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The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe - Podcast 213 - 8/18/2009
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The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is a weekly Podcast talkshow discussing the latest news and topics from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, and controversial claims from a scientific point of view. -The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: Your escape to reality -Produced by the New England Skeptical Society in association with the James Randi Educational Foundation(JREF) : http://www.theness.com

Podcast 213 - August 18, 2009

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News Items: Battery Update, Super Planetary Nebulae, Adopt a Star, UFO Spikes
Your Questions and E-mails: Aquatic Ape, Caffeine Tolerance
Science or Fiction
Who's That Noisy



Segment:   News Items     
Battery Update     http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/814/1
Super Planetary Nebulae     http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814101833.htm
Adopt a Star     http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17622-stars-put-up-for-adoption-to-fund-exoplanet-research.html
UFO Spikes     http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.7dc137c08d972555bef6dfd9a7353bb0.401&show_article=1

Segment:   Science Headline of the Week     
Blue tits embrace aromatherapy     http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8199000/8199726.stm

Segment:   Questions and E-mails     
Question # 1 - Aquatic Ape     Hi SGU, Love the show. My only complaint is that it only comes out once a week! I was wondering what you all thought about the aquatic ape theory - the theory that humans in their past have an ancestor that spent time in the water as a way to explain our subcutaneous fat layer, our hairlessness, our ability to control our breathing, etc. all of which differentiate us from other apes. Is it pseudoscience? If not, why doesn't it have broader acceptance and/or inquiry? Thanks, Coire (pronounced like "Cory") ____________ Scientific Aquatic Ape Resource: http://www.aquaticape.org/
Question # 2 - Caffeine Tolerance     I was hoping that Steve could clear up a discussion some fellow skeptics and I were having on twitter. Can you build up an immunity to caffeine over time? I am 23 and have been drinking coffee/tea for 10 years and I now don't have any trouble getting to sleep after having a late night coffee, whereas when I was younger I could have considerable trouble. Is this just a factor of age or a build up of resistance to the affects? Cheers, Rhiannon McKeon Sydney P.S Why is American coffee so bitter compared to the superior Australian baristas product?

Segment:   Science or Fiction     [ Click Here to Show the Answers ]
Item # 1     A new report in Cancer Research indicates that US cancer death rates have increased in the last decade. http://www.vai.org/News/News/2009/08_13_CancerMortalityRates.aspx
Item # 2     A survey of 1000 low income children aged 11-16 found that 25% have been sexually active, beginning at an average age of 12, and as young as 8. http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/aug/teensex
Item # 3     A new study finds that cannabinoids, active ingredients in marijuana, can prolong and exacerbate chronic pain. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090813170848.htm

Segment:   Who's That Noisy     
Whos That Noisy     Answer to last week: Dara O'Briain

Segment:   Quote of the Week     
Quote of the Week     There is no other species on Earth that does science. It is, so far, entirely a human invention, evolved by natural selection in the cerebral cortex for one simple reason: it works. It is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything. - Carl Sagan
 
 
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