Episode #815

Episode #815

News Items

• American Megafauna Extinction
• The Fifth Dimension
• Bird’s Magnetic World
• Pentagon UFO Wreckage

Who's That Noisy

• Answer to last week: Boats

Science or Fiction [ Show Answers ]

• Item #1 Science

  “Happy as a clam” was originally, “Happy as a clam at high water” because that is when clams are safe from predators. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/as-happy-as-a-clam.html

• Item #2 Fiction

  The term “nitty-gritty” originally referred to the small debris at the bottom of a slave ship, and then came to refer to the slaves themselves before ultimately evolving to mean tiny details.

• Item #3 Science

  The term “bury the hatchet” derives from Native Americans, who would literally bury a hatchet as a symbol of a peace accord. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bury-the-hatchet.html

Skeptical Quote of the Week.

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie