Episode #806
News Items
- Arecibo Observatory
- AI Predicting Weather
- Manipulated by Robots
- Genetically Engineered Pigs
- Asteroid Samples Return
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week: snow
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Fiction
Neuroscientists find that reading computer code heavily involves language processing areas of the brain, and is therefore similar to a language. https://news.mit.edu/2020/brain-reading-computer-code-1215
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Item #2
Science
A study of the most distant known object in the universe, galaxy GN-z11, which is 13.4 billion light years from Earth, contains heavier elements, which means there are older galaxies still. https://carnegiescience.edu/news/most-distant-galaxy-helps-elucidate-early-universe
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Item #3
Science
Astronomers report the first possible radio signal coming from an exoplanet. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201216134701.htm
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
‘The need to reduce dissonance is a universal mental mechanism, but that doesn’t mean we are doomed to be controlled by it. Human beings may not be eager to change, but we have the ability to change, and the fact that many of our self-protective delusions and blind spots are built into the way the brain works is no justification for not trying.’ from ‘Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts’ by Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson