Podcast Blogs Video Forums
 
 

The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe - Podcast 358 - 5/26/2012

<<< Back to Podcast Archive

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 358 - May 26, 2012

Guest Rogue: Joshie Berger
This Day in Skepticism: Animalcules
News Items: TAM Poker Tournament, Space X Launch, Studying the Universe, What is Consciousness
Who's That Noisy
Your Questions and E-mails: Speaking to Mediums
Swindler's List: Hearing Aids
Science or Fiction



Segment:   This Day in Skepticism     
May 26, 1676     Antonie van Leeuwenhoek applied his hobby of making microscopes from his own handmade lenses to observe some water running off a roof during a heavy rainstorm. He finds that it contains, in his words, "very little animalcules."

Segment:   News Items     
TAM Poker Tournament     http://www.amazingmeeting.com/TAM2012/
Space X Launch     http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
Studying the Universe     http://phys.org/news/2012-05-older-cosmologically.html
What Is Consciousness     http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/what-is-consciousness-another-reply-to-kastrup/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLRckO0zCJQ&feature=related

Segment:   Who's That Noisy     
Who's That Noisy     Answer to last week: Holocaust Deniers.

Segment:   Questions and Emails     
Speaking to Mediums     I love your podcast. I've been listening to it for a couple a months and I'm pleased to say that I am "converted" to Skepticism. Did you know that in Portugal our dead speak English? We have a TV show here called "Depois da Vida", that means "Life after Life". On each week the medium Janet Parker allegedly listens to dead people related to a guest celebrity. The person hosting the show does the translations between the two. Since the medium apparently doesn't speak Portuguese, we may conclude that the dead related to our Portuguese celebrities have to speak English to the medium. She then speaks in English to the host; the host translates it to the guest. Continue with your great work. Regards LuÃs Pratas Lisbon, Portugal.

Segment:   Swindler's List     
Swindler's List     Hearing Aids

Segment:   Science or Fiction     [ Click Here to Show the Answers ]
Item #1     An iridescent blue tarantula. http://species.asu.edu/2012_species10
Item #2     A cactus that can "walk" short distances across the desert in search of water. http://species.asu.edu/2012_species09
Item #3     A fungus that looks and behaves so much like a sponge it was named Spongiforma squarepantsii. http://species.asu.edu/2012_species06
Item #4     A snub-nosed monkey from Myanmar that sneezes every time it rains. http://species.asu.edu/2012_species01

Segment:   Skeptical Quote of the Week     
Skeptical Quote of the Week     "No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither may a government determine the aesthetic value of artistic creations, nor limit the forms of literacy or artistic expression. Nor should it pronounce on the validity of economic, historic, religious, or philosophical doctrines. Instead it has a duty to its citizens to maintain the freedom, to let those citizens contribute to the further adventure and the development of the human race." - Richard Feynman
 
 
Home About Resources Media Store Contact Site Map Credits Privacy Policy Terms of Use ©2011 SGU PRODUCTIONS, LLC