wearing a hat or helmet lined with aluminum foil reduces the frequency of seizures in certain epileptics. Item #2: New study shows a link between gum disease and carotid atheromas (a significant risk for stroke). Item #3: Man recovers from 19 year coma with evidence of brain repair and regrowth.

Skeptical Puzzle (1:18:28)

Last Week's puzzle:

In the old game show, Let's Make A Deal, contestants were asked to pick which of three doors they thought contained a valuable prize. Once the contestant picked a door, the host, Monty Hall, would often open one of the two doors not chosen and then ask the contestant if they would like to change their pick to the other door left unopened. The question is, should a contestant stick with their original choice, change to the other door, or there is no difference statistically?

Answer: The contestant should change her pick to the other door. If she sticks with her first pick her chances of winning is 1/3, if she changes her pick her chances of winning is 2/3.

New Puzzle (1:21:57)

Name the medical pseudoscience that, although now is thoroughly disproved and rejected by mainstream science, at its inception was on the correct side of a major scientific debate of the time.

Signoff/Announcements (1:22:51)

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

S: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by the New England Skeptical Society. For information on this and other podcasts, 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.

Today I Learned

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

References

Vocabulary