The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe
 

Skepticast #33: March 9th 2006 (Download MP3)



Topics:

Issue #1. News Items:Magnet Therapy, Tax scams

Issue #2. Plastic Scare

Issue #3. Your E-mails

Issue #4. Science or Fiction

Issue #5. Special Guest: Rebecca Watson, founder of the Skepchicks





Issue #1. News Item: Magnet Therapy, Tax scams


News Item #1 - The British National Health Service (NHS) recently decided to pay for magnet therapy to heal and prevent chronic ulcers.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10371432

Quackwatch article on magnet therapy:
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/QA/magnet.html

News Item #2 - IRS warns of tax refund scams.
http://www.wfsb.com/global/story.asp?s=4577124&ClientType=Printable



 

Issue #2. Plastic Scare

For several years a scam e-mail has been circulating warning readers not to put plastic in the microwave, or even plastic water bottles in the refrigerator for fear that dioxins will leak out of the plastic and poison consumers. The e-mail refers to studies and information put out by Johns Hopkins University.

Here is a review of the topic by Johns Hopkins Public Health newsletter, dispelling this particular urban legend:

http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/articles/halden_dioxins.html

 

Issue #3. Your E-mails

E-mail #1 – Relatives and Ancestors
I've been enjoying your podcasts but I wanted to pick you up on something you've said in the last couple of editions. You described other primates, such as chimps, as our nearest ancestors, which is incorrect. They are our nearest relatives. Evolution deniers grab on to the incorrect idea that they are our ancestors to try to discredit evolution with lines such as "If we descended from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?"

I also wanted to share my own theory as to why some people, not necessarily religious fundamentalists, have trouble grasping the concept of evolution. I believe a lot of people simply can't comprehend the time required for evolutionary changes in a complex lifeform. They can't think in terms of infinitesimally small steps over millions of years.

This might explain why evolution deniers can get away with saying ludicrous things like "Nobody has ever seen a cat turn into a dog in a laboratory" or "My great-grandfather wasn't a monkey".

Keep up the good work,
Peter Holt

Response: Thanks for the Correction, Peter. The discussion began with a listener’s e-mail that asked: “How can it be that we have so many defects and our closest DNA ancestors have so little?” Use of the word “ancestors” here is indeed incorrect and should have been “relatives.” Modern apes are not the ancestors of humans, rather we are close relatives who share a recent common ancestor. We failed to note and correct this error during our discussion. Thanks, Peter, for pointing it out.

 

Issue #4. Science or Fiction

Each week our host will come up with three science news items or facts, two genuine, one fictitious. He will challenge our panel of skeptics to sniff out the fake – and you can play along.

Theme this week: Common Myths

Slight change in the rules for this week. First, there are 4 items, not 3. Also, three of the myths are actually myths, meaning they are not true. One, however, is true. So spot the true statement among the three myths. These items were all taken from livescience.com.

Item#1: The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure visible from space.
Item #2: Yawning is "contagious".
Item #3: Adults don't grow new brain cells.
Item #4: A penny dropped from the top of a tall building could kill a pedestrian.














Answer:

Item#2 is true, the others are myths

 

Issue #5. Special Guest: Rebecca Watson, founder of the Skepchicks

Rebecca Watson is the founder of the Skepchick organization, writer and a skeptical activist.
(http://www.skepchick.org/) who, among other things, publishes the Skepchick calendar.

You can read her blog here: http://www.skepchick.mu.nu/blog/