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The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe - Podcast 133 - 2/6/2008
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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
133
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February 06, 2008
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Interview with Richard Hayes; News Items: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies,More Perpetual Motion, Voting in Invisible Ink, Canadian Snake Oil; Your Questions and E-mails: Organic Milk, Apocalypse 2012, SETI; Science or Fiction
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Segment: News Items
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Segment: Questions and E-mails
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Organic Milk
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Hello guys,
Love the show. I just wanted to help clarify one point about organic milk, which Steve said cost twice as much for no real reason. Milk that's labeled "organic" from most brands you'll find in a grocery store may be organic, but the real reason it tastes better and has a much, much longer shelf life is because it's been through a process called UHT, or Ultra High Temperature processing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra high_temperature_processing
This is my favorite brand of super milk. Just search the page for UHT.
http://www.organicvalley.coop/faq/milk and cream/milk/
Apparently people get freaked out if they're told they don't have to refrigerate their milk until they open it, so the companies have hit on using the fashionable "organic" label to obscure the fact that the UHT nature of the product is what actually makes it special.
Scott Hamilton
St. Petersburg
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Apocalypse 2012
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Hey all,
I was in a bookstore the other day and was bewildered to see an entire display devoted to books about the coming apocalypse in the year 2012. I'd heard before that that Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and for some reason this is supposed to signal the end of the world. But just from skimming over the titles of these books, I can't make out what exactly
is supposed to happen then, one book says that the Mayan god Quetzlcoatl will return, another says that the magnetic poles will suddenly shift.
Then, earlier today, I came across a message board post on Amazon.com in which a woman stated that she watched a 2012 apocalypse show on The Discovery Channel and was terrified for the well being of her children. She has apparently lost a lot of sleep over it.
Of course, this whole thing is nonsense, but I have some superstitious friends who I know will buy into the doomsday predictions, and a simple "It's all hooey" from me won't stop them from losing sleep like the poor message board poster. Do you guys know any more about the origins/history of this latest apocalypse craze?
Thanks for the great show,
Pete Lobczowski
Delaware
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Segment: Interview
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Interview with Richard Hayes
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http://www.ucsusa.org/
Rich Hayes
Deputy Director
Communications
Union of Concerned Scientists
Lead Author for A Scientist Guide to Talking with the Media
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Segment: Science or Fiction [ Click Here to Show the Answers ]
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Question #1  Science
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Researchers have restored sight to blind mice by transplanting stem cells into their eyes.
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Question #2  Fiction
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New study shows that daily flossing is associated with lower scores on standard IQ tests.
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Question #3 Science
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Georgia Tech researchers have developed a fuel combustion engine that produces almost zero emissions.
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Segment: Quote of the Week
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Quote
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"Why are things as they are and not otherwise?"
- Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) German astronomer.
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