Episode #1045

Episode #1045

News Items

• Voyager Thrusters Brought Back to Life
• Space Tourism
• Global Temperature and Ice Sheet Melting
• Robot Learn Physical Tasks 60 Times Faster
• Most Powerful Solar Storm

Quickie with Bob

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1650/nasas-tess-delivers-new-insights-into-an-ultrahot-world/

Questions and Emails

A paper in nature energy written by Siobhan Powell Suggest that we should be charging during the day to reduce stain on the grid. the idea seems very counter intuitive, when thinking about lowering the peaks in grid demand but makes sense for maximizing renewable energy usage. The other things I was wondering which the paper doesn’t mention is how much excess energy production we would need on a day that has low solar and wind output. On such days the demand on the grid would be very strenuous. Interesting idea though. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01105-7 Levente Vizi Orono Maine, I keep hearing Steve and his brothers use ‘off the hook’ to mean a superlative – on the most recent episode Steve said that the animation was ‘off the hook’ on a show that was mentioned right at the end. I have always used the phrase ‘off the hook’ to mean being let off without punishment (probably derived from a fishing metaphor). As in someone did something bad and was let off the hook. I hadn’t noticed the rogues doing this until the last couple of years. I’ve been meaning to write in about this for some time but keep forgetting as I’m usually out and about when I’m listening. I happened to be at my computer when I heard it this time. Is this more of a New England thing or is it more widespread? In my real life I have never heard anyone use ‘off the hook’ to mean great or excellent. Any idea when this started to become more commonly used? It drives me crazy every time Steve or one of the others says it (I’ve never noticed Cara or Evan say it). Annie, Ontario https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/ldvvffa#3ddn4xi

Science or Fiction [ Show Answers ]

• Item #1 Science

  Scotoplanes, also known as the sea pig, is a round pink sea cucumber that uses elongated feet as legs to walk on the soft ocean bottom in the deep abyssal plain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotoplanes

• Item #2 Fiction

  Not to be confused with the hognose snake, the large anaconda pig snake is a roundish and mostly pink South American snake that is trapped for its abundant and apparently tasty meat. https://www.nps.gov/jeca/learn/nature/plains-hognose-snake.htm

• Item #3 Science

  The river pig is a finless fresh water porpoise that is round and pink in color, with intelligence considered comparable to that of a gorilla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangtze_finless_porpoise

Skeptical Quote of the Week.

‘Of all forms of deception self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud.’ Aiden Wilson Tozer