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The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe - Podcast 50 - 7/5/2006
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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.
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Podcast
50
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July 05, 2006
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Interview with Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed; News Items: Second hand smoke; Your E-mails: Binaural Beats, Aubrey de Grey; Science or Fiction; Skeptical Puzzle (answer plus new puzzle
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Segment: News Items
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Segment: Questions and E-mails
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Binaural beats
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Dear Skeptics,
As I am working my way through your podcasts, if you have covered this I
apologize.
Clearly, I have forgotten my critical thinking courses I took in college.
There is a subject called; Binaural beats. Though it sounds wonderful...
that is just it, it sounds wonderful.
Rather than try to describe and misrepresent it, I will defer to the
plethora of info out there.
if you google it... There are a couple of other names for it too.
here are a couple of links
web-us.com/thescience.htm
http://www.pzizz.com
http://www.centerpointe.com/
Christopher Lund
United Social Agnostics
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Aubrey de Grey
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I have a suggestion for a topic. There is scientist by the name of Aubrey de Grey. His shtick is proclaiming that through the application of science we can extend human life by several thousand years. His ideas are an amalgam of nano-technology, molecular biology,
biomechanics, etc. He seems like such a nut that it amazes me that anyone takes him seriously. And yet he seems to be routinely written up in popular magazines such as Technology Review (MIT), and Fortune.
I do not know whether you would call what he preaches pseudo-science; he is different from your run of the mill crack-pot. But his ideas are so out there that he seems nuts. Any yet as I mentioned he gets a lot of popular press.
Anyway I enjoy your podcast and I think the ideas discussed are quite valuable.
Regards
Mike Fattori
Review articles:
http://www.technologyreview.com/sens/
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Segment: Interview
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Segment: Science or Fiction [ Click Here to Show the Answers ]
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Question #1  Fiction
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New study shows that wearing a hat or helmet lined with aluminum foil reduces the frequency of seizures in certain epileptics.
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Question #2  Science
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New study shows a link between gum disease and carotid atheromas (a significant risk for stroke).
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Question #3 Science
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Man recovers from 19 year coma with evidence of brain repair and regrowth.
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Segment: Skeptical Puzzle
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Puzzle
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Last Week's puzzle:
In the old game show, Let's Make A Deal, contestants were asked to pick which of three doors they thought contained a valuable prize. Once the contestant picked a door, the host, Monty Hall, would often open one of the two doors not chosen and then ask the contestant if they would like to change their pick to the other door left unopened. The question is, should a contestant stick with their original choice, change to the other door, or there is no difference statistically?
Answer: The contestant should change her pick to the other door. If she sticks with her first pick her chances of winning is 1/3, if she changes her pick her chances of winning is 2/3.
New Puzzle:
Name the medical pseudoscience that, although now thoroughly disproved and rejected by mainstream science, at its inception was on the correct side of a major scientific debate of the time.
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