The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe

 

Skepticast #42: May 10th, 2006

 

Topics:

Segment #1. News Items: The Skeptics’ Guide 1 year anniversary, UFO’s in the UK, Scientology Superheroes

Segment #2. Your E-mails: UFO’s and Satellites, Drinking water

Segment #3. Interview with Eugenie Scott

Segment #4. Science or Fiction

 

 

Segment #1. News Items

 

News Item #1 – The Skeptics’ Guide 1 year anniversary

That’s right, the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe just passed the one year mark (our first podcast was recorded on 5/4/05). Thanks to all our listeners for making our first year so successful.

 

News Item #2 – No UFO’s in the UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4981720.stm

 

News Item #3 – Scientology Superheroes

 

 

Segment #2. Your E-mails

 

E-mail #1 -  UFO’s and Satellites

 

Greetings from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Stumbled across your pod cast after listening to part of some other pod cast where Lloyd Pye was being interviewed and couldnt believe the absurdity of how he dealt with science. I was looking for a dose of rationality and found it with you folks.

In one of the earlier pod casts, you were talking about how various night sky objects get mistaken for UFOs There is a great website that tracks the various manmade satellites orbiting the earth, put in your location information and you can get a schedule of what is coming up or what has already passed by. I have noticed how some UFO reports coincide with satellite passage. If you get a chance check out one of the Iridium satellite flares when they pass over your area, they are quite spectacular some are a magnitude -9

http://www.heavens-above.com

Your pod casts have sharpened my critical thinking; I find them to be quite entertaining as well as informative. However there has been one unfortunate side effect, my Echinacea seems to have stopped working.

Keep up the good work & great shows.

Tracy
(Dont let the name fool you, Im a guy)

 


E-mail #2 -  How much water?

 
Hi guys, I'm a big fan of the podcast. This week you talked about a spa pamphlet that said we should drink 8 glasses of water a day. That sounds like bunk to me. Shouldn't it be the body needs the EQUIVALENT OF 8 glasses of water a day? Don't we get water from the food and the juices we take everyday?

If we get a good night sleep (8 hours) that leaves 16 during the day so that's 1 glass every 2 hours. My guess is that if you try it, you'll feel so bloated you won't do if again.

Is it just me or is this bunk?

Keep up the good work.

Fred Lauziere

Quebec, Canada

 

 

 

Segment #3. Interview with Eugenie C. Scott

 

Dr. Scott is the director of the National Center for Science Education (http://www.natcenscied.org/). She is the author of the textbook Evolution vs Creationism. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0520246500/nationalcenter02/002-7436856-4561622)

 

Eugenie Scott studied at the University of Missouri - Columbia where she obtained a Ph.D. in anthropology. She served as president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists from 2000 to 2002. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and awarded an honorary D.Sc. by McGill University in 2003 and by Ohio State University in 2005. She is also a fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.

 

Full Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenie_Scott)

 

 

Segment #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 for this week is animal speech.

 

 

Item#1: Bottle-nose dolphins appear to have names and identify themselves to other dolphins by this signature sound.

 

Item #2: Studies with European starlings indicate that they understand a basic rule of grammar previously thought to be unique to humans.

 

Item #3: Primatologists studying the protolanguage of the rhesus macaque have discovered their vocabulary contains basic mathematical concepts, such as numbers and operations, like addition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

 

Item #1: Sciencehttp://www.world-science.net/othernews/060508_dolphinfrm.htm

Item #2: Science – http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060426_starlingfrm.htm

Item #3: Fiction  Fiction