SGU Episode 949

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SGU Episode 949
September 16th 2023
Sci-fi futuristic robot Artist: Pickgameru
SGU 948                      SGU 950
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guest
CH: Christian Hubicki, professor of Robotics
Quote of the Week
Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today – but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.
Isaac Asimov, American writer
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Guest Rogue

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

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

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

Exploding Batteries to Deorbit Satellites (49:10)

• Using Lithium-Ion Battery Explosions to Deorbit Satellites

Dark Stars (58:10)

• JWST Might Have Spotted the First Dark Matter Stars

AI Drone Racing (1:08:15)

• Champion-level drone racing using deep reinforcement learning

Settling Mars (1:16:59)

• Just 22 people are needed to colonize Mars — as long as they are the right personality type, study claims

Stress Patches (1:27:32)

• Is Meghan Markle's stress patch legit? Here's what experts say.

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Science or Fiction (1:32:39)

Theme: Robotics Item #1: According to the International Federation of Robotics, in 2023 there are 35 million industrial robots, and 43 million service robots worldwide.*  Item #2: The first robot-assisted surgery was in Vancouver in 1984, with the Arthrobot, which assisted in arthroscopic procedures. Item #3: Arguably the oldest robots include water-powered, clock-driven figurines dating from 3,000 BCE, and a steam-powered pigeon that could actually fly, dating from 400 BCE. * The shownotes page for this episode on the SGU website did not have a link for any article to be referenced for this item.

Answer	Item
Fiction	35/43M robots worldwide
Science	Robot-assisted surgery
Science	Oldest robots

Host	Result
Steve	sweep

Rogue	Guess
Evan	Robot-assisted surgery
Jay	Robot-assisted surgery
Bob	Oldest robots
Christian	Robot-assisted surgery

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

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:40:12)

Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today – but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.  – Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), American writer and professor of biochemistry

Signoff

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

(applause)

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