The Rogues' Gallery

News, Opinion, and Interesting Items in Science and Skepticism

Podcast #555 - February 27th, 2016

Main Image for Episode 555
Guest Rogue: Julia Galef
Forgotten Superheroes of Science: Dr. Moona Hanna-Attisha
News Items: Air Pollution and Public Health, Mystery Moon Music, Gender Bias Among Programmers
Who's That Noisy
Special Report: Free Speech vs Social Justice
Science or Fiction

Forgotten Superheroes of Science

  • Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, is a pediatrician at Hurley Children's Hospital and is the first dr that brought the problem of Flint Michigan water to the states attention.

News Items

  • Air Pollution and Public Health https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/air-pollution-and-public-health/
  • Mystery Moon Music http://www.clickorlando.com/news/space-news/nasas-unexplained-moon-music-its-static
  • Gender Bias among Programmers http://qz.com/615899/female-coders-are-rated-more-highly-than-men-except-when-people-know-theyre-women/

Who's That Noisy

  • Who's That Noisy Answer to last week: Gravity Waves

Special Report

  • Free Speech vs Social Justice A discussion with Julia Galef about the recent controversies in the skeptical movement.

Science or Fiction [ Show Answers ]

  • Item #1 Astronomers now claim that LIGO’s two black holes which collided were likely both formed within the same star. https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2016-05
  • Item #2 Examination of the dodo cranium reveals that they had well above-average intelligence for birds. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/news/2016022416270008.html
  • Item #3 Scientists have developed a chip that enables the detection of a single molecule using an ordinary cell-phone camera. https://www.caltech.edu/news/counting-molecules-ordinary-cell-phone-49857

Skeptical Quote of the Week

  • Skeptical Quote of the Week “Our beliefs do not sit passively in ou8r brains waiting to be confirmed or contradicted by incoming information. Instead, they play a key role in shaping how we see the world.” - Richard Wiseman