SGU Episode 943

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SGU Episode 943
August 5th 2023
"A new species of early whale might be the heaviest animal which has ever lived. While its exact weight is debatable, its unusual bones mean scientists can be certain it was no ordinary cetacean."
SGU 942                      SGU 944
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
Insofar as a scientific statement speaks about reality, it must be falsifiable; and insofar as it is not falsifiable, it does not speak about reality.
Karl Popper, Austrian-British philosopher
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Florida DOE bans AP Psych; politicizing public education

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

What's the Word? (13:13)

• Mereology

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Glass-Coated DNA (17:15)

• Glass-coated DNA is 4x stronger but 5x less dense than steel

Why Heat is Deadly? (27:01)

• Why Extreme Heat Is So Deadly

Australian Psychics (44:41)

• 'I am the postal service person of the spirit world': Psychic says he's Australia's best

Speech Deepfakes (54:19)

• Study shows speech deepfakes frequently fool people, even after training on how to detect them

Special Report: Electric Vehicle Myths (1:01:47)

E: ... _text_of_Evan_mentioning_Amprius_CEO_interview_

Quickie with Bob (1:27:11)

• New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever
   (Note: this Neurologica article is not from the SGU show notes page, but obviously suffices here)

Who's That Noisy? (1:30:39)

Answer to previous Noisy:

Bald eagles chittering

New Noisy (1:33:47)

[Mechanical beeps]

J: ... what this week's Noisy is ...

Announcements (1:34:34)

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Science or Fiction (1:39:37)

Theme: Volcanos Item #1: About 30% of the world's population live under potential threat from volcanic activity. Item #2: The Pacific Ring of Fire contains 75% of the world's volcanoes and is the location of 90% of all earthquakes. Item #3: The largest recorded volcanic eruption was Mount Tambora in Indonesia, which killed about 100,000 people, and rated a VEI-7 out of 8 on the Volcanic explosivity index.

Answer	Item
Fiction	30% under potential threat
Science	Ring of Fire volcanos, quakes
Science	Mount Tambora eruption

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Bob	Ring of Fire volcanos, quakes
Evan	30% under potential threat
Jay	30% under potential threat
Cara	30% under potential threat

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

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:50:16)

Insofar as a scientific statement speaks about reality, it must be falsifiable; and insofar as it is not falsifiable, it does not speak about reality.  – Karl Popper (1902-1994), Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator

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

Vocabulary