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The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe - Podcast 274 - 10/13/2010
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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 274 - October 13, 2010

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Interview with Ben Goldacre
News Items: Dark Matter Strangeness, Vaccine Case in Supreme Court, Gliese 581g Follow Up
Who's That Noisy
Your Questions and E-mails: Magic Burgers
Science or Fiction



Segment:   News Items     
Dark Matter Strangeness     http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/43970
Supreme Court Vaccine Case     http://theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=2387
Gliese 581g Follow up     http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/10/recently-discovered-habitable-world.html

Segment:   Who's That Noisy     
Who's That Noisy     Answer to last week: the first purported recording of a human voice

Segment:   Questions and E-mails     
Question #1 - Magic Burgers     I thought you might be able to shed some light on the seemingly magical properties of McDonald's food. In the movie Super Size Me, and this article from the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319562/McDonalds-Happy-Meal-bought-Sally-Davies-shows-sign-mould-6-months.html It seems that McDonald's burgers and fries will not decay if left out, and for some reason that's a bad thing. I don't know if the fact that food should decay is a false premise, but I thought this might make an interesting quick topic if you haven't already discussed it. Thanks for the great podcast year after year! -Andy Paulo Glastonbury, CT

Segment:   Interview     
Interview with Ben Goldacre     http://www.badscience.net

Segment:   Science or Fiction     [ Click Here to Show the Answers ]
Item #1     Researchers find that feeling in love is as effective in pain relief as narcotic medications. http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-pain-brain.html
Item #2     A new study finds that whale feces contributes more nitrogen to fish ecosystems that all rivers combined. http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=17125
Item #3     Astronomers have discovered the largest galaxy supercluster ever - with hundreds of galaxies and with a mass of around 800 trillion solar masses. http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2010/pr201020.html

Segment:   Quote of the Week     
Quote of the Week     "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." - Anatole France
 
 
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