Skeptics Guide #1011

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1011 November 19th 2024 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Sense of Self https://theness.com/neurologicablog/robots-and-a-sense-of-self/ News Item #2 – America Needs a New Space Station https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-america-needs-space-station-140900715.html News Item #3 – New Energy Secretary https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/18/24299573/donald-trump-energy-secretary-chris-wright-oil-gas-nuclear-ai News Item #4 – Finding Planet Nine https://phys.org/news/2024-11-planet-hundreds-tiny-telescopes.html News Item #5 – Stress and Paranormal Belief https://thedebrief.org/study-finds-people-with-traditional-paranormal-beliefs-feel-more-stressed-than-those-with-new-age-varieties/ Segment #2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Dumb Phrases On Friday's live stream you began talking about phrases like "weigh anchor" and such. It reminded me of a phrase that I think wins the award for the dumbest phrase. That is "You've got your work cut out for you". I lived most my life thinking this phrase meant "you have an easy road ahead". Which is what is should mean. Any project you do that involves cutting, weither that be carpentry, paper crafts, sewing, etc., at least a 1/4 to a 1/3 of the project is cutting the materials to the sizes and patterns you need. So if someone has prepaired the material by "cutting it out for you". the project is suddenly that much easier and going to take less time. I was shocked to learn that it actually means the opposite, which shot that phrase to the dumbest phrase in the english language, as far as I'm concerned. Mike Hampton Segment #4. Interview with Kevin Folta Segment #5. 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: US Trivia Item 1: Kansas is not only the flattest state in the US, it is literally flatter than a pancake, with a flatness score of 0.9997. Item 2: The coastline of Alaska is longer than the coastlines of all the other 49 states combined. Item 3: The first telephone directory in the world was published in New Haven, CT in 1878. The names were not alphabetized and there were no phone numbers included. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "There is only one thing worse than coming home from the lab to a sink full of dirty dishes, and that is not going to the lab at all." Chien-Shiung Wu (Experimental Physicist) - Her nicknames include the "First Lady of Physics", the "Chinese Madame Curie" and the "Queen of Nuclear Research"