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The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe - Podcast 124 - 12/5/2007

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The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, LLC - dedicated to promoting critical thinking, reason, and the public understanding of science through online and other media. The first episode of the SGU podcast went online on May 4th, 2005. It soon became a popular science/skeptical podcast, and remains one of the most popular science podcasts on iTunes.

SGU Podcasting Awards: SGU on XM: You can listen to the SGU on America's Talk XM 166 every Saturday night from 8-9pm Eastern.

Podcast 124 - December 05, 2007

Interview with Lawrence Krauss; News Items: Hucka-Bee, Moonbeams in Arizona, Chimp Memory, Anti-vaccine misinformation on Youtube; Your Questions and E-mails: Stem Cell Con, Information Theory; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction; Skeptical Puzzle



Segment:   News Items     
Hucka-bee     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1934276/posts
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=824
http://www.theness.com/articles.asp?id=41


Moonbeams in Arizona     news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071205/sc_nm/moonbeams_dc_1;_ylt=AlH2J7H2OnC8mRO1ARi_KooE1vAI


Chimps Smarter than Humans?     news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7124156.stm


Anti-vaccine propaganda on Youtube     http://www.physorg.com/news116082504.html

Segment:   Questions and E-mails     
Stem Cell Con     A friend is getting adult stem cells to help with his elderly father. He is desperate so I can understand his willingness to try anything. I included the website listing below.
I am almost certain it is a scam. Someone is trying to replace supplements with these "stem cell" pills. Not sure if it is any better.
Just curious if there are any papers or sites that might provide a more educated look at this stuff?
Are there stem cell vendors like this popping up all over the country?

stemcell4wellness.org/product.html

Richard Perceful
USA

http://www.mlmwatch.org/04C/Stemtech/stemtech.html


Information Theory     Someone recently posted this on another forum I frequent. I'm curious to know if anyone else here has read it, and what you think about it.

http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/iidb.htm

It was difficult to read some of it, because the entire time I was reading I envisioned this guy pointing a finger and screaming at me. Also, I searched before I posted it; I'm sorry if this topic has been covered before.

Channel Lox
From the SGU Forums
skepchick.org/skepticsguide/viewtopic.php?p=147177#147177

Segment:   Name That Logical Fallacy     
Logical Fallacies     We humans must constantly be aware of the fallacy that "correlation does mean causation". Although I understand this fallacy, I'm not sure how the burden of proof is met. How do scientists prove causation? What burden of proof must one meet to satisfy skeptics and scientists?


Brandon Putz
Edwardsville, IL

Segment:   Interview     
Interview with Lawrence Krauss     http://www.phys.cwru.edu/~krauss/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/21/scicosmos121.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox

Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics at Case Western Reserve University

Author of many popular books including:
Fear of Physics
The Physics of Star Trek
Beyond Star Trek
Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth...and Beyond
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions, from Plato to String Theory and Beyond

Segment:   Science or Fiction     [ Click Here to Show the Answers ]
Question #1     Contrary to prior belief, new evidence suggests that southwestern American indians were not introduced to alcohol by Europeans but were fermenting beer from corn for centuries prior to contact.
Question #2     New research shows that young adults who have a close relationship with their parents are actually more independent.
Question #3     New evidence suggests that silicon-based life formed on earth prior to organic life and may have served as a template for the first organic cells.

Segment:   Skeptical Puzzle     
Puzzle     This Week's Puzzle:

A person does the following things:

Tugs their ear
Puts a pen in their mouth
Passes gas
Induces vomiting
Pulls their tongue
Simulates being drowned
Presses a brass rod against their cheek

What are they trying to accomplish?


Last Week's puzzle:

An enemy of scientology
And a used car salesman to boot
He developed a strange philosophy
Of which Zen mastery was the root

Self-taught with no formal degree
He changed his name, and ran from home
Gullible masses made him rich, you see
He fled the country with money to roam


Answer: Werner Erhard
Winner: Zam

Segment:   Quote of the Week     
Quote     "No amount of experiments can ever prove me right; a single experiment may at anytime prove me wrong."

- Albert Einstein
 
 
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