SGU Episode 939

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SGU Episode 939
July 8th 2023
"A recent study offered the “oldest decisive evidence” that our ancient hominid ancestors ate one another. But the field has a long history of overstating such claims, other scientists note."
SGU 938                      SGU 940
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.
Publilius Syrus, Latin writer from Antioch
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Hottest day, Meaning of life

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

Quickie with Bob (11:55)

• [url_from_show_notes _article_title_]
   (Note: this article is not from the SGU show notes page)

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Activity Good for Quality of Life (15:19)

• Older adults who remain more active have a better quality of life, study finds

Hominid Cannibals (25:19)

• Cannibalism, or 'Clickbait' for Paleoanthropology? 

Aspartame and Cancer (33:53)

• Aspartame and Cancer

FAA Approves Flying Car (46:52)

• A flying car prototype just got an airworthiness certificate from the FAA

_evan_refers_to_episode_from_the_future_

Neutrino Image of Milky Way (1:04:12)

• IceCube detects high-energy neutrinos from within the Milky Way

Who's That Noisy? (1:13:01)

Answer to previous Noisy:

Cincinnati Zoo's Little penguin "Cookie" being tickled

New Noisy (1:15:51)

[_short_vague_description_of_Noisy]

... what that noisy is

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups

Followup #2: Canada's forest management (1:28:19)

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Science or Fiction (1:32:58)

Item #1: A recent review of data finds that maternal mortality rate more than doubled in the US between 1999 and 2019 in every racial and ethnic group. Item #2: Astronomers observing distant quasars find that time in the early universe flowed 5 times slower than it does today. Item #3: A study involving bacterial cells with a minimized genome, in which every gene is deemed essential, revealed a dramatically reduced rate of evolutionary adaptation to stressed environments.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Cells w/ minimized genome
Science	US maternal mortality rate
Science	Universe flowed 5x slower

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Jay	US maternal mortality rate
Evan	Cells w/ minimized genome
Cara	US maternal mortality rate
Bob	Cells w/ minimized genome

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

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:50:35)

It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.  – Publilius Syrus (85–43 BC), Latin writer from Antioch

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