Episode #385
News Items
Who's That Noisy
- Last Week’s Puzzle: Three people are interviewing for a job and are given a test. The first person to solve the test gets the job. Each person is given a hat that is either black or red. They must put the hat on and cannot look at the hat or use any method to directly discover its color. The three applicants are then put in the same room, and each is further instructed to raise their hand if at least one of the other two applicants is wearing a black hat. The task is to figure out the color of the hat they are wearing. One applicant sees that the other two applicants are wearing black hats and both have their arms raised. After a moment the applicant states that they have solved the puzzle and that they are wearing a black hat. How did they solve the riddle? Sent in by James Powell
Interview with Banachek
- http://www.banachek.org/
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
A recent study shows that exposing the unborn and very young to traffic pollution can more than double the autism risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-autism-children-exposed-air-pollution.html
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Item #2
Fiction
To get the best look at a person’s face, people focus first on mouths. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-person-eyes.html
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Item #3
Science
Writing negative thoughts down and then throwing them away helps people not to think of them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-bothered-negative-unwanted-thoughts.html
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
“I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don’t know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we’re here. I don’t have to know an answer. I don’t feel frightened not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell.” - Richard Feynman