The Skeptics Guide #834 - July 03 2021 (Ad Free)
Added 2021-07-03 14:10:41 +0000 UTCForgotten Superheroes of Science: Pioneers in Deep Sea Bathyspheric observations; News Items: Noisy Thinking, T-Rex Teens, Video Games and Mental Health, Forming the Milky Way, Dowsing Again; Science or Fictions; Live Questions
Comments
No answer, I see.
Asymetra
2021-07-31 06:45:59 +0000 UTCHow do compasses work?
Asymetra
2021-07-06 05:58:16 +0000 UTCThe earths magnetic field is not that strong, if it where planes would fall out of the skies.
Henrik Holst
2021-07-06 00:09:53 +0000 UTCMy experience with dowsing occurred when I was in the military. One guy swore by it and demonstrated it to us with two coat hangers. With it he demonstrated the effects of ground points (2" round metal plates in the cement floor) on the hangers. When he moved over the ground point, the hangers would swing toward the ground point. He claimed that the points were connected in a circular fashion around the building. (The building was known as the Round House.) When he moved from one point to the other, the hangers swung away. He tried one more time with the same effect. He then moved toward a different point perpendicular to what he thought and the hangers swung back toward each other. He claimed the effect was caused by the magnetic field of the earth. He let us give it a try. My (admittedly anecdotal) experience was loosely holding the hangers and replicating the same effect. I made sure to hold my hands as steady and flat as I could to make sure I wasn't affecting the hangers. The hangers would swing together, then actually push up against me until I got far enough away that it swung back away. I did a similar thing years later with a stone dangling from a chain. Supposedly you ask a question and depending on which way it swings gives you a "yes" or "no" answer. I made sure to hold it rock steady (an easy feat after years of doing photography - holding the camera steady for long shutter speeds in low lighting without a flash). The sales woman was baffled why it didn't work. Now that I'm a skeptic, I'm fairly certain it's the idiomatic effect. The magnetic effect upon metal seems more plausible than anything else. But I still wonder about the hangers. It would make for an interesting experiment under proper controls.
Asymetra
2021-07-05 07:08:59 +0000 UTCIt was great to have Cara on a live stream again!
Evelyn Lhea
2021-07-04 09:58:55 +0000 UTCThanks Jesse! We appreciate your support.
The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe
2021-07-03 21:09:42 +0000 UTCSorry; my bad. I could swear I listened to this before and it threw me. SGU is my fave of many podcasts and I listen as soon as I get hold of one...
Jesse Greenawalt
2021-07-03 20:19:17 +0000 UTCThat’s when we recorded it.
The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe
2021-07-03 17:53:01 +0000 UTCThis is the June 18th show.
Jesse Greenawalt
2021-07-03 17:47:13 +0000 UTC
