XaiJu
The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe
The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe

patreon


The Skeptics Guide #945 - Aug 19 2023 (Ad Free)

News Items: Deep Space Network, Identifying Misinformation, Regret and Gender Affirming Care, Localizing Hidden Consciousness, Ice Baths; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Metazoan Correction; Science or Fiction

The Skeptics Guide #945 - Aug 19 2023 (Ad Free)

Comments

Cara's question about whether the anti- science social media account that the respondents follow is self-reported or determined by the researchers is a good and important one. Before she raised that point, I thought of how frequently (luckily not very frequently) I'm disappointed by someone I follow who made a video or post about some astrology thing that takes astrology seriously. Normally their content is about something else that is the reason I follow them. Such an occasional/rare astrology view or other anti-science view might make someone self report following an antiscience account, but it may not meet a threshold for a research category of an antiscience account.

Emily Anne Daniel

The low data rate used for Voyager doesn't come from the level of 70s technology. It has to do with information theory. A weak signal can be brought out of the noise by narrowing the bandwidth of the signal and increasing the integration time for the incoming bits. This means that sending at a lower rate makes it possible for a distant receiver to interpret the message. A higher data rate was possible when Voyager was closer.

Jim Sky

Hawaii has been in drought for several years. Grass fires have been common. They are primarily fought with water dropped from helicopters. Those copters were grounded by the high winds from the distant hurricane. The fire began 2 hours before it hit Lahaina. The CD sirens that were intentionally not activated could have given many of the residents a chance. I can't imagine how the Maui CD lead must feel. He did resign this week.

Jim Sky

A very close friend of mine wrote this: Tampa Bay Times OPINION Guest Column Heather St. Amand Because of Gov. DeSantis, my transgender daughter and I are leaving the state "As a mother of a transgender daughter, I have never felt more heartbroken and angry than I do today. My family and I are preparing to move from our home in Florida to a new state in the mid-Atlantic — all because of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ so-called “anti-woke” agenda...." https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2023/03/09/because-gov-desantis-my-transgender-daughter-i-are-leaving-state-column/?fbclid=IwAR2x9UayT1mFrkyY2E6-r_neNZTbISGGhS3XYn-uOeYQcXNm9EYu4_eyqk4

Ted Apelt

lol @ elite mental gymnasts (~6min mark), I think I will have to use that sometime :-)

Logan Callen

#944 Aug 19, 2023 #944 Aug 12, 2023 #943 Aug 3, 2023

Hidetomo Katsura


More Creators