SGU Episode 590
|
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 590 |
|---|
| October 29th 2016 |
 |
| (brief caption for the episode icon) |
| Skeptical Rogues |
| S: Steven Novella |
B: Bob Novella |
C: Cara Santa Maria |
J: Jay Novella |
E: Evan Bernstein |
| Quote of the Week |
People are often more willing to believe lies than the truth. Lies can be made to sound pleasant. The truth, by its very nature, isn’t always so attractive. |
Richard Rahl. From Terry Goodkind's The Third Kingdom |
| Links |
| Download Podcast |
| Show Notes |
| Forum Discussion |
Introduction
You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.
Forgotten Superheroes of Science ()
- David Young: Skeptical activist living in Hong Kong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpVQILPs3QM
News Items ()
Alien Signals ()
HIV Patient Zero ()
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/crispr-identifies-potential-gene-targets-to-hobble-hiv-infection/ http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/27/health/hiv-patient-zero-genetic-analysis.html?referer=
Expanding Universe ()
Mars Probe Crash ()
Who's That Noisy ()
- Answer to last week: Record player
Name That Logical Fallacy ()
Hi, today I was having an argument with a friend. I'll keep it brief but the basic gist is that he was using 'Being a rule implies that it is fair/just' in a certain context, I brought this logic to an extreme example (something about capital punishment) but he refused to back down and said that it was not fair to use his logic in that example because they weren't equal. I thought that I was using Reductio ad absurdum if I am not mistaken. I'm not really sure exactly what I'm asking but I wanted to know if there was a name for that he was doing ie believing that he could choose which contexts to apply his logic. Hopefully I wasn't doing anything wrong myself, if I was I'd love for you to point it out because I usually use that type of argument a lot. Thanks! Hayden Australia
Science or Fiction ()
Item #1: The modern tradition of “trick or treat” evolved out of older traditions of singing and dancing, or even praying for the dead, in exchange for treats. Item #2: It is illegal in several states of the US for shelters to sell all back cats around Halloween for fear they will be sacrificed in rituals. Item #3: The LD50 of sucrose is 29.7 g/kg, which translates to 1,627 pieces of candy corn for an 82kg (180 pound) adult. Item #4: Halloween originated as the Celtic festival of Samhain (sow-in), which celebrated the end of the year and the beginning of the long winter.
Skeptical Quote of the Week ()
'People are often more willing to believe lies than the truth. Lies can be made to sound pleasant. The truth, by its very nature, isn’t always so attractive.' Richard Rahl. From Terry Goodkind's The Third Kingdom. The Sword of Truth is a series of seventeen epic fantasy novels written by Terry Goodkind.
S: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information on this and other episodes, please visit our website at theskepticsguide.org, where you will find the show notes as well as links to our blogs, videos, online forum, and other content. You can send us feedback or questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. Also, please consider supporting the SGU by visiting the store page on our website, where you will find merchandise, premium content, and subscription information. Our listeners are what make SGU possible.
References
|
|
|